Today, the rehearsals for Eurovision 2026 continue in Vienna. Countries rehearsing on Day 6 include Italy, Germany, France, United Kingdom, and Austria. The third Automatic Qualifier to rehearse was France’s Monroe.
What did we learn about Monroe’s staging?
The info from the first rehearsal was provided by EBU via Reddit, with the description as follows:
At just 17 years old, Monroe is poised and positioned in a manner which draws inspiration from the painting style of the French Romantic era. She didn’t come to play, she came to PERFORM!
Commencing in a thick cloud of smoke, Monroe’s introduction to the viewer is a dramatic one. Starting the performance on a small podium at the back of the stage, she ends on a different platform at the very front of the stage, after a three-minute march across a 30-metre catwalk.
Monroe has utilised the steadicam for parts of her performance, singing directly to it and making her impassioned plea for the audience to ‘regarde moi’. She doesn’t get to plead her case for long, however, with her five dancers having to forcibly hold her back. It’s a conflict! And the smoke intensifies as the battle progresses. During a finish so climactic it has a double ending, we get fireworks in the graphics and pillars of smoke erupting from the stage.
Monroe is dressed entirely in white for her performance, in a style that merges modern design with the traditional fashion of the aforementioned French Romantic era. A bell-shaped skirt is tailored over a petticoat, while on top the singer is wearing a shirt, tie and waistcoat combo. Cotton and silk are the fabrics ‘du jour’! The singer’s dancers are all dressed in black, complementing the black and white colour scheme of the lighting and graphics accompanying Monroe’s performance.
Pictures from yesterday’s rehearsal will be released approximately 24 hours after the rehearsal. We will update this article once it has been released.
Who is Monroe?
Monroe Rigby is a 17-year-old French-American singer trained in classical opera. Born in Salt Lake City to Mormon parents, Monroe began her singing career early in life, having sang in her local church choir. She also learned how to play the piano during this time. She broke into the musical sphere in January 2025, when she competed in the French TV show Prodiges, winning a scholarship worth €10,000.
Monroe will participate at Eurovision 2026 with her entry “Regarde!” which was written by Christopher Cohen, Fred Savio, Fredie Marche, and Maxime Morise.
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’oiseau et l’enfant”, 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 cherché”, followed by 12th, 13th and 16th places respectively.
For 2025, France continued to choose internally, choosing Louane with her song “Maman”. At the close of voting in Basel, France finished in 7th place, earning 230 points. Of these, 180 points were given by the juries, whilst the televote allocated an extra 50 points to France.
What do you think of “Regarde”? Does Monroe stand a chance of winning? Let us know your thoughts! Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok as we prepare for Eurovision 2026!
News Source: EBU
Photo Credit: Thomas Braut / France TV