It has been over a month since Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin Italy. Today the Live-On-Tape performances that were recorded in the event an artist could not perform in Turin continues to be released. The next performance that was released was Alvan & Ahez’s performance of their song “Fulenn”.
About Alvan & Ahez
Alvan and Ahez are this year’s French representatives at Eurovision after winning ‘Eurovision France: C’est Vous Qui Décidez!’ in March with their song “Fulenn”. The act is a collaboration between two Breton musical acts – electronic artist Alvan and vocal group Ahez (Marine Lavigne, Sterenn Diridollou, and Sterenn Le Guillou). Alvan comes from the Rennes electro-rock scene and is a musical experimentalist. Ahez is regulars on the Fest-Noz (traditional Breton festival) circuit and has been immersed in Breton culture since childhood. They are proud to represent the living legacies of their heritage, mythology, and history.
What is a Live-On-Tape
A Live-On Tape performance is essentially a backup performance. Last year they were used in the event that a delegation could not travel to Rotterdam. This proved to be the case for the Australian delegation in 2021, due to the strict travel restrictions in place in the country at the time. Iceland also had to use a backup performance, however instead of the one they recorded in Iceland they used rehearsal footage, recorded in Rotterdam. Iceland had to use a Live-On tape due to several members of Daði & Gagnamagnið testing positive for Covid-19 during Eurovision 2021.
Watch the Other Live-On-Tape Performances
At the time of writing, you can now watch the Live-On-Tape performances for Ronela Hajati (Albania), LUM!X and Pia Maria (Austria), Jérémie Makiese (Belgium), Intelligent Music Project (Bulgaria), Mia Dimšić (Croatia), REDDI (Denmark), Stefan (Estonia), The Rasmus (Finland), Amanda Tenfjord (Greece), Systur (Iceland), Brooke (Ireland), Michael Ben David (Israel), Citi Zēni (Latvia), Monika Liu (Lithuania), Emma Muscat (Malta), LPS (Slovenia), Marius Bear (Switzerland), Vladana (Montenegro), Ochman (Poland), MARO (Portugal), WRS (Romania), Achille Lauro (San Marino), Konstrakta (Serbia).
France’s Eurovision Journey
France is a powerhouse in Eurovision, debuting in the first Contest in 1956. Their first entries finished in second place, but no scores were ever published. Since then, France has gone on to win the Contest five times. The most recent win came in 1977, with Marie Myriam’s “L’enfant et l’oiseau”, scoring 136 points.
Recently, France had slumped in results but a change in direction in 2016 has seen a boost in results. Amir finished in 6th position for France with “J’ai charché”, followed by 12th, 13th and 16th places respectively. In 2022, France sent Breton artists Alvan and Ahez with their song “Fulenn”. At the close of voting, France finished in 24th place, earning 17 points.
What are your thoughts on France’s Live-On-Tape performance? Do you prefer it to their Eurovision 2022 performance? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as we prepare for Eurovision 2023.
News Source: EBU/France Television
Photo Credit: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett
