France FRANCE 2023 - La Zarra - Évidemment

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[Ezio]

France went from mystery and sensuality in the video to arrogance in the staging.

 

[Ezio]

Wow, they were pretty close to points in some countries.

Would be cool if these stats would include the points according to 2009-2012, 2013 and 2014-2015 rules as well

 

[MooseShoes]

 

[Paco Roca]

I never understood all the fuss caused by "Évidemment". The song and staging, while acknowledging the effort put into it, were mediocre. Overall it was an attempt to "play it safe", an unsuccessful experiment to refresh "Voilà" (moving from a dramatic atmosphere to a more irreverent one). The dance sound mixed with the chanson wasn't a bad idea but unfortunately the song wasn't going anywhere. My mother, who usually likes French songs, said "To me arouses no emotion". The dress was cute but the whole representation a little too foreboding, a cliché of self-important, nationalist French. Because that French flag on the screen, the diva with a raised snobbish eyebrow and the Eiffel Tower where it was located gave the world this impression. Mine may seem harsh words but they are actually objective. Vocally La Zarra was one of those "No"s we often hear on X Factor. I pass over the angry gesture because, unlike many, it didn't offend me. the Eurovision Song Contest is also diversity and freedom of expression. We are not in a court where etiquette must be respected.

If France wants to win, it must send an established artist who sings a rap in the French language. Rap is a "new genre" in the contest that would distinguish itself from years and years of seductive wild dances with a Latin flavor, poignant ballads, prefabricated pop in bittersweet sauce, joke songs and experimental songs. If not, France won't dispel its curse and its fans will continue to hide their disappointment in the form of lack of interest (because the French love the Eurovision Song Contest, otherwise there wouldn't have been all that enthusiasm about the chance of winning by Barbara Pravi).

 

[AlekS]

 

[Nicholas123]

Too bad @DaFlo is not around anymore to witness Katerina Stikoudi's recognition. Evidement now in French-Greek.

 

[mup]

La Zarra made some strong statements about her Eurovision participation (article in French). To sum it up: she declared that, after agreeing to take part in ESC, she felt like France Télévision's slave and was forced by the French HoD to dye her hair blond to look less Arab, because - she was told - French people don't like Arabs. She adds that radios boycotted her song and her French tour was cancelled, the whole Eurovision experience has been disappointing and traumatizing for her.

 

[mup]

Here is the full interview in French, quite scathing. In addition to the statements I reported in the previous post, La Zarra remarks that she felt like a puppet and a prostitute in the hands of the broadcaster who took control of all aspects of her and even told her to present herself as French, not Moroccan nor Canadian. Her record company had to pay 180,000€ for her staging and marketing, moreover the delivery of her contract had been delayed up to the last minute, so she refused to sign it. She felt outraged that after spending all that money they were less televoted than a joke staging like Moldova's. She tells that in Liverpool they already knew it was going to be between Sweden and another country, but the delegation pressured her to say that France was going to win. In the end she is happy she did the "toz" gesture and would do it again and again. She also comments on people in the media bashing her.

Edit: about the gluten story, La Zarra posted that she wanted to withdraw from Eurovision but the delegation promised her to work things out, so she made that joke about quitting gluten, but in reality she wanted to end her ESC participation.

 

[SpiritofKeiino]

La Zarra made some strong statements about her Eurovision participation (article in French). To sum it up: she declared that, after agreeing to take part in ESC, she felt like France Télévision's slave and was forced by the French HoD to dye her hair blond to look less Arab, because - she was told - French people don't like Arabs. She adds that radios boycotted her song and her French tour was cancelled, the whole Eurovision experience has been disappointing and traumatizing for her.

Here is the full interview in French, quite scathing. In addition to the statements I reported in the previous post, La Zarra remarks that she felt like a puppet and a prostitute in the hands of the broadcaster who took control of all aspects of her and even told her to present herself as French, not Moroccan nor Canadian. Her record company had to pay 180,000€ for her staging and marketing, moreover the delivery of her contract had been delayed up to the last minute, so she refused to sign it. She felt outraged that after spending all that money they were less televoted than a joke staging like Moldova's. She tells that in Liverpool they already knew it was going to be between Sweden and another country, but the delegation pressured her to say that France was going to win. In the end she is happy she did the "toz" gesture and would do it again and again. She also comments on people in the media bashing her.

Edit: about the gluten story, La Zarra posted that she wanted to withdraw from Eurovision but the delegation promised her to work things out, so she made that joke about quitting gluten, but in reality she wanted to end her ESC participation.

This is all quite sad, but I have to question her opinions at 'outrage at the televote'. I realise something could have been lost in translation so I don't want to be too harsh here. But it seems rude to bash another entry like that (Moldova) and also to express sour grapes about televotes - the public voted only moderately for this song but that's their right to do so, if they did not like what they saw.
I hope I'm not misinterpeting comments, I don't speak any French.

 

[mup]

This is all quite sad, but I have to question her opinions at 'outrage at the televote'. I realise something could have been lost in translation so I don't want to be too harsh here. But it seems rude to bash another entry like that (Moldova) and also to express sour grapes about televotes - the public voted only moderately for this song but that's their right to do so, if they did not like what they saw.
I hope I'm not misinterpeting comments, I don't speak any French.

Neither I speak French but I can understand it with the help of subtitles, in the interview La Zarra is very direct about her dislike of the Moldovan entry that she defines "a dwarf with a flute like this (mimicking) with a shaman on the side" (the interviewer seems to share her opinion), she comments that there must have been some mafia to explain their higher televote. Overall, she finds some of the things she saw on stage crazy.

When speaking about how she came to represent France in Eurovision, she tells that she had been asked every year to do Eurovision, but in Québec they didn't know the event. She had watched the Netflix movie about ESC which, in her view, sums Eurovision perfectly because, she tells, ESC is a parody itself. She decided to make her attempt because the songs level has been rising in recent years, while they had been circus acts in the past. The French HoD seemed to be in love with her style and managed to get her to participate. But then the control aspect of the whole thing made the experience "absolute hell from start to finish", even before Liverpool. She also states that her voice problems had been going on for months, forcing her to take cortisone and calmants.

Personally, I find it strange that she accused the French delegation of racism (against Arabs) for wanting to change her appearance, as they have picked Slimane as the 2024 French representative. Moreover she had already had her hair dyed blond in the previous years.

In their statement, France Télévisions declared that they are ready to support the French HoD, Alexandra Redde-Amiel, in legal action against the defamatory allegations made by La Zarra.

 

[SpiritofKeiino]

Neither I speak French but I can understand it with the help of subtitles, in the interview La Zarra is very direct about her dislike of the Moldovan entry that she defines "a dwarf with a flute like this (mimicking) with a shaman on the side" (the interviewer seems to share her opinion), she comments that there must have been some mafia to explain their higher televote. Overall, she finds some of the things she saw on stage crazy.

Ok if she made those comments about other contestants then that's disgusting behaviour and makes me think that she may be the one in the wrong here and not the broadcaster.

 

[mup]

Help! I've just read that La Zarra is asking her fans to help her choose an outfit for court in case she's sued for defamation. Is it true?

One thing is sure, she's a diva through and through!

 

[EscGeek]

La Zarra reminds me of Mia Khalifa....fishing for attention instead of making more content fans actually want to see/hear

 

[goncalovieira]

Girl, you will never be a star because of these actions.