Today, the rehearsals for Eurovision 2024 continue in Malmö. The first half of semi-final two had their second rehearsals and the Big Five and Sweden had their first rehearsals. Countries rehearsing for the first time on Day 6 include the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, France, Spain and Italy. The next to rehearse is France’s Slimane.
Slimane’s first rehearsal
The fourth to take the Eurovision 2024 stage at Malmö Arena in Malmö was France’s Slimane. He will be competing in this year’s competition with his entry “Mon Amour” after he was internally selected in November.
Following Slimane’s first rehearsal, a clip of what went on was posted on the official TikTok account of the Eurovision Song Contest. The clip showed him before and after he took to the Eurovision stage for the first time, as well as giving us some insight into how well his first rehearsal went.
As soon as the official Eurovision TikTok is available, you can watch it here.
What did we learn about Slimane’s staging?
Slimane starts off his performance laying down on the ground and spends the first half performing on his knees. The camera remains close up to his face, giving it the feeling of an intense argument juxtaposed with the emotional lyrics. Towards the end of the song, he performs the last chorus acapella in a cloud of smoke, similar to what he did throughout the preparty season.
What we thought of Slimane’s first rehearsal
After France’s first rehearsal, a member of the team gave their initial thoughts on the snippet that we saw.
As soon as our reaction to the first rehearsal is up, you can watch it here.
Who is Slimane?
Slimane Nebchi, who goes by Slimane professionally, is a 34-year-old singer from Chelles to the east of Paris. He started his career by putting his musical creations on the internet. He took part in various singing competitions in France, including Nouvelle Star in 2009 and X Factor in 2011. His big break as a singer came in 2016 after winning the fifth series of The Voice: La Plus Belle Voix.
Since then, Slimane has become one of the most prominent artists in the French-language scene. All four of his albums hit a peak of either 1 or 2 in France, Belgium and Switzerland. Many of his singles have been certified gold, platinum or diamond. He has collaborated with a number of artists throughout his career, including many works with French artist Vitaa and a collaboration with France’s Eurovision 2023 representative La Zarra, “Les amants de la colline” (the lovers of the hill).
Slimane’s Eurovision entry, “Mon Amour” is written by himself. He also produced the track, alongside Yaacov Salah and Meïr Salah.
France’s Eurovision History
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.France has seen a rebirth in results following a change in direction in 2016. Amir finished in 6th position for France with “J’ai charché”, followed by 12th, 13th and 16th places respectively.
For 2023, France moved away from a national selection and internally chose La Zarra with her song “Évidemment”. At the close of voting in Liverpool, France finished in 16th place, earning 104 points. Of these, 54 points were given by the juries, whilst the televote allocated an extra 50 points to France.
What do you think of “Mon Amour”? How do you think Slimane will do in the final? Let us know in the comments or on social media! Be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky as we prepare for Eurovision 2024!
News Source: That Eurovision Site / Eurovision.tv
Photo Credit: Corinne Cumming / Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU
Rory Gannon