France was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 with the song "", composed by Sylvano Santorio, with lyrics by Richard de Bordeaux and Richard Joffo, and performed by the band Profil. The French participating broadcaster, (TF1), selected its entry through a national final.
Before Eurovision
National final Having chosen their 1979 entry by internal selection, (TF1) returned to a public selection using the same format as in 1976-1978, with two semi-finals followed by the final on 23 March 1980.
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. Other participants included 1969 contest winner Frida Boccara and Minouche Barelli, who had represented .
+ Semi-final 1 – 9 March 1980 Artist Song Votes Place Result 1Jocelyne Jocya"Si tous les "je t'aime" 1,143 6 2Serge Fouchet"Le jour de la liberté" 597 7 3Michel Démétriadès"On a coupé un arbre" 2,056 4 4Bee Michelin"Une chanson rose" 5,091 2 Qualified 5Frida Boccara"Un enfant de France" 4,722 3 Qualified 6Nadine Douteau"Ils ont plantés un olivier" 1,441 5 7Marcel Amont"Camarade vigneron" 5,902 1 Qualified
+ Semi-final 2 – 16 March 1980 Artist Song Votes Place Result 1Minouche Barelli"Viens dans ma farandole" 1,705 6 2Chantal Billon"Un jour, un matin" 6,107 1 Qualified 3Parasol"Ni bleu, ni gris" 1,919 5 4Profil"Hé, hé M'sieurs dames" 6,049 2 Qualified 5Simone Langlois"Dans le regard d'un enfant" 3,094 4 6Bernard Sauvat"J'suis heureux" 1,493 7 7Anne Delorme"Poète ou musicien" 5,803 3 Qualified
Final The final took place on 23 March 1980, hosted by Évelyne Dhéliat. The winner was chosen by public televoting.
+ Final – 23 March 1980 Artist Song Televote Place 1Bee Michelin"Une chanson rose"4,0716 2Chantal Billon"Un jour, un matin" 8,2632 3Anne Delorme"Poète ou musicien"7,3243 4Profil"Hé, hé M'sieurs dames"10,6281 5Marcel AmontCamarade vigneron7,1824 6Frida Boccara"Un enfant de France"7,1445
At Eurovision On the night of the final Profil performed 16th in the running order, following the and preceding eventual contest winners . At the close of voting "" had picked up 45 points, placing France 11th of the 19 entries and bringing to an end a run of four consecutive top 3 finishes. The French jury awarded its 12 points to the Netherlands.
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