France FRANCE 2024 - Slimane - Mon amour

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[DirtyFalcon]

Ok it's time for me to react on our entry for this year !

We have here a classic french ballad i personnally really love and I prefer it compared to La Zarra entry last year. The chorus is a bit cheesy in my opinion but i guess this is a sought-after bias. The overall composition has nothing groundbreaking and could feel bland for some people but Slimane is a fantastic performer live and will be able to elevate it a lot. He will be able to convince a lot of skeptics on the entry i think. His voice is beyond amazing. I think this song on the hands of a random performer would be totally forgotten in a 26 songs line-up during the grand final but Slimane will for sure be able to change that. It's a 12 for me !

Now my prediction for the contest :

Seeing the bad reactions here on the song, we can can already feel a huge disagreement between juries and televoters coming. Speaking of the juries first, there's no way juries won't reward this, especially with Slimane voice, stage presence and capacity to elevate any song live thanks to his way of interpreting his songs. He won't need any groundbreaking staging. Something really simple focused on him will be enough like Barbara Pravi. Top 10 in the juries seems very likely and if it doesn't happen, it will be a 12/13th place, can't see it lower (if we take as a reference 2023 for example).


Televote is another story. It could flop however i don't think it will be a 0 points. You will for sure find some people being impressed by his voice and interpretation of the song so gathering at least 20 points minimum is something possible i believe, with a potential to be higher. Overall i could see a left-hand side of the scoreboard result, between 11th and 13th, similar to Requiem, with a chance to sneak into the top 10 with a slightly better televote result than expected.

 

[rasmuslights]

Ok it's time for me to react on our entry for this year !

We have here a classic french ballad i personnally really love and I prefer it compared to La Zarra entry last year. The chorus is a bit cheesy in my opinion but i guess this is a sought-after bias. The overall composition has nothing groundbreaking and could feel bland for some people but Slimane is a fantastic performer live and will be able to elevate it a lot. He will be able to convince a lot of skeptics on the entry i think. His voice is beyond amazing. I think this song on the hands of a random performer would be totally forgotten in a 26 songs line-up during the grand final but Slimane will for sure be able to change that. It's a 12 for me !

Now my prediction for the contest :

Seeing the bad reactions here on the song, we can can already feel a huge disagreement between juries and televoters coming. Speaking of the juries first, there's no way juries won't reward this, especially with Slimane voice, stage presence and capacity to elevate any song live thanks to his way of interpreting his songs. He won't need any groundbreaking staging. Something really simple focused on him will be enough like Barbara Pravi. Top 10 in the juries seems very likely and if it doesn't happen, it will be a 12/13th place, can't see it lower (if we take as a reference 2023 for example).


Televote is another story. It could flop however i don't think it will be a 0 points. You will for sure find some people being impressed by his voice and interpretation of the song so gathering at least 20 points minimum is something possible i believe, with a potential to be higher. Overall i could see a left-hand side of the scoreboard result, between 11th and 13th, similar to Requiem, with a chance to sneak into the top 10 with a slightly better televote result than expected.

Totally agree with the prediction.

 

[John1]

Seeing the bad reactions here on the song, we can can already feel a huge disagreement between juries and televoters coming.

Look, I don't mean to question opinions and stuff, but bad reactions on ESCUnited are very contrasted with what we can see on Twitter/YouTube and other reactions from people outside the ESCUnited bubble. The reliability of predictions on ESCUnited are less accurate, because there are like 30 people or so thinking the song is bad. Now, take a quick glance at a larger population sample and compare.

So I would take the reactions here with a pinch of salt.

The thing is that people all agree on the fact that this entry will be memorable, is sung with such a rawness and passion à la Voilà that it has to score a huge amount of points and has to be granted a sort of favorite-act status.

 

[Leydan]

Look, I don't mean to question opinions and stuff, but bad reactions on ESCUnited are very contrasted with what we can see on Twitter/YouTube and other reactions from people outside the ESCUnited bubble. So I would take the reactions here with a pinch of salt.

The thing is that people all agree on the fact that this entry will be memorable, is sung with such a rawness and passion à la Voilà that it has to score a huge amount of points and has to be granted a sort of favorite-act status.

I wouldn't take fan reaction in general as gospel for how things might turn out - you can't really cherry pick which reactions you prefer. Ofc huge favourites to win are obvious, but each platform has it's own bubble, and as a whole the fandom tend to be sheep, especially on platforms such as Twitter. Huge swaths of the fandom were certain Spain this year was going to be top 5, score huge with televote and juries and couldn't be convinced otherwise. In the end it flopped big time (obvious imo) with the televote - and there are countless other examples. I'm not saying the same will happen with this by any means, but this is the first entry and I struggle to see how it will stand out and be quite as epic as you portray come March in a crowded field of entries - enjoy it sure, but don't get yourself caught up in spin and expectations because it more often than not leads to disappointment.

