France: Bilal Hassani – Roi

Shi: One of the biggest challenges in writing a review is when you get to an entry you feel there is some sort of consensus about that you can’t quite see or agree with, but that does make you question yourself.

“Roi” is one of those songs. I keep reading that it’s terrible, that the performance is bad and that it’s going to do nothing. But I don’t really feel that. I do get some of the criticism, though. Bilal isn’t one of this year’s strongest vocalists, but he’s far from being as bad as described, and it’s nothing a good backing vocal arrangement won’t fix. I can even get that people find the “take me as I am” message songs a bit tiring by this point, but I think his performance of it so far has pushed the message just enough without going overboard, and that he feels natural and relatable in his stage persona.

More importantly, though, I think “Roi” is a really good song. It’s a clever and catchy composition that also serves as an example of how to mash native language and English in an effective way that really helps drive the message of the song home.

Predicting this is also hard – see my first paragraph – but I feel it’s memorable enough for televoters and strong enough as a song to at least manage the left side of the board.

Felix: I’m still unsure where France is on this year’s Eurovision map. What’s more, I always thought Bilal was a “she”, which just shows my level of attachment to this year’s line-up. Anyway: I also find this better than its reputation suggests. For me, one of the better songs this year.

Martin: I trouve this très difficile to get un handle on. Bilal ne semble pas particularly sympa, même almost egotistical, et the mixture des langues is pretty weird en ce qui concerne how it changes après almost every mot. Not for me, comme Daniela Simons once a chanté.

video and title image source: eurovision.tv