France: Direct assignment should not be considered as given

Last week, French media reported that the country would choose its next representative in the Eurovision song contest. This meant that Destination Eurovision was not going to take place a third time. Ultimately, this seems to be a misunderstanding of the term “direct assignment”, since France 2 has not yet decided on Bilal’s successor, not even ruling out a national final with 3 or 4 candidates.

French television already receives songs for Eurovision 2020 but with the significant difference that for the first time since 2004 it has received entries from foreign composers as well. What is expected is that they will either become a national final with 3 or 4 candidates or will be selected by direct assignment, as was the case in 2016 and 2017 with positive results.

Bilal Hassani was the winner of the last Destination Eurovision and France’s representative at Eurovision 2019. He performed “Roi” on the stage of Tel Aviv and took 16th place with 105 points.