FRANCE 2022

he French Final was held on March 5th at the La Plaine St Denis TV Studios near Paris, hosted by Stéphane Bern and Laurence Boccolini. The overall winner was chosen in two rounds of voting. After the first round of voting, the top five voted for songs were joined by a jury pick into round two. From here the winner was chosen by a 50-50 split of televoting and jury vote. Going to Eurovision is the collaboration between Alvan & Ahez called "Fulenn" (Spark)

This entry the combination of two musical acts from the Breton region of France. Alvan, real name Alexis Morvan-Rosius, is a multi-instrumentalist musician specialising in electro. He started producing music in 2011, but only became a full time musician in 2015. He then has numerous original singles and remixes and participated in several music festivals. Ahez (Marine Lavigne, Sterenn Diridollou & Sterenn Le Guillou) met while at Diwan - a Breton speaking school. They began singing. and learned "kan ha diskan" a musical style linked to Breton dance, As part of Ahez they interpret contemporary stories mixed with the myths of Brittany.

The song has a rather uneven vibe which keeps on  your toes. Many of the verses have three lines rather than 2 or 4, the tune can be monotone, they don't always start on the beat of 1 and even bridging over bars without a discernable gap. After a rather weird opening gambit the first verse starts off with a rather menacing and primitive background which continues into the chorus which they all sing. This then ends with two lines sung by Alvan alone which leads into the introduction of the dance beat. Verse two starts followed again by all 4 singing the chorus. The dance beat drops out the the drum beat comes back in the the bridge before a free form la-la part which is first sung by Alvan then by Ahez after this be beat come back along with some folk like instrumentation. From here to almost the end, they chant part of the chorus as well as the la-la chant section over a pronounced dance beat. At the very end Alvan speaks a part of the chorus which is a rather odd and unexpected ending.

The song tackles the Breton legend of a young woman who frees herself from societal norms by dancing at night bathed in the light from a bonfire. Some of this is mirrored in the staging and somewhat in their outfits and the mood of the music. The addition of the dancer is a class move and really adds to the movement on stage as well as adding an extra sassy energy to the song. That all said this is much more a mood piece for those of us not fluent in Breton. It isn't exactly sing-along-able but the tune is rather catchy and the beat really drives the whole thing along.  The ending is a little odd and I feel that will a couple of extra seconds up their sleeve that ending could be made more finite and memorable. There is a lot on offer visually; the beautiful dancer, the interactions of the singers, the fetching outfits and the array of niche instruments. This, along with the aural load, could be a bit too much. I could understand if people felt it was trying too hard and throwing everything into the kitchen sink. There is also the fact that there s not much like thins on offer this year and considering the success GO_A had with a similar feel this could well piggyback onto that success. Whatever you feel it is pretty unforgettable and a bit of a bop...and there are not that many this year.

ARTIST - Alvan & Ahez

SONG - Fulenn (Spark)

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Marine Lavigne, Alexis Morvan Rosius