FRANCE – Barbara Pravi won the French national selection and will now go on to represent her country with ‘Voilà’. France’s national selection Eurovision France: C’est Vous Qui Décidez (Eurovision France: You Decide) was broadcast live from Paris. Barbara Pravi was chosen out of 12 participants after she received the most votes from the audience and jury.

The show consisted of 2 rounds. In the first round, the top 7 songs that received the most televotes qualified to the next stage. Then, one of the songs that didn’t make it through the first round, LMK, was selected by the jury to join them. The 8 finalists then competed in the second round of voting, where the votes from the audience and the juries both accounted for 50%. Barbara Pravi was the winner of this final voting.

The show was hosted by Stéphane Bern and Laurence Boccolini and the jury was filled with Eurovision stars. It’s president was France’s 2016 artist Amir and it also included fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, Eurovision winners Marie Myriam and Duncan Laurence as well as former participants such as Natasha St-Pier (2001).

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Pravi first began her music career in 2014, after meeting French musician Jules Jaconelli. With Jaconelli, she began composing songs. The following year, Pravi signed a contract with Capitol Music France. Upon beginning her professional recording career, Pravi performed on the soundtrack of the French version of the Swiss film Heidi, and afterwards was cast as Solange Duhamel in the musical show Un été 44 in November 2016, performing songs written by Jean-Jacques Goldman, Charles Aznavour and Maxime Le Forestier.

In 2017, Pravi released her first official single “Pas grandir”. The single was later included on her self-titled debut extended play, which was released the following year. Also in 2017, Pravi starred in the television film La Sainte famille, which was later broadcast on France 2 in December 2019.[6] From 2017 until 2018, Pravi performed on the 55 Tour, supporting French singer Florent Pagny. At the end of 2018, Pravi wished to alter her musical style by adopting a more traditional French chanson style, rather than the pop music that had dominated her early releases.

Along with writing and composing her own songs, Pravi has written for several other artists including Yannick Noah, Julie Zenatti, Chimène Badi, and Jaden Smith.

In 2019, Pravi first became associated with the Eurovision Song Contest after composing the song “Bim bam toi” for French teen singer Carla, composed with French musician Igit. The song represented France at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Gliwice, where it placed fifth. After the contest, the song also went on to become a success on TikTok. Following the success of “Bim bam toi”, Pravi later released her second extended play Reviens de l’hiver in February 2020.

In 2020, Pravi and Igit were confirmed to have written the French Junior Eurovision entry once again. Their song, “J’imagine” performed by the French child singer Valentina, later represented France at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Warsaw. “J’imagine” went on to win the competition, becoming the first French entry to win Junior Eurovision. Later that year, Pravi was announced as one of the contestants in Eurovision France, c’est vous qui décidez!, the French national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. She will compete in the final on 30 January 2021 with the song “Voilà”, composed by herself along with Igit. Pravi had reportedly been asked by France Télévisions to be a candidate for the Eurovision Song Contest for years prior, but had declined the opportunity due to feeling as if she was not ready.

Pravi is very active in the fight to end violence against women, having previously been a survivor of domestic violence. She has frequently contributed to music initiatives intended to promote causes involved with women’s rights. Pravi was also invited to speak at Emlyon Business School through TEDx to speak about her career and how she found self-confidence.

Pravi has cited her musical influences as Barbara, Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, Françoise Hardy, and Aragon.

LYRICS

Écoutez moi
Moi la chanteuse à demi
Parlez de moi
À vos amours, à vos amis
Parler leur de cette fille aux yeux noirs et de son rêve fou
Moi c’que j’veux c’est écrire des histoires qui arrivent jusqu’à vous
C’est tout

Voilà, voilà, voilà, voilà qui je suis
Me voilà même si mise à nue j’ai peur, oui
Me voilà dans le bruit et dans le silence

Regardez moi, ou du moins ce qu’il en reste
Regardez moi, avant que je me déteste
Quoi vous dire, que les lèvres d’une autre ne vous diront pas
C’est peu de chose mais moi tout ce que j’ai je le dépose là, voilà

Voilà, voilà, voilà, voilà qui je suis
Me voilà même si mise à nue c’est fini
C’est ma gueule c’est mon cri, me voilà tant pis
Voilà, voilà, voilà, voilà juste ici
Moi mon rêve mon envie, comme j’en crève comme j’en ris
Me voilà dans le bruit et dans le silence

Ne partez pas, j’vous en supplie restez longtemps
Ça m’sauvera peut-être pas, non
Mais faire sans vous j’sais pas comment
Aimez moi comme on aime un ami qui s’en va pour toujours
J’veux qu’on m’aime parce que moi je sais pas bien aimer mes contours

Voilà, voilà, voilà, voilà qui je suis
Me voilà même si mise à nue c’est fini
Me voilà dans le bruit et dans la fureur aussi
Regardez moi enfin et mes yeux et mes mains
Tout c’que j’ai est ici, c’est ma gueule c’est mon cri
Me voilà, me voilà, me voilà
Voilà, voilà, voilà, voilà

Voilà