France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998

France was represented by Marie Line, with the self-penned song '"Où aller", at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 9 May in Birmingham. The song was chosen internally by broadcaster France 2.

Eurovision Song Contest 1998
Country France
National selection
Selection processInternal Selection
Selected entrantMarie Line
Selected song"Où aller"
Finals performance
Final result24th, 3 points
France in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1997 • 1998 • 1999►

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Marie Line performed third in the running order, following Greece and preceding Spain. The uptempo "Où aller" was one of the evening's more contemporary songs, with urban-influenced rhythms and style at a time when this type of song was only just starting to make its appearance at Eurovision.

"Où aller" was almost completely overlooked in the voting, having by the close picked up only 3 points (from the somewhat unlikely sources of Cyprus and Macedonia), placing France 24th of the 25 entries, ahead only of the nul-points Swiss entry. At that time it was the worst placing for France since it first entered the contest, and it will remain so until 2014. "Où aller" has a positive reputation and is often cited as among the more inexplicable and undeserved total voting failures in Eurovision. Explanations range from the surmise that the song was disadvantaged by being drawn to be performed very early in the show to the suggestion that in Eurovision terms it was simply ahead of its time and would have registered a less disastrous result in a later contest.

The 12 points from the French televote were awarded to contest winners Israel.[1]

Points awarded to France
Points awarded to France
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
  •  Macedonia

Points awarded by France
12 points Israel
10 points Portugal
8 points Croatia
7 points Belgium
6 points Malta
5 points Netherlands
4 points Spain
3 points United Kingdom
2 points Poland
1 point Hungary

Backup jury points[2]
12 points United Kingdom
10 points Netherlands
8 points Portugal
7 points Ireland
6 points Israel
5 points Romania
4 points Belgium
3 points Cyprus
2 points Sweden
1 point Hungary

See also

References
  1. ESC History - France 1998
  2. "Results of the national backup juries". Retrieved 7 July 2020.
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