Cyril Hanouna never misses an opportunity to hit France Télévisions. The latest pretext to date is the Eurovision Song Contest. On Wednesday, November 8, Slimane announced that he will represent our country with the song Mon amour. "I'm doing it to represent my country, to sing this song, to sing about love. I think we need it now more than ever. It's an honor, "said the singer to the news of 20 hours of France 2.
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"I love Slimane," the C8 troublemaker said tonight in "TPMP." On his song's chances of winning the race, the line-up is more mixed. For Gilles Verdez, the song is "too French and too romantic to win". Valérie Benaïm recalls that in a similar musical register, Barbara Pravi finished on the second step of the podium in 2021 with the song Voilà.
They have a director at France 2 who does just that all year round, she only takes care of Eurovision
Cyril Hanouna in "TPMP"
"We only remember the winner," says Cyril Hanouna, a connoisseur of the competition. "I did everything at Eurovision," the host and producer recalls, before adding wryly: "At one point they even asked me to sing." Indeed, he was the spokesman for the French vote in 2008. The following year, he commentated with Julien Courbet on the competition live from Moscow. An exercise that he repeated in 2010, this time alongside Stéphane Bern.
"Slimane can win, but France will never win, I tell you," predicts the host who has not yet really revealed his argument. "They have a director at France 2 who does just that all year round, she only takes care of Eurovision," he adds. "And she is not paid only for that," informs Jacques Cardoze who keeps a bitter taste of his experience at France Télévisions, as he testified a few weeks ago to "Buzz TV". "She's going to be happy, she's going to go to Sweden. And then they'll come back and say 'we were happy'," Cyril Hanouna continues.
The order to lose?
"They told me every time, the big fear was 'I hope we don't win'. I did Patricia Kaas, she finished eighth, we were happy," Cyril Hanouna finally reveals. Words that echo those of Yves Bigot last May on the set of "C médiatique". The former boss of France 2 had assured to have had during his mandate "the order to lose" every year. The winning country must host the following year's edition. An expenditure that amounts to "20 to 25 million euros". An amount that not all television channels can provide "except in small countries where it is the Ministry of Tourism that finances", he explained afterwards.
Very attached to the figures, which they evoke every evening in "Touche pas à mon poste", Cyril Hanouna recalls with pride to hold "the historical record of audience" of the broadcasting of the European singing competition in France.