#33 – France
“Fuleen”
Alvan and Ahez
Songwriters: Marine Lavigne, Alvan Morvan Rosius
The Kirkham Report welcomes you to my coverage of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest! From April 3 to the end of the contest on May 14, I’ll be here with all the latest ESC news and info, and of course, that means I’m also bringing you all the info on each song this year ranked in order of my personal preference from bottom to top. I’ll give the reasons for my personal rankings, and some background info on the song, artist, songwriters, and such. Again, these are MY opinions, and I realize that the ESC fan community is a rabid one, and rarely everyone agrees with everyone else, so as they say, your mileage may vary.
There are 40 countries participating this year, up from 39 in 2021 – Armenia and Montenegro return to the contest after taking 2021 off, while Russia has been excluded this year due to their incursion on the sovereign state of Ukraine; Belarus was disqualified in 2021 for three years because of rules violations on their song entry, that runs through 2023.
In at #33 this year is the official entry from France, “Fuleen” by Alvan and Ahez. It is performed in Breton, only the second time in ESC history that the country has selected a song in the language spoken mostly in the Brittany region of the country, the first being 1996. France is a “Big 5” member and thus has an automatic “bye” to the Grand Final on May 14. France began using a competition show in 2021 to determine their representative to the contest, and Alvan and Ahez beat eleven other songs and performers to win their trip to Turin for Eurovision.
Alvan has been performing since 2015, with multiple recordings released since that time. Ahez members Marine Lavigne, Sterenn Diridollou and Sterenn Le Guillou first met in high school, and began performing their brand of traditional Celtic folk music in 2018. Breton is the primary language spoken by all four performers.
What I’m thinking about this song….I don’t dislike this song at all – I find it quite pleasant, actually. But it’s also not something I would play on a regular basis. It has a HUUUGE following amongst Eurovision fans, and I can see why. The style is Celtic Folk meets EDM, and while quite unique doesn’t quite hit me as well as many other songs in the contest. I feel it will do quite well, possibly in the top 10, and could even be one of those songs that could be a dance chart hit in the US as well. Time will tell…
France made its Eurovision debut in 1956 (the first year), and has missed the contest only a couple of times since then. They have won the Grand Championship five times – with “Dors, mon amor” by Andre Claveau in 1958, “Tom Pillibi” by Jacqueline Boyer in 1960, “Un Premier Amor” by Isabelle Aubret in 1962, “Un jour, un enfant” by Frida Boccara in 1969’s one-of-a-kind four way tie (with Spain, The Netherlands, and the UK), and “L’oiseau et l’enfant” by Marie Myriam in 1977. Their luck ran out after that last win, and they’ve made the top 10 only five times in the 21st century, and finished last for the first ever in 2014. 2021’s entry, “Voila” by Barbara Pravi, however, broke that string of bad luck, and finished in the runner up slot, and also became a hit throughout much of Europe after it’s release last year.
Here’s the official music video – check it out!
Join The Kirkham Report throughout the next few weeks as I bring you the 2022 entries, and more, plus after and during the countdown, the latest updates on this year’s ESC and all the craziness that surrounds this contest every year! Because of some personal issues, I am WAYYY behind right now on the countdown, but I promise I will be caught up in time to conclude my countdown next Sunday!
Be sure to check out and like my Spotify Playlist Channel “Euro-Visionaries” – it’s filled with hours and hours of ESC competitors, songs, covers, and Junior Eurovision tunes as well from the beginnings of the contest right up through the present day – if you’re an ESC fan, you’ll LOVE my channel!
Catch all the official EuroVision action at their official Website at http://eurovision.tv and on their official YouTube channel!
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