Despite ongoing calls for boycotts, France’s national broadcaster France Télévisions officially confirms participation in Eurovision 2026 in Vienna, Austria. The selecting process of France’s entry is yet to be revealed.
France’s national broadcaster France Télévisions has confirmed that the country will participate in Eurovision 2026, to be held in Vienna, Austria. France becomes the 25th country to express interest in joining Eurovision 2026, following Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the host country, Austria.
On the official Instagram account of France Télévisions, the broadcaster announced today (Wednesday) its official entry into the contest:
“France Télévisions is pleased to confirm its particiation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 on May 16th in Vienna, alongside fellow public service media members of the EBU. The group reaffirms its support for musical creation, to artists, and for this unique event”.
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France’s Position Regarding Israel
France appears to be taking a similar stance to other nations, treating Eurovision as an apolitical cultural event. Like Malta, Australia, and the United Kingdom, France does not connect its participation to political developments. While its statement made no direct reference to Israel, the confirmation carries weight given the timing – coming just as Spain declared it would withdraw if Israel were allowed to participate. France, in contrast, has opted to avoid politicization and remain as neutral as possible. Adding interest, history shows France as the country that has awarded Israel the most points across Israel’s 47 appearances in the contest.
France’s stance is significant, as the country is one of the “Big 5”, meaning it holds an automatic spot in every Eurovision final. Current trends suggest that France and the United Kingdom are positioning themselves as bystanders in the tensions between Germany and Italy, which are pretty supportive to Israel and Spain, whoch opposes Israel’s participation.
France in Eurovision: Once a Pioneer, But Victory Doesn’t Seem Near
France has long played a central role in shaping Eurovision, being one of the contest’s seven founding members and setting many of its traditions from the very beginning. Across 66 appearances, the country has achieved five victories – in 1958, 1960, 1962, 1969, and 1977. In 1991, France narrowly missed its sixth victory, losing to Sweden in a tie-breaker.
The country has enjoyed consistent high placements, reaching the Top 5 no less than 27 times. It has placed second on five occasions: 1957, 1976, 1990, 1991, and 2021. Seven times in third place – in 1959, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1978, 1979, and 1981. Eight more times in fourth place – in 1961, 1964, 1970, 1975, 1993, 1995, 2001 ans 2024. And twice more in fifth place – in 1963 and 2002. France reached the top ten 13 more times.
The country has skipped Eurovision only twice: First time was in 1974, following the death of French President Georges Pompidou just four days before the contest in Brighton, England. though the show was broadcast a week later. The second time was in 1982, when the broadcaster declared that the quality of songs on offer to France was too low, which made the broadcaster withdraw from the contest in November 1981.
France dominated the competition in its early decades, but today it carries one of the longest victory droughts, having waited since Marie Myriam’s win in 1977. Eurovision 2026 would mark 49 years without a French triumph.
France at Eurovision 2025
“maman” (in English: “Mom”) is the title of the song to be performed by the singer, Louane, who represented France at Eurovision 2025, in Basel, Switzerland. France finished seventh in the final with 230 points. France was ranked third by the judges, but the young singer received only 14th place from the public vote. The seventh place overall was considered low compared to France’s pre-contest odds, where it was ranked third.
This marks the second consecutive year that France has finished in the top 10 at the Eurovision final.
Eurovision 2026: This will be France’s 67th participation in Eurovision. France joined the competition in 1956 and has won it five times over the years. France’s last victory was in Eurovision 1977 with the song “L’Oiseau et l’Enfant” performed by singer Marie Myriam.
