REACTING TO FRANCE'S ENTRY

France's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the third one to be picked for this year's edition. We already had made a post regarding our Top 3 favorites for the Destination Eurovision 2019 Grand Final. France's representative for this year will be Bilal Hassani, with his song "Roi". After finishing in a disappointing 5th place out of 8 in the international jury voting, the 19 year old got an amazing and dramatic comeback by pulling 150 points out of the televote, winning the National Final with an amazing 200 points.
Once again, our team will have its say on this entry, and of course, we hope you like it!

Francisco

I'll start by giving my congratulations to France for the amazing National Final they just had, with was tense and full of drama right to the edge! Regarding "Roi", I must say that I don't really know why I like it, but it sure is a catchy tune. I like how the mix between French and English lyrics works out, I like the message, it's a song that it's really easy to the ear, it builds up really nicely, the chorus is a bit flat, I would like a more powerful one, but it still works out in its own special way and it has a nice climax when the chorus ends (when he sings "You can never remove my crown") and in the live show, particularly on the semi-final, the dancers do an impression of a crown with their hands on Bilal's head, that is a really visually cool moment. Talking about Bilal's performance, I must say I'm a little disappointed... On the final I was digging the revamped staging until the chorus started, but then Bilal completely enters it by failing a high note big time, and that was the moment that awakened me for his vocal flaws, that are not a major problem, but at the same time, it still is... After that moment I noticed him having breathing problems that hurt his performance, he sang out of tune more than once, by times I feel he just got emotional a little bit too much and it wasn't really pretty vocally wise, and it seemed that he couldn't sing while dancing at some points. Nevertheless, Bilal is only 19, and he could have really felt the pressure and probably got nervous, which resulted in not getting the most out of his performance. When I said this wouldn't be a major problem, it's because he still has almost 4 months to improve all of this, and I can see that Bilal really wants this, and when you really work for something, you end up getting rewarded for it, so Bilal, if you're reading this, keep going at it with strength and you'll see that you can be on point for Eurovision, nothing is lost mate! With that said, I'm rating this song 8,5/10. If it was before the Final, I would rank this 9/10, but now I'm not so sure. Nevertheless, it can easily go back up to a 9 if it goes well at Eurovision, or even more! This song really has a lot of staging potential, I wouldn't say it is an Eurovison winner, but if done well, it can easily be Top 10, but we'll see how it all goes down on the May 18. Best of luck to Bilal and France!

SCORE: 8,5/10


Cano

Roi has a very soothing piano meldoy that makes me feel very calm and peaceful. When it reaches the chorus it turns into something more energetic, as you would expect from its build-up. It has a good acceptance message, which basically says we should love ourselves for who we are, and that's what I find most likeable about the song. Vocally, Bilal is not on point, maybe because he carries his emotion a little too much to his performance and he ends up being just average and shaky, and ultimately, that's why I'm not so sure about this. For that, I'm giving it a 6 out of 10.

SCORE: 6/10


Nina

The theme of this song isn't new to Eurovision, but fits perfectly into Bilal and it's personal style. It's a pleasant song, it's catchy, and it has its own strenght. However, Bilal's vocal range needs to be better and I hope he can do it until May. Regarding his National Final performance, I was hoping it would stay similar to the semi-final one, for me it was perfect, because in the final there wasn'tas much movement and it kind of killed the song a bit, and I'm afraid that might happen. However, I'm expecting some surprises for Eurovision! It's one of my favorites this year, but something tells me it won't go further than mid-table. I'm giving it an 8 out of 10.

SCORE: 8/10


OTHER RATINGS:

Martim: 3/10
Joana: 5/10

AVERAGE SCORE: 6,1

How great do you think Bilal can be at Eurovision? Do you think he will be the king of the night? Let us know everything in the comment section!

Have a great day!