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Slimane, here during rehearsals on Wednesday May 8, will perform in the semi-final of the Eurovision song contest broadcast this Thursday May 9.
TELEVISION – Don’t be surprised. Until this edition of Eurovision, you had to wait until Saturday evening, more or less late in the final, to see the performance of the candidate representing France. Change of rules in 2024 with Slimane to release them. The singer performed Mon amour in the semi-final of the competition held in Sweden.
His performance is broadcast this Thursday, May 9 on Culturebox and it is therefore the first time that the general public will be able to see the entire show that only a lucky few have been able to discover until now during rehearsals. A service that is intended ” sober “ and for which the artist revealed by The Voice did “the choice of simplicity”.
Although he performs at the same time as the other semi-finalists, Slimane has much less pressure than the other artists of the evening. As a representative of France, he is indeed guaranteed to play in the final, Saturday May 11. The reason ? France is, like Italy, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom member of the BIg Five, the five biggest contributors to the Eurovision budget.
A question of fairness for the Big 5
This advantage, however, had a downside which led the production to modify the rule. “One of the problems of the Big 5 is that, unlike other countries, they did not have the opportunity to build enthusiasm around them during the competition”justified producer Christer Björkman in an interview given on May 7 to 20 minutes.
Clearly, a question of fairness between those who could show the extent of their talents and those who had to wait until the final to do so. “It often happens that someone you didn’t see coming comes rushing in like a cannonball. Now this could also happen for the Big 5”estimates the producer of the competition.
So for Slimane, who is already in a good place among the bookmakers, this is a great opportunity to confirm his favorite status. And increase the wait even further to give a successor to Marie Myriam, the last French winner. It was in 1977.
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