No public vote. Exit "Destination Eurovision", the broadcast of the presets of the two previous editions on France 2! To put the odds on its side, France Televisions chose internally, like the Spanish and the English, the artist who will represent France at Eurovision 2020, during the grand finale in Rotterdam (Netherlands), Next May 16. A decisive step for the tricolor delegation, which first listened to hundreds of songs by French authors and composers, but also foreigners for the first time. The title found, therefore remained to find an interpreter in total adequacy to better defend the chances of France. It is done!
According to our information, Tom Leeb, the son of humorist Michel Leeb will succeed Bilal Hassani, ranked 16th out of 26 in Tel Aviv (Israel), last year. His mission: to climb into the Top 5. What even Amir (6th in 2016) had failed to do. The last time France achieved this goal was in 2002 with Sandrine François (5th) and in 2001 with Natasha St-Pier (4th). Contacted, the management of France Télévisions did not wish to comment.
It is the "musical revelation"
Still little known to the general public, Tom Leeb has more than one string to his acoustic guitar. In September, the 30-year-old musician released his first album, "Recollection", at Roy Music. It is he who signs and composes the thirteen pop folk songs with rock accents, which tell so many dented love stories. It includes the sublime title "Distance Is A Thing" and also "Are We Too Late", which has posted 25 million views on YouTube since it went online in December 2017. In recent months, the artist has also made the first part of the legendary Welsh singer Tom Jones, the interpreter of the tube "Sex Bomb" and more recently that of Sting. This is the “musical revelation” for Damien Thévenot and “Télématin” on France 2 who devoted a long subject to him this fall.
Music, Tom Leeb has had it in him since childhood, via the jazz hits of Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole that his father listened to at home. Like his sister Fanny Leeb, who had seduced Garou and Jenifer on season 2 of "The Voice", with a reinterpretation of "Don't Stop the Music" by Rihanna, in 2013. But for this self-taught, it all really started At New York. It was there that he learned to sing alone and played the guitar, which a friend lent him, from 18 to 23 years old. There again he had his strongest emotion by performing on an open stage for the first time in front of 250 people. His inspirations? All Anglo-Saxon. The Englishman Ben Howard, the Australian Matt Corby or the Americans Bon Iver and John Mayer.
Returning to Paris after several years of training in song, comedy and dance, Tom Leeb went up on stage in “Madame Doubtfire”, in 2014, interpreted by his father Michel. Then he too made a name for himself as an actor, starting in “Sous le soleil de Saint-Tropez” and “Sections de Recherches” and especially as a humorist. The same year, the one who imitated his teachers during his internship period in Switzerland put on his first show Kevin and Tom, in duet with the actor Kevin Levy. The two handle the comic by the absurd, play acrobats, mime, noise, joke with the misunderstandings of everyday life and joke about the news. With success.
Quickly spotted, they opened for Gad Elmaleh at the Olympia, launched their YouTube channel (17,000 subscribers). And in 2019, Kevin and Tom go from Petit to Grand Point comma. Same year, other register. Tom Leeb plays the charmers on the big screen on the poster of "Edmond", the adaptation of the play by Alexis Michalik. Doing the show is already what attracted him during his tennis training, which he almost became. Now it's up to him to score winning points on the Eurovision stage.