|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
“Oh, my love, come back to Paris! Do it for us I beg you” implores Slimane in this achingly heartfelt chanson. I won’t need much persuading. In fact, I’m heading there for the Olympics, so I’m happy to fix a little tête-à-tête in Slimane’s pied-à-terre for a bit of comment va ton père while I’m there. He’s dreamy.
France was first out of the blocks this year, Slimane’s song the very first to be published. He’s a relatively big name in France having won a season of The Voice, and with 4 studio albums to his name, 3 of which topped the charts, the other narrowly missing out at number 2. I’ve been pleased with my brisk flick through his back catalogue, and whilst his Eurovision entry isn’t as good as some of his hits, it’s a pleasant and especially well-sung number.
It’s questionable what competitive advantage such a traditional ballad might hold in a Contest that has largely moved on and which this year features a plethora of more creative and contemporary songs, but the success of entries like Marco Mengoni’s for Italy last year still suggests there’s a place at Eurovision for a strong classic like this. Slimane certainly has the vocal talent to impress the professional jury and stands out enough in his field without competition of a similar genre. In a year with no clear favourite competence might just hold its own against novelty.
“Dis-moi l’endroit, je t’attendrai” Slimane croons to me: tell the place, I’ll wait for you. Well, Slimane, I rather like The Bears’ Den on the Rue des Lombards, so how about we rendezvous there? Je prendrai une bière and we can see where the evening takes us.
Photo: Ismael Nebchi/EBU