France was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 with the song "", composed by Gérard Stern, with lyrics by Didier Barbelivien, and performed by Joël Prévost. The French participating broadcaster, (TF1), selected its entry through a national final. In addition, TF1 was also the host broadcaster and staged the event at the in Paris, after winning the with the song "" by Marie Myriam.
Before Eurovision
National final (TF1) again opted for a public selection, with two semi-finals followed by the final on 26 March 1978, to select its entry for Eurovision.
Semi-finals Each semi-final contained seven songs, with the top three in each going forward to the final. The qualifiers were chosen by public televoting. One of the successful participants in the first semi-final was 1967 French representative Noëlle Cordier.
+ Semi-final 1 – 12 March 1978 Artist Song Votes Place Result 1Marie Azaro"Sans lui" 4,725 4 2Jean-François Doll"T'as l'air" 4,325 5 3Joël Prévost"" 6,511 2 Qualified 4Alphabet"Pour un train qui part" 3,986 6 5Noëlle Cordier"Tombe l'eau" 4,932 3 Qualified 6Patrick Lemaître"Seul" 3,646 7 7Jean-Paul Cara"Alors prends le soleil" 7,528 1 Qualified
+ Semi-final 2 – 19 March 1978 Artist Song Votes Place Result 1Christian Villers"Joue ta musique" 5,158 4 2Jean-Pierre Savelli"C'était pour toi" 4,579 5 3Violette Vial"Je te promets de revenir" 6,346 2 Qualified 4Malvina"Au revoir et peut-être à bientôt" 5,589 3 Qualified 5Irvin and Indira"Laisse pleurer les rivières" 8,445 1 Qualified 6Caroline Grant"Ne m'oublie pas" 4,173 6 7Lilyane Davis"Dessine pour moi" 3,881 7
Final The final took place on 26 March 1978, hosted by Evelyn Leclercq. The winner was chosen by public televoting.
+ Final – 26 March 1978 Artist Song Votes Place 1Irvin and Indira"Laisse pleurer les rivières" 8,915 2 2Malvina"Au revoir et peut-être à bientôt" 2,000 6 3Violette Vial"Je te promets de revenir" 2,621 5 4Jean-Paul Cara"Alors prends le soleil" 4,896 3 5Joël Prévost"" 13,791 1 6Noëlle Cordier"Tombe l'eau" 2,870 4
At Eurovision On the night of the final Prévost performed 6th in the running order, following and preceding . At the close of voting France had picked up 119 points, placing third of the 20 entries. It achieved the distinction of becoming only the second non-winning Eurovision song – following "" by Catherine Ferry in 1976, also for France – ever to receive votes from every other national jury, completing a hat-trick of consecutive contests in which every other national jury had voted for the French song, a record which still stands. The French jury awarded its 12 points to .
Voting
+ Points awarded to France Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
+ Points awarded by France Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
References