France was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957 with the song "La Belle Amour", composed by Guy Lafarge, with lyrics by Francis Carco, and performed by Paule Desjardins. Though French participating broadcaster Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF) held a national final to select its entry, it ultimately switched to an internal selection. "La Belle Amour" was performed eighth at the contest and placed second, receiving 17 points.
In each show, five new songs were presented.[1][4] The songs were arranged by Armand Migiani [fr], and accompanied by an orchestra under the direction of Paul Durand.[5] Each song was presented twice, once sung, and once in an instrumental version or sung by a different artist.[5]
Six juries sitting in six French cities chose a winner in each show, with the sixth and last jury to give its vote usually being the jury in Paris.[1][6][7][8][9] Despite the title of the show ("Seven cities, one song"), the heats usually featured juries from only six cities, with the exception of the first heat of 21 December 1957, which featured juries from seven cities.[1]
Every jury consisted of 11 viewers who watched the broadcast on television.[4] Each juror gave one vote to their favourite song.[4] Robert Beauvais called the juries on telephone and oversaw the voting with the help of a scoreboard in the studio.[1] According to newspaper L'Aurore, due to technical issues regarding the telephone lines, all juries were relocated to Paris after the first show.[10]
Heat 1
The first heat of Sept villes, une chanson was aired on 21 December 1957.[1] Five songs were presented.[4] The winning song "Le Petit Homme et la noix" was written by Henri Bourtayre, with lyrics by Francis Blanche.[4][6] For the interval act, Paule Desjardins performed "Paris palace hôtel".[4]
The second heat of Sept villes, une chanson was aired on 4 January 1957.[5] Five new songs were presented.[6] The winning song "Le Manteau de laine" was written by Léo Chauliac and Henri Contet [fr].[6][7] As the interval act, Jacqueline Roland performed the winning song from heat 1, "Le Petit Homme et la noix".[6]
An incident occurred during the voting: Despite the rules that allowed each jury to distribute only 11 votes, the jury of Lille distributed 28 points.[6] The spokespersons of the following juries in Lyon and Nice protested against this irregularity before giving their respective votes, wrongly accusing Marseille instead of Lille.[6] Presenter Robert Beauvais promised that the matter would be investigated, but ultimately continued the voting.[6] He apologised to viewers for the error in the next heat on 18 January 1957.[7]
The third heat of Sept villes, une chanson was aired on 18 January 1957.[3] It was in this heat that Robert Beauvais announced for the first time that the show would serve as the selection for the French entry in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest.[7] Five new songs were presented.[7] The winning song "C'est demain" was written by Francis Lemarque [fr] and Marc Heyral [fr].[7][17]John Littleton [fr] performed the winning song from heat 2, "Le Manteau de laine", as the interval act.[7]
The fourth heat of Sept villes, une chanson was aired on 1 February 1957.[8] The winning song from heat 3, "C'est demain" was played by Joss Baselli [fr] and Paul Durand's orchestra in an instrumental version as the interval act.[17]
The fifth heat was held on 15 February 1957.[9] In contrast to the other heats, it was directed by Claude Dagues.[23][26] As the interval act, the winning song from heat 4, "Je m'ballade dans Paname" was performed by Jean-Louis Tristan [fr].[23] Heat 5 was won by the song "La Belle Amour" written by Guy Lafarge (music) and Francis Carco (lyrics).[23]
The sixth and last heat of Sept villes, une chanson was held on 28 February 1957.[2] In this heat, presenter Robert Beauvais renewed the announcement that the format would be used to select the French entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1957.[30] In contrast to previous heats with five songs, six songs were presented in this heat.[30] As the interval act, Josette Privat performed the winning song from heat 5, "La Belle Amour".[30] Heat 6 was won by "Quelqu'un viendra demain" and "La Reine du port", finishing both with 15 points.[30] "La Reine du port" was written by Paul Aliprandi.[30][31]
Despite having announced Sept villes, une chanson as preselection, RTF finally opted for an internal selection: a separate jury that included Robert Beauvais chose Paule Desjardins as French representative and the song "La Belle Amour" as the French entry.[36] "La Belle Amour" had won the fifth heat of Sept villes, une chanson.[23] It was written by Guy Lafarge (music) and Francis Carco (lyrics).[37]
