France in the Eurovision Song Contest

France in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participating broadcaster	France Télévisions (1993–present) Former members Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF; 1956–1964) Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF; 1965–74) TF1 (1975–1981) Antenne 2 (1983–1992)
Participation summary
Appearances	66
First appearance	1956
Highest placement	1st: 1958, 1960, 1962, 1969, 1977
Host	1959, 1961, 1978
Participation history 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
External links
France 2 page
France's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024

France has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 66 times since its debut at the first contest in 1956. France is one of only seven countries to be present at the first contest, and has been absent from only two contests in its history, missing the 1974 and 1982 contests. Along with Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, France is one of the "Big Five" countries that are automatically prequalified for the final, due to being the largest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). France has won the contest five times.

France first won the contest in 1958 with "Dors, mon amour" performed by André Claveau. Three more victories followed in the 1960s, with "Tom Pillibi" performed by Jacqueline Boyer in 1960, "Un premier amour" performed by Isabelle Aubret in 1962 and "Un jour, un enfant" performed by Frida Boccara, who won in 1969 in a four-way tie with the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. France's fifth victory came in 1977, when Marie Myriam won with the song "L'Oiseau et l'Enfant". During its successful run in the 20th century, France has also finished second four times, with Paule Desjardins (1957), Catherine Ferry (1976), Joëlle Ursull (1990) and Amina (1991), who lost out to Sweden's Carola in a tie-break.

After reaching the top five in 24 contests in the 20th century, France has had less success in the 21st century, only making the top five four times, with Natasha St-Pier fourth (2001), Sandrine François fifth (2002), Barbara Pravi second (2021) and Slimane fourth (2024). France's other top 10 results in the century are Patricia Kaas's eighth place in 2009 and Amir's sixth place in 2016. France finished last for the first time in 2014, when Twin Twin received only two points.