FRANCE – Speaking to 20minutes.fr, France’s Head of Delation Alexandra Redde-Amiel said that the broadcaster would be interested to host the 2021 edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Alexandra Redde-Amiel is the director of entertainment for France Télévisions and, also, the head of the French delegation to Eurovision.
“To think that 43 years after the victory of Marie Myriam [at Eurovision] in 1977, we bring a trophy home, it puts balm in the heart”, she declared to 20 Minutes this Monday, the next day of Valentina’s victory at Eurovision Junior.
“This is the culmination of a lot of teamwork, we’ve been on it for eight months,” she explains before confirming her “desire” for France to organize the Eurovision Junior 2021.
It was with an Alexandra Redde-Amiel swinging between “fatigue, emotion and joy” that 20Minutes debriefed this Monday morning of Valentina’s victory at the Junior Eurovision on Sunday. When the result was announced, the head of delegation, also director of entertainment for France Télévisions, jumped for joy alongside the 11-year-old singer. It was the culmination of an application that had been worked on for several months, focusing on lightness and childish spirit – while other countries came up with darker proposals. This bias paid off: for the first time in four appearances, France won the trophy and … the priority to organize the next edition.
Alexandra said: “In the aftermath of Valentina’s victory, I imagine that happiness prevails … This is the culmination of a lot of teamwork, we’ve been on it for eight months, carrying this with the health crisis. A lot of times we wondered if it was going to hold up if we were going to be able to go. All France Televisions and the entire French delegation mobilized. Valentina carried us through this little sun that she is, this pride she had to represent France. She trained us, motivated us, stimulated us and made us want to fight. It was a challenge, we had to adapt, think and do things differently. Valentina has always been there to say: “I’m up for it!” It’s one of the best examples of winning, to think that nothing is impossible.
This is the first real delegation that I lead to the end since Eurovision 2020 has been cancelled. I got into Eurovision Junior with my gaze, finding out, wondering how it was going to go. I didn’t want to tell myself that we absolutely had to win. I knew we were among the favourites, but as the votes are split between the juries and the audience and twelve countries were competing this year, it could all be played out in a pocket-handkerchief. Before we started, with Valentina, we figured that no matter what happened, we had no regrets. Everything we wanted to do, we did. After that, it’s true that deep inside me, looking at Valentina, I had this little flame that told me that she had everything to win, in what she represents, the message she sent, in the hope that she made it move to Europe. And what she is: a simple little girl who says life is always good. She deserved this victory.
Have you had any feedback from other delegations?
Yes, I have lots of messages from delegations who are happy, who ask us if we are going to organize next year, who tell us that it was “amazing”, a magnificent performance. There was a sort of unanimity. We also had some very nice messages from the Eurovision presidency.
Will France organize the Junior Eurovision 2021?
We are of course very keen to host Eurovision Junior in France next year. Delphine Ernotte [the president of France Televisions] is very keen to do it, Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez [director of the antennas of France Télés] too. We will first savour and then chat with the Eurovision presidency and the EBU [European Broadcasting Union] to find out how we can organize the 2021 edition and if it will be possible to do so. You have to speak with them before formalizing anything, but in any case, the wish is there.
On social networks, Internet users, especially Spanish [the Spanish candidate, who was among the favourites, finished third], attacked Valentina, believing her victory undeserved and accusing her of singing in playback …
Two things. The first: in each competition, some dissatisfied people do not want to believe that … The second is that we had what are called guidelines, that is to say, a very clear charter saying what
