France was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "", written by Corneille Nyungura, and performed by Virginie Pouchain. The French participating broadcaster, , selected its performer for the contest through the competition and, subsequently, the song internally once the national final was over.
Singers interested in entering the French national final had the opportunity to apply to one of three open competitions with defined periods organised by France 2, France 3, and RFO. A total of 21 artists were selected; thirteen were selected from the France 3 selection and four were each selected from the France 2 and RFO selections. The 21 finalists competed in the national final on 14 March 2006 where the winner was selected over three rounds of voting. In the first round, the top ten candidates were selected by a four-member jury panel to advance to the second round. In the second round, the top three candidates were selected to advance to the final round following the combination of votes from the jury panel and a public vote, during which "" performed by Virginie Pouchain was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from the jury and public vote. On 17 March 2006, announced that Pouchain would perform a new song at the Eurovision Song Contest and "" was presented to the public as the new entry during a live performance by Pouchain on 10 April 2006 during the France 3 programme .
As a member of the "Big Four", France automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 19, France placed twenty-second out of the 24 participating countries with 5 points.
Prior to the 2006 Contest, and its predecessor national broadcasters, have participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing France forty-eight times since RTF's debut in . They first won the contest in with "" performed by André Claveau. In the 1960s, they won three times, with "Tom Pillibi" performed by Jacqueline Boyer in , "" performed by Isabelle Aubret in , and "" performed by Frida Boccara, who won in in a four-way tie with the , , and the . Their fifth â and so far latest â victory came in with "" performed by Marie Myriam. France has also finished second four times, with Paule Desjardins in , Catherine Ferry in , Joëlle Ursull in , and Amina in (who lost out to 's Carola in a tie-break). In the 21st century, it has making the top ten two times, with "" performed by Natasha St-Pier finishing fourth and "" by Sandrine François finishing fifth . In , "" performed by Ortal finished in twenty-third place.
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country through . The broadcaster confirmed that it would participate in the 2006 contest on 11 December 2005. The French broadcasters had used both national finals and internal selection to choose their entries in the past. From to , opted to internally select its entries. In the broadcaster selected its entry via a national final, a procedure that was continued in order to select the 2006 entry.
=== === was the national selection organised by through its channels: France 2, France 3, and the overseas territories broadcaster RFO in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The final took place on 14 March 2006 at the La Plaine St-Denis television studios in Paris, hosted by Michel Drucker and Claudy Siar. The show was broadcast on France 3 as well as online via the broadcaster channel's official website france3.fr. The national final was watched by 3.4 million viewers in France with a market share of 18.5%.
The selection process took place in two stages before the 21 selected finalists for the live final and ultimately the winner were selected. The first stage of the competition included France 2, France 3, and RFO each conducting varying selections in order to determine the candidates they submitted for the second stage of the competition. France 3 submitted thirteen candidates while France 2 and RFO each submitted four candidates. The 21 candidates proceeded to the second stage, the televised national final, where the winning artist was selected as the French entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 and would perform an internally selected song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Corneille Nyungura.
The four candidates selected by France 2 for the national final were determined through the France 2 programme , produced and hosted by Pascal Sevran. Eighteen contestants were selected for the competition from over 500 performers that attended auditions held in Lille, Marseille, and Paris between 2 December 2005 and 13 December 2005. Following two heats on 14 and 21 January 2006 and a semi-final on 28 January 2006, six contestants ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 4 February 2006, from which four were selected exclusively by public televoting to advance to the national final and announced during an additional show on 4 March 2006.
The thirteen candidates selected by France 3 for the national final were determined through auditions held in thirteen cities across France between 16 January 2006 and 3 February 2006, where over 3,000 performers attended. From each audition, ten performers were selected to advance to the second round and the public was able to vote online via france3.fr. The winner of each audition was determined by the combination of the online vote (50%) and a jury panel headed by vocal coach Malika Bellari (50%) and announced between 9 and 14 February 2006.
The four candidates selected by RFO for the national final were determined through the musical programme which featured 93 artists from French overseas territories. Nine artists ultimately qualified to compete in the final round, from which four were selected to advance to the national final by the combination of an online vote (1/3) and a jury panel (2/3) and announced on 7 February 2006. For the online vote, the public was able to vote for their favourite artists via the programme website 9s1j.rfo.fr between 30 January and 5 February 2006.
The national final took place on 14 March 2006 and the winner was selected over three rounds of voting. In the first round, the twenty-one finalists performed cover versions of popular songs in groups and the top ten contestants as determined by a five-member jury panel advanced to the second round. In the second round, each of the remaining ten contestants performed a cover version of a French language song and together performed a medley of former Eurovision songs: "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" by France Gall (), "L'Oiseau et l'Enfant" by Marie Myriam (), "Ne partez pas sans moi" by Céline Dion () and "White and Black Blues" by Joëlle Ursull (), as well as a medley of English language songs: "Y.M.C.A." by Village People, "Rasputin" by Boney M., "Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward and "Lady Marmalade" by Patti LaBelle. The top three contestants as determined by the combination of public televoting (50%) and the five-member jury (50%) advanced to the final round, during which each of the remaining three contestants performed a cover version of a French language song and the winner, Virginie Pouchain, was determined by the public and jury vote.
The jury panel consisted of:
In addition to the performances of the contestants, Corneille Nyungura and jury members Lara Fabian and Natasha St-Pier performed as the interval acts of the show. The French contest entry, "", was also presented to the public during the show.
Following Virginie Pouchain's win at the French national final, the singer stated that she would be performing a song other than "" at the Eurovision Song Contest following consultation with composer Corneille Nyungura as the entry, originally written to be performed by a male vocalist, did not suit her style. After being given an extended deadline by the EBU, the replacement entry "" was formally presented to the public on 10 April 2006 during the France 3 programme , hosted by Julien Lepers.
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the are required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big 4", France automatically qualified to compete in the final on 20 May 2006. In addition to their participation in the final, France is also required to broadcast and vote in the semi-final on 18 May 2006. During the running order draw for the semi-final and final on 21 March 2006, France was placed to perform in position 19 in the final, following the entry from and before the entry from . Virginie Pouchain performed the song on stage together with cellist Matheson Bayley and France placed twenty-second in the final, scoring 5 points.
In France, the semi-final was broadcast on France 4 with commentary by Peggy Olmi and ÃÂric Jean-Jean, while the final was broadcast on France 3 with commentary by Michel Drucker and Claudy Siar, as well as via radio on France Bleu with commentary by Alexandre Devoise. appointed Sophie Jovillard as its spokesperson to announce the French votes during the final.
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to France and awarded by France in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to in the semi-final and to in the final of the contest.