After big flops the past two years, France is betting on the well-known Slimane and his song Mon Amour (My Love) bringing everyone together in one of Eurovision's most politicised contests ever.
France has not won Eurovision since Marie Myriam in 1977.
It came close in 2021 with the Piaf-inspired Voilà by Barbara Pravi in second place. But the last two years have been a national disappointment.
La Zarra, from Quebec, finished 16th in 2023 and Breton group Alvan & Ahez hobbled in second to last in 2022.
Slimane Nebchi, known professionally as Slimane, has the heavy task of trying to take France into the top 10 at least in Saturday's final in Malmo, Sweden.
The bookies are on his side: his rousing ballad Mon Amour is tipped to come in 7th.
Grandson of Algerian coalminer
Born in France and of Algerian descent, Slimane has come a long way since starting out in the bars of Paris’s red-light Pigalle district.
He shot to fame after winning The Voice in France in 2016 and has since sold over 2 million albums, reaching 3 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
“Representing France means a lot,” the 34-year-old singer told France Inter radio in November 2023 when he was picked to represent France.
“It's crazy – my grandfather came here to France from Algeria to work in a coal factory. He died because of that, and now his grandson is representing France with a song about romance and love à la française. I love that idea; I think it's beautiful.”
Confronting racism
However, the singer has also had to deal with xenophobia since it was announced he would represent France.
“Every day I get a racist comment like ‘Oh, it's the Arab who's going to represent us’ or 'There's no French singer’," Slimane told AFP news agency.
He’s opted to brush it off.
“I believe that what I do, my career, my concerts, the people who come to see me of all origins and all faiths are the best response,” he said.
Apolitical struggle
Eurovision, now in its 68th edition, strives to be a apolitical, but this year it is anything but.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian activists have been protesting in Malmo – home to Sweden's largest Palestinian community – calling for organisers to bar Israel from the contest over its bombing of Gaza, which Hamas says has claimed almost 35,000 lives.
Organisers have rejected the calls.
"We can’t fail to be moved by the profound suffering of all those caught up in this terrible war," said the director general of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the event.
“However, the Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political music event and a competition between public service broadcasters who are members of the EBU. It is not a contest between governments."
The EBU did however tell Israel to change the lyrics of its entry, originally titled October Rain in apparent reference to Hamas’s cross-border 7 October attack that killed some 1,170 Israelis and triggered the war.
The song, renamed Hurricane, will be performed by Israeli singer Eden Golan.
Critics of the decision to let Israel compete point out that Russia was kicked out of Eurovision in 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine, and Belarus was ejected in 2021 over its government’s crackdown on dissent.
(with newswires)
