We’ve got an opportunity to talk with this year’s representative of France at Eurovision Song Contest. He answered all the questions that we were wondering with a patience. First of all I want to say that we got an opportunity to speak one of the most sincere and courteous representative ever. Let’s check his answers:
1. How does it feel to be a part of that big Eurovision Family?
It’s a great opportunity for me and a big honor and I’m very happy to be able to do it.
2. A couple weeks ago you published the last version of your song and video clip, are you satisfied with it?
Yes, definitely. I have participated the edit of the song to make it the Eurovision version, and I wanted it to be this way so I’m really happy about it. And I’m really happy that people like it too.
3. You have a beautiful video clip which suits your song really well. What is your message to Europe with your song and video clip?
My message to Europe is, this song speaks about an element, a thing in my life that makes me feel happy, and I wanted to share it. So that people can also search, like the name of the song “J’ai cherché” (I searched) the thing that makes them happy and brings them joy and happiness and a satisfacting feeling. So I founded in music, but the song is opened to be interpreted in many different way.
4. And how are the reactions to your song from your country and from social media? And how do you feel when you see them?
Extremely positive and it makes me feel stronger and more confident. I hope that in the month of May, they’ll still love it as the same that they do right now. And all the fans from all over Europe, all the positive messages that I’m recieving are really encouraging.
5. Last night, we’ve finally have all the songs for this year’s Eurovision. Did you listen any of them? Do you have a favorite or do you have representative that you can’t wait to meet in Stockholm?
I like many songs and I think that a few of them really blew me away. The songs of Australia, Spain and Croatia are very unique and very strong songs. But there is a strong competition this year because every country has a strong song for this year’s Eurovision, I really feel like that, there isn’t any song that I didn’t like.
6. A couple days ago, you covered an old French entry for Eurovision which called “L’oiseau et l’enfant”. It’s really an oldie for Eurovision and it’s not ordinary to know that song. Were you a Eurovision Fan before your participation to Eurovision?
Definetely! I’ve always watched the show since I was really young, with my family every year, supporting Israel basicly but also trying to guess who’s gonna win the contest. And every year we remember this similar moment. I always watch the show because I really like it. And I think that I know more about Eurovision than many of the people. And “L’oiseau et l’enfant” is one of my favorite Eurovision entries for France and I covered it spontaneously, and I’m really happy that people liked it.
7. Do you have any favorite song from Eurovision history?
I love the Turkish “Sertab Erener” with her song “Everyway That I Can”, the Israeli entry for last year “Golden Boy”. There are many songs but it’s difficult for now to recognise all of them. “Heroes” from last year, and “Euphoria” in 2012 were amazing. Usually I llike the winning songs.
8. You’ve shortened your song because of that “3-minute-rule” of Eurovision. And the last version of your song is mainly English and you’ve lost some French parts of your song. So, was it a hard decision for you to get rid of generally French parts of your song when you’re representing a country which is really a language and culture conservative?
I had to cut a part of the song because it wasn’t written for Eurovision at the beginning, so it wasn’t three minutes. And before taking away the 40 seconds that we had to take off, I had to choose what to take off and I couldn’t take off the chours , because the chours are the main thing of the song that people remember, it’s the hook. So I have to keep the chorus which is in English, and then the only part that I had the possibility to take off is the three chorus in French but we still have the verses which are still in French and they tell the story. So if you compare the two versions, I keep the French parts in both of them and there is not something that it’s not repeated. But I am using the same story at both of the versions of the song. So this was really important me, not to take off some parts from the story, but I did not. I just took off something which was repeating. So it can get shorter and be three minutes.
9. We know that France isn’t a Eurovision Fan country. Does it true or is it just a cliché?
I think that French people discouraged with the results at Eurovision. We’re not good for many years. But this year I really think that something else happen. First of all, they chose a song that is already released and on the radios. So the French people has the feeling that they are taking a song to the Eurovision that they’re already like it and already know. Because most of the years up untill now, they feel like they have been represented by a song which they can’t say something about. So, this is the first thing that I have an opportunity about. It’s the fact that the song was chosen by the French people in a certain way. It brought a lot of positivity, and the attitude towards the song and towards to Eurovision this year is really positive here. And I’m really proud to be the vector of this thing and I wasn’t expecting such a positivity. I think that for the first time in many years France feel concerned about Eurovision way more than before.
10. Last couple years, France couldn’t reach a good result at Eurovision. Do you feel a pressure on you about this situation?
Definetely. I do feel the pressure because I know that my country had hard Eurovision results at last years. But I trust the song, I sing the song and I’m so lucky that I have a strong song and we’ll do our best to change it and to make a better score this year. Even though it’s not my main objective, I’m not aiming for a particular score. I just want to bring the honor to my country, France when I return, and make them proud how did they represented towards the rest of Europe. I want them to feel this pride in their hearts and we’re going to make the best performance that we can do in order to achieve it. But yes, there is a pressure of course, we want to make the best.
11. You have a lot of ethnicities in your family. And probably you’ve growen up in a cosmopolite environnement. How does this effects your music style do you think, or does it effects your music style and your songs?
Actually it does, because my music style has the influences which comes from my oriental, my origins, but also from my musical occidental influences. And I think that you can sense it in certain way when you listen to the album. First of all my name is Amir, it’s not a French name. There are many elements that which gives people the feeling that it means something multicolored and multicultural. And it’s a great thing for me, because it is what I am and if I manage to bring it to my music, then it will be a small victory for me. And in my first album, I was expected to be in this way and now the album is done and we’ll release it in a short time. I can feel it, it’s a modern French album but still has the influences that makes me who I am.