France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979
| Eurovision Song Contest 1979 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |
 France | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Concours de la Chanson Française pour l'Eurovision 1979 | |||
| Selection date(s) |
4 March 1979 (cancelled)[1] | |||
| Selected entrant | Anne Marie David | |||
| Selected song | "Je suis l'enfant soleil" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 3rd, 106 points | |||
| France in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
France was present at the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, held in Jerusalem, Israel.
The French national final to select their entry, Concours de la Chanson Française pour l'Eurovision 1979, was to be held on 4 March at the TF1 Studios in Paris, but the Société Française de Production, the French film technicians' union, went on strike, barring the semi-finals from airing and the finals from being taped at all.[1] A professional jury picked the winner out of a pool of 14 semi-finalists.
The winning entry was "Je suis l'enfant soleil," performed by Anne Marie David and composed by Eddy Marnay with lyrics by Hubert Giraud. Despite the strike, Anne Marie David's semi-final performance was allowed to be shown during Preview Week.
Songs present at the semi-finals[1]
The song in bold and gold was the jury's pick to represent France in Jerusalem.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Informal translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Renaud Siry | Juste une mélodie | Just a melody |
| 2 | Darras & Désumeur | Arlequin | Harlequin |
| 3 | Christy Caro | L'hiver est le plus chaud | The winter is the hottest |
| 4 | Elsa Litton | Cette nuit-là | That night |
| 5 | Chorus | Je vole sur la musique | I'm flying on music |
| 6 | Anne Marie David | Je suis l'enfant soleil | I'm a child of the sun |
| 7 | Michel Démétriadès | Prends la vie comme elle vient | Take life las it comes |
| 8 | Judith Lay | Enfants de la musique | Children of music |
| 9 | Richard Lory | Un vent de folie | A crazy wind |
| 10 | Francine Aliona | Danse, allez danse | Dance, go dance |
| 11 | Paul and Julie B. | Retour aux années folles | Return to the Roaring Twenties |
| 12 | Patrick Loubié | Bravo, tant pis | Well done, too bad |
| 13 | Jean-Noël Dupré | On est tous pareils | It is all the same |
| 14 | Nadine Douteau | Un jour tu trouveras | One day, you will find it |
At Eurovision
Anne Marie David performed eleventh on the night of the contest, following Israel and preceding Belgium. At the close of the voting the song had received 106 points, placing 3rd in a field of 19 competing countries.