This is a bad start for our candidate for Eurovision… No sooner did Tom Leeb unveil this Sunday the song planned to represent France than he saw his odds tumble among punters, falling to 26th place in temporary classification. A real snub, especially since the Frenchman was ranked 18th just before interpreting his tube, that is to say if he has not convinced … On the Eurovision World site, which compiles the odds of several betting sites in online, it is now Italy, Lithuania and Sweden that form the top three, France being credited with a very small percentage (2%) in our chances of winning.
France 2 had however put the dishes in the big ones by using the Eiffel Tower squarely as a natural setting to launch the competition of Tom Leeb, who interpreted “The Best in Me” (“The best of me”) from the first floor, under the famous flashing lights of the Iron Lady. A classic pop-rock love song in which the son of Michel Leeb, 30, an actor who has become a singer, declares his love for a woman in both French and English, as is now customary if you want to have a chance to please as many people as possible… The song was also composed by two Swedes before Tom Leeb and Amir, who himself competed at Eurovision in 2016, rewrite the verses in both languages.
Ministerial disappointment
An initiative that clearly did not convince the Minister of Culture, who expressed his disappointment by once again seeing the language of Shakespeare chosen to accompany the voice of a French artist. “It’s true that the chorus is in English, it broke my ears a little this morning on the radio,” said Franck Riester during a parliamentary hearing, when he was questioned about this choice of song . The minister said he had “passed the message”, while acknowledging that it was an “independent choice” of France Televisions to try to go “get the Grail”.
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What is far from being won: we will have to redouble our efforts to convince, ensure the marathon, work on the choreography, take care of the interviews… For Tom Leeb, the road is likely to be very long until May 16, date of the Eurovision final in Rotterdam. Sunday evening, in front of the press, the singer was serene facing the first critics. “I think that we should not fall into what is going to be said, whether positive or negative, we must simply live this story thoroughly. I trust who I am. As soon as I know that we cannot please everyone, we go free and we live its history. “Remember that France has not won the competition for 43 years, with the coronation of Marie Myriam in 1977 …