The pre-contest favorite seems to be Barbara Pravi with her very French song, that could be Indila's ....
Besides French the songs include some Tahitian (Maeva), Corsican (Casanova) and English (Andriamad, LMK and Poney X)
21 Juin Le Duo - Peux-tu me dire? ***
Fun catchy feel good song but not memorable or special enough to stand out in Rotterdam.
Ali - Paris me dit (Yalla ya helo!) ****
Recalls Mylène Farmer's atmosphere in verses and I like this even if it probably has no chance whatsoever. A hint of Lebanon is a nice touch.
Amui - Maeva **
Caribbean rhythms. Monaco already tried this with their 2000's comeback and it didn't end well. The best thing is Tahitian lyrics and beat.
Andriamad - Alléluia ****
Somehow also very French and similar to 21 Juin le Duo. Depends on staging and live vocals who does better, this is maybe a bit more memorable thanks to a little touch of Oriental singing and repeated people of the world?
Barbara Pravi - Voilá ****
This is probably what we expect from France? A lot of Patricia Kaas and chanson, a hint of Indila for the younger really. If she delivers live this can easily go all the way to Rotterdam and there.... who knows?
Casanova - Tutti ****
Another song I think has no chance whatsoever but that I like a lot. Catchy and fun, and once you get over it's not badly pronounced Italian but Corsican it's all good. A real sing-a-long song, shame there won't be an audience to lift this up!
Céphaz - On a mangé le soleil ****
Another sing-a-long song with nice beat, full of sunshine despite the title, or maybe that's why? I like his husky voice, this is memorable feel good song, I wanna sing a long and this was indeed stuck in my head after first hearing.
Juliette Moraine - Pourvu qu'on m'aime ***
The classic French ballad with piano and accordion, a bit out of breath voice. Again, no idea how this will do. She could be out of last round or end up runner up. Hard to say.
LMK - Magique **
Fashionable beat and nothing wrong with it but also nothing original or memorable to stand out. This said it has some vocal rap acrobatics and the music video is quite something.....
Philippine - Bah non ***
Another very very French sound. Not my favorites at this point but if chosen I might end up liking this a lot in Amandine Bourgeous way.
Pony X - Amour fou ***
This selection indeed is a nice cocktail of all things French as most song do sound like French ones! This is a perfect example of it. Groovy, catchy and in danger of labelled as a joke entry thanks to the horse head. A risk to take. Could be an international hit outside the Eurovision bubble.
Terence James - Je t'emménerai danser ****
I liked this one since the first hearing. Even it does sound a bit rough and should have a better production and mixing.
Ok, I realize now I have given half the songs **** out of 5, and four songs *** and the remaining two **. It only proves this is a very solid mix of songs with no stand outs nor really bad ones. If we forget Pravi's status as clear favorite in various fan polls (but I wouldn't count on them so much, remember Ue lala, do I need to say more?). I'm not going to even try to guess the winner and I can live with half the songs as the winner and hope for the best for France in Rotterdam. This will be only the third song selected and we have no idea yet how the line up and musical trend will be in May. But it's quite safe to say it won't be Paris 2022. Sad but true. (Unless Pravi indeed hits the right note if selected).
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