There is elements of the song I enjoy very much, but having heard it multiple times it's not a song i'd call memorable at all. Hes without a doubt a phenomenal singer and the biggest benefit to the whole package, that goes without saying. It's also great to see France select quite a big star domestically because if it pays off it can only mean good things in the future. There is definitely jury appeal here but televote could be VERY dodgy. He was good in the live music video but it felt like a poor copy of Voila's aesthetic with your signature thrown in, which Dotter and Barbara both did better. That better be not what they try to do at Eurovision.

 

[HarryUK]

This is absolutely everything I love about a ballad, especially a French one, but I'm really concerned at the early release because I know for a fact I'll be over this by May

Also they've definitely done a copy+paste of Barbara Pravi's camera work in the final which made me feel incredibly seasick

 

[Mrm]

Heeeey ppl!

The first entry of the season is here, so it is the time to comment.

And what an entry it is..
100% for me..

I really didn't like France 2023, but this one is right up my alley, it is piano ballad, full of melancholy, "sandy" vocal I adore, it gets dramatic and powerful towards the end.. Interpretation is AWESOME.. OLD SCHOOL entry I love so much with a pinch of current and modern.. Big 12 from me in the poll..I love when the season starts like this..

 

[John1]

That better be not what they try to do at Eurovision.

I do mostly agree with you on what you wrote, very clever of an opinion. However, I just can't picture France going for a different staging from what we saw in his live performance. As much as I love Dotter (see my pfp lmao), I fail to see the resemblance between Dotter's staging and his, lazers and the disco-ball chestplate. It's just a total different aesthetic, that does kinda fit the song and the message he wants to convey.

Yet, I truly hope they are aiming to do something widely different and daring. They just need to keep this kind of closeness and rawness aspect they managed to instill into his performance. Something à la Barbara Pravi would work, but they need to find the perfect fit for Slimane.

Plus, Slimane's got this sort of talent that was endemic to Barbara. Both are plunged into a real artistic universe. That's why I totally trust Slimane to pick the right staging, the right outfit, and so on.

I'm really concerned at the early release because I know for a fact I'll be over this by May

The only redeeming thing about releasing his entry so early is to promote the entry across Europe, starting with jESC.

 

[MopManMoss]

People seem to forget that we are not normal, 99% of the people that will hear this for the first time will hear it in May. It coming out in November is meaningless for its placement in the contest, eurofans make up a very very very small fraction of the voting public

 

[LivingOrganism]

Immediately fell in love with this song. I'm not going to rate it yet, since I tend to overrate the first released entries each year, but If I were to - I'd probably give it a . Not because the ending is somewhat lacking.

 

[JSSArcos]

music is growing on me a lot. on the day I would give it a 7, at this moment I give it an in the survey
It reminds me a little of Italy from last year and 2020.
It's a ballad, strong, striking, with a good climax, the voice seems superb to me too and I loved the timbre.
I've had the chorus stuck in my head these days, which is a good sign. Maybe it was released too early (I'm afraid it will go down as time passes)
Anyway, a great start to start this season, and who knows in a few days I'll switch to 10
Good job France

 

[MS.]

A lot of people here are too allergic to ballads... So many harsh comments
Give Slimane a chance with a live performance, he is authentic and always sings with so much passion like if his life depends on it.
For me personnally i can't stop hearing this song since it was released. It just climbs and climbs and it ends with a scream from the heart.

 

[PollyWantsACracker]

I just feel that the ballad isn't as strong as Voilà, or this year Estonian entry, lyrics and melody wise. It's absolutely not in the league of classic ballads. It's sort of a simple ballad, the kind that is today marketed for gen Z.

That impression doesn't undermine his talent. So don't get annoyed with bad critiques.

It is as it is normally with ESC - we get a great singer with a bland product.

 

[crashworld]

I see France attempting a Italy 2023 by sending us a heartfelt male ballad. LOL.
The song is fine. Why do I feel like it's going to get a revamp?
Giving it a for now. My #1 for now.

 

[nudiecrudi]

I gave a tenth, or more, chance to the song. Usually I'm a male ballad lover but still something is missing with this song. Too simple and somehow predictable.
It's not a bad song at all but I feel confused about the project this big French artist has.
You have to imagine that these kind of artists have teams and discographic labels behind. I imagine that Mon amour is a single being part of a future album. I assume that this song is the leading one since it was chosen for such a huge event. The artist and his management would like to have the maximum profit from this project, I hope none of us think that they are doing it for the glory. Simply is their job.
So why releasing a song 6 months before? A possible success of a song lasts usually 2 months after that it needs an important impulse to have another peak of visibility. So by the end of this year nobody will talk anymore about this song in France because meanwhile other artists have released songs in the French market. It has to wait 4 months to have another possibility. Something is missing.