On 21 February, Deutsches Fernsehen published a press release on the upcoming contest in Frankfurt, saying that Paule Desjardins would sing a song by Guy Lafarge for France.[38] TV listings magazine Radio-Télévision 57 mentioned her as the French representative in its issue of 24 February 1957.[39] It was only on 2 March, one day before the contest, that French newspapers reported that "La Belle Amour" was the French entry.[40][41]
Official TV listings for the Eurovision Song Contest on 3 March still claimed that the French entry had been chosen in Sept villes, une chanson.[42] Apparently, RTF did not inform television viewers sufficiently ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest: TV listings magazine Télévision Programme Magazine later reported having received numerous letters by angry viewers who criticised RTF for its lack of transparency in the selection and for the last-minute replacement of Josette Privat (who had sung the song in Sept villes, une chanson) with Paule Desjardins.[36] The magazine contacted Robert Beauvais, who had presented all shows and had been involved in the decision.[36] Beauvais stated that RTF wanted a good-looking international star to represent France and that Privat was "young, therefore without experience. Her appearance of a nice urchin [gavroche] could not be suitable."[36] According to Beauvais, RTF first had asked Jacqueline François but since she was not available for the date of the contest, they then turned to Paule Desjardins.[36]
At Eurovision
At the Eurovision Song Contest held on 3 March 1957 in Frankfurt, Paule Desjardins performed eight, following the Germany and preceding Denmark.[43] "La Belle Amour" was conducted by Paul Durand.[37] The song received 17 points, placing second in a field of ten.[44] It was succeeded as French representative at the 1958 contest by André Claveau, with "Dors mon amour".[45]
^The jury of Paris distributed only 8 votes in this heat.[4]
^Presented and sung with the title "Mon Petit homme et moi" for the performance by Nadine Young[6]
^Not to be confused with the Bob Martin who represented Austria in this year's Eurovision Song Contest
^The jury of Lyon only distributed 9 votes in this heat. The spokesperson of the Lyon jury announced that two jury members had chosen not to vote because they didn't like any of the songs presented[30]
References
^ abcdefg"Vendredi 21 Décembre". Télévision Programme Magazine (in French). Vol. 2, no. 60. 16 December 1956. p. 18. OCLC472721214.
^ ab"Jeudi 28 Février". Télévision Programme Magazine (in French). Vol. 3, no. 70. 24 February 1957. p. 17. OCLC472721214.
^ ab"Vendredi 18 janvier". Télévision Programme Magazine (in French). Vol. 3, no. 64. 13 January 1957. p. 18. OCLC472721214.
^Claveau, André (1956). 11 (Vinyl) (in French). Pathé. 45 EG 287.
^Lafforgue, René-Louis (1958). A La Belle Étoile (Vinyl) (in French). Pathé. 45 EG 420.
^ abcdeGuillaume, Jacques (17 March 1957). "Josette Privat : 'La Belle Amour' m'a donné la plus grande joie et la première déception de ma carrière". Télévision Programme Magazine (in French). Vol. 3, no. 73. OCLC472721214. [Robert Beauvais explaining the reason for the artist replacement]: Il fallait désigner une vedette très représentative car dans une compétition internationale l'aspect extérieur de l'interprète compte plus que les paroles de la chanson. Notre choix devait donc porter sur une chanteuse que nos amis étrangers puissent, aussi bien, considérer comme un mannequin de la Haute Couture Parisienne. Josette Privat [...] est jeune donc inexpérimentée. Son allure de gentil gavroche ne pouvait convenir.
^ abcdRoxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn, United Kingdom: Telos Publishing. p. 156. ISBN978-1-84583-065-6. OCLC862793988.
^"Internationaler Schlager- und Chansonwettbewerb". Deutsches Fernsehen. ARD-Pressedienst (in German). No. 10/57. 21 February 1957. pp. 4–5. OCLC183304021.
^Ferrey, René (24 February 1957). "Portrait-Express: Paule Desjardins". Radio-Télévision 57 (in French). No. 644. p. 8.
^Treich, Léon (2 March 1957). "Vous avez vu... Les étoiles d'Étienne Lalou sont plus authentiques que celles de Robert Beauvais". L'Aurore (in French). Vol. 16, no. 3881. p. 8. ISSN0294-8486. OCLC1367943474.
^"Programmes de télévision" [Television programs]. Radio Cinéma Télévision (in French). No. 372. 3 March 1957. p. 9. ISSN0481-5920. OCLC474508236.
^"Dimanche 3 Mars". Télévision Programme Magazine (in French). Vol. 3, no. 71. 3 March 1957. p. 13. OCLC472721214.
^"Paris-Inter". Radio Cinéma Télévision (in French). No. 372. 3 March 1957. p. 17. ISSN0481-5920. OCLC474508236. Présentation pour la France et les pays de langue française : Robert Beauvais [Presentation for France and the French-speaking countries: Robert Beauvais]
^Sansnom, Pierrette (5 March 1957). "La 'chanson européenne' est hollandaise". L'Aurore (in French). Vol. 16, no. 3883. p. 9. ISSN0294-8486. OCLC1367943474.
