France: Madame Monsieur and the song “Mercy” will fly the flag in Lisbon.

Just a few minutes ago the grand Final of Destination Eurovision 2018 just finished, declaring as the next representative of France in the upcoming Eurovision in Lisbon, Madame Monsieur and the song Mercy.
The duo Madame Monsieur is formed by Emilie Satt and Jean-Karl Lucas. Their first single was released in 2013. Their participation in this year’s national final was rather a surprise. Their songs are usually emotional and performed with passion.
Mercy is based on a true story of the humanitarian organization SOS MEDITERRANEE France, a non government organization that its activities aim to help refugees around the Mediterranean sea. The song refers to one of the many stories the volunteers of SOS MEDITERRANEE have experienced during rescueing refugees. Ιn the song’s case a mother gave birth to a baby girl in the middle of the sea, as she was trying to escape Syria’s horror of war.
After two semi final rounds and a total of 18 competing acts , 8 finalists gave their final battle for the golden ticket that leads to Lisbon. Host of the night was , as in the previous shows, the French Canadian singer Garou.
The 8 competing acts of the night were :
- Louka – Mamma mia
- Max Cinnamon – Ailleurs
- Emmy Liyana – OK ou KO
- Madame Monsieur – Mercy
- Nassi – Rêves de gamin
- Lisandro Cuxi – Eva
- Igit – Lisboa Jérusalem
- Malo’ – Ciao
Apart from their entry, the contestants performed one more song alongside with other popular artists, as guest stars of the night. Some of the notable names are, the composer and rapper Maître Gims, French ESC 1993 representative Patrick Fiori and the singer Nolwenn Leroy. The night opened with the winning song of Eurovision 2015 , performed by the host and two of the French’s jury members.
The result was determined by a 50-50% share of public and international jury voting . The French jury tonight was formed by Isabelle Boulay and Christophe Willem, that had attended the semi finals too, alongside with Alma, last year’s ESC representative. Alma performed on stage at the beginning of the final the song, Ding A Dong, which brought victory to the Netherlands back in 1975.
The international jury consisted of the following HOD from other countries:
- Αrmenia: Iveta Mukuchyan
- Belarus: Olga Salamakha
- Βulgaria: Ivan Katsarev
- Finland: Terhi Norvasto
- Iceland: Felix Bergsson
- Israel: Tali Eshkoli
- Italy: Nicola Caligiore
- Russia: Sergueï Pavlov
- Sweden: Christer Björkman
- Switzerland: Reto Peritz
THE RESULTS
The final winner of Destination Eurovision , as you can see below was determined by the votes coming from a public and international jury voting.
Contestant | Song | Jury | Public | Overall | Position | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Louka | «Mamma Mia» | 8 | 7 | 15 | 8th |
2 | Max Cinnamon | «Ailleurs» | 54 | 36 | 90 | 6th |
3 | Emmy Liyana | «OK ou KO» | 82 | 30 | 112 | 4th |
4 | Madame Monsieur | «Mercy» | 68 | 118 | 186 | 1st |
5 | Nassi | «Rêves de gamin» | 30 | 18 | 48 | 7th |
6 | Lisandro Cuxi | «Eva» | 90 | 72 | 162 | 2nd |
7 | Igit | «Lisboa Jerusalem» | 60 | 50 | 110 | 5th |
8 | Malo’ | «Ciao» | 28 | 89 | 117 | 3rd |
This was the scoreboard after the international jury’s votes:
THE STORY SO FAR
France is one of the seven countries that had its first participation back in 1956. Since then the country has won the contest 5 times. Last time was in 1977, with Marie Myriam and her song L’oiseau et l’enfant. The last two years, however, seems to be an increasing interest for the contest . Mercy will be France’s 61st participation in the Eurovision Song Contest and the country’s hope to win after a period of 40 years. France belongs to the Big 5 countries and qualifies directly to the final.
Lets listen to this year’s entry performed by the winners of Destination 2018 , Madame Monsieur.