Eurovision 2023 starts on May 9, with the semi-finals. But France does not need to participate, qualified from the outset for the final. Here’s why.
The big show is coming. Eurovision 2023 will take place this Saturday, May 13 in London. It is customary for the winning country to organize the competition the following year, but it was Ukraine which won it in 2022 with the group Kalush Orchestra. The United Kingdom therefore offered to host on its behalf, due to the war.
The representative of France, Zarra, had been talked about because of her “difficult” character according to the teams. But she wanted to reassure the fans. It is a former president of France Television who then created the surprise by admitting that they were instructed not to win Eurovision. However, France is already in the final. Indeed, these 9 and 11 May take place the semi-finals but our country does not need to participate. Why are we already qualified?
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France, member of the Eurovision Big Five
In total, six countries do not participate in the semi-finals of Eurovision and have already qualified for the final. According to tradition, the winning country of the previous edition is immediately qualified for the final. Then there is the “Big Five”. Since 2011, Germany, Italy, France, United Kingdom and Spain are exempt from “half”. The reason is simple, they are among the founding countries of the contest and above all the largest financial contributors to the EBU, the European Broadcasting Union.
The rule dates back to 2000 and originally involved the Big Five (known as the “Big Four” before Italy returned in 2011) voting to decide between the two semi-final groups. Today, televotes are enough. The country that has won Eurovision the most times, however, is not a member of this famous group. This is Ireland, with seven wins (in 1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996). Next come Sweden, with six victories; then France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and even the United Kingdom with five victories.