 

[krivac]

Paris 2025

 

[BorisBubbles]

Lol you don't even have to look at the fan reaction to know that the jury vote will be astronomical and the televote will be literal vapor. It's written in the stars, a tale as old as time. France's obstacle will be improving these odds without being Italy (as only Italy's flippin' halo effect could carry this into a top five). Barring that it will come lower left-hand-side, a decent result for France and that will be the end of it.

 

[DirtyFalcon]

Lol you don't even have to look at the fan reaction to know that the jury vote will be astronomical and the televote will be literal vapor. It's written in the stars, a tale as old as time. France's obstacle will be improving these odds without being Italy (as only Italy's flippin' halo effect could carry this into a top five). Barring that it will come lower left-hand-side, a decent result for France and that will be the end of it.

I'm french and i would totally live with a left-hand side of the scoreboard result between 10th and 13th. We basically have a subscription in the middle of the ranking every year, with some Top 5 or Bottom 5 sometimes but still rare. So it won't change nothing for us.

I personnally believe this is a smart choice from the delegation to go for a confirmed artist like Slimane, very popular in France (important after La Zarra disaster) and choose for him a song relying mostly on the vocals because you know that you might have a serious chance to get a good jury score. It's maybe more boring for the fans but the delegation want to secure a good result by choosing a jury bait song. People here in France mostly like him and won't care that much if televote tank us. People will only see the final result.

Of course you never have the assurance it will work in the jury too but that's the game. However I don't see here an "astronomical" jury score for Slimane but 6th/7th place at the juries result looks possible (depending on the competition). Televote won't be literal vapor too. With his interpretation and live performance he will elevate it a lot and grab the attention of people. It will be, i think, enough to gather some points, like 25/30 points, but not 0. Overall he might do an Alika kind of result or slightly lower.

Why i also think it's smart is because it might encourage other big artists to participate if Slimane gets a great overall score, because he's by far the biggest artist we've sent in Eurovision in a long time. So in the end even if it's not a big televote win for France in Malmo, his participation could be very positive for the future of France in the contest. I truly believe it's a pivotal year for us.

Going back on the jury vote, i don't to overhype myself here too. La Zarra was promised to a Top 3 in the juries during the rehearsals and in the end flopped, reaching only a 16th place. So let's wait. Slimane surely has much more arguments than La Zarra, starting with his voice, interpretation and experience on the stage, to do much better in the juries but we never know.

 

[crashworld]

Anyway, it's way too early to say how he will do in the competition when he is basically the first entrant with the song out. Wait till we have more songs out then we can see how this will land and whether he will be able to beat his competitors. It has always been relative isn't it. A song genre/type may or may not do well in the past doesn't mean it will continue to do well or unwell in the competition.

 

[VikingTiger]

I am actually quite surprised to read the comments here. I was expecting more positivity over all. I absolutely love Slimane, and this song is no exception.

Yes, it's a surprise that the artist and the song has already been released. But the generel public in May do not have a big (or any) knowledge about what is going on in the French music industry. So I really cant see how an early release date will affect the eventual result in May. As for myselv I am able to appreciate a good soong for a good longer than only 6 months.

His Dotter - outfit really isnt relevant for me. The whole act will surely be upgraded for the big scene. But I definitely wont mind if this is kept simple, focusing on Slimane. He definitely is the and should be the center of attraction here (like Marco Mengoni last year). La Zarra was my favourite in 2023. But as an artist I think Slimane is better, both vocally and stagepresence wise.

I think Slimane will do well both with the televoters and the juries. Sort of like Marco Mengoni last year and Barbara Pravi in 2021. I cant see him getting "tanked" by the televotes. Tamara Todevska is an example were the juries voted for a big vocal performance, but where the televotes didn't agree at all. Mon Amour seems to me to be much more televote friendly. Even though I see that most in here doesnt seem to like the song as much as I do, I feel it has much more of a contemporary feeling than Proud. Again the comparision to Due Vite comes in mind.

Without having heard any of the other songs, I am pretty sure Slimane will reach a top 10 - IF the staging and the performance on the night are right! And I think 2023 proved that a great performer with a great performance is a formula for success. Loreen did a fantastic job on that stage. In her case the general public like the song more that I do - but her massive jury win cant only be blamed on the song itself. I think Slimane is the kind of artist that can pull a "loreen" - without be claiming that the victory will be his.

 

[Mainshow]

I wouldn't say that the public didn't agree on "Proud" "at all"... I mean, wasn't the song #11 in the public voting? I think that's still great for a very old-fashioned ballad.

We don't know we other songs yet but I can see reaching the lower Top 10, for sure... also, I think that the comments were quite positive so far... Just look at the poll... 20% awarded the song 12 points. More than one third of the forum gave it even 12 to 8 pts... reviews are quite favorable, I assume.