France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979

France was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 with the song "Je suis l'enfant soleil", composed by Hubert Giraud, with lyrics by Eddy Marnay, and performed by Anne Marie David.^[1] The French participating broadcaster, Télévision Française 1 (TF1), internally selected its entry for the contest.

France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979
Eurovision Song Contest 1979
Participating broadcaster	Télévision Française 1 (TF1)
Country	France
Selection process	Internal selection
Competing entry
Song	"Je suis l'enfant soleil"
Artist	Anne Marie David
Songwriters	Hubert Giraud Eddy Marnay
Placement
Final result	3rd, 106 points
Participation chronology
◄1978 • 1979 • 1980►

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

Télévision Française 1 (TF1) was going to hold the French national final, Concours de la Chanson Française pour l'Eurovision 1979, on 4 March 1979 at its 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. 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.^[2][3]

1st semi-final - 18 février 1979[2] Ordre Artiste Chanson Points Place 1 Renaud Siry Juste une mélodie - - 2 Darras et Désumeur Arlequin - - 3 Christy Caro L'hiver est le plus chaud - - 4 Elsa Litton Cette nuit-là - - 5 Chorus Je vole sur la musique - - 6 Anne-Marie David Je suis l'enfant-soleil - 1 7 Michel Démétriadès Prends la vie comme elle vient - -

2nd demi-finale - 25 février 1979[3] Ordre Artiste Chanson Points Place 1 Judith Lay Enfants de la musique - - 2 Richard Lory Un vent de folie - - 3 Francine Aliona Danse, allez danse - - 4 Paul et Julie B. Retour aux années folles - - 5 Patrick Loubié Bravo, tant pis - - 6 Jean-Noël Dupré On est tous pareils - - 7 Nadine Douteau Un jour tu trouveras - -

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.^[4]

Voting

Points awarded to France[5] Score Country 12 points  Luxembourg  Netherlands 10 points  Italy  Monaco   Switzerland 8 points  Greece 7 points  Norway 6 points  Belgium  Portugal  United Kingdom 5 points  Austria  Israel  Sweden 4 points 3 points  Spain 2 points 1 point  Finland

Points awarded by France[5] Score Country 12 points  Germany 10 points  Portugal 8 points  Spain 7 points   Switzerland 6 points  Denmark 5 points  Finland 4 points  Greece 3 points  Monaco 2 points  Luxembourg 1 point  Israel