🇫🇷 Votes and cash
Austrian JJ wins Eurovision, with France in 7th place, the Far-right fight to keep Saône-et-Loire, and Emmanuel Macron is expecting record-breaking Choose France funding
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This week
🇦🇹Austrian JJ wins Eurovision, France 7th
🗳️Far-right fight to keep Saône-et-Loire
💶Macron expecting record breaking Choose France funding
🇦🇹Austrian JJ wins Eurovision, France 7th
One of the highlights of the European calendar has now come to an end, with the 69th edition of the European Song Contest having taken place in Basel, Switzerland last night, and as usual, causing some drama.
As many of you know, Austria walked away victorious with a black and white performance where 24-year-old countertenor Johannes Pietsch, known artistically as JJ, blended operatic skill and pop to win first place with ‘Wasted Love’ with a total of 436 points.
For France, the country’s hopes rested on known singer Louane, whose ballad ‘Maman’, a minimalist, hourglass-staged tribute to her late mother, had raised expectations of a long-awaited French win.
Having initially been buoyed by the jury vote, which placed her third, Louane slipped to seventh place after receiving only 50 points from the public, extending France’s 48-year wait for a second victory since Marie Myriam’s L’Oiseau et l’Enfant in 1977.
However, the biggest moment of tension came around Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the 7 October Hamas attacks, who performed ‘New Day Will Rise’ under heavy scrutiny, a boycott, and renewed calls to ban Israel from the contest, with direct comparisons being drawn between the reasonings behind the ban on Russia.
There were also complaints about an astroturfing campaign for the second year in a row, with the Israeli Government aggressive advertising Yuval Raphael’s song across Youtube.
Her performance, intended as a message of “hope and solidarity”, was interrupted by protesters attempting to breach the stage, while there were demonstrations against Israel’s inclusion in the contest outside that clashing briefly with police.
While minor, the now-yearly incidents highlight the growing political weight Eurovision has taken on in recent years, and along with the viewers’ vote that followed the Jury vote, the increasing controversy caused by geopolitical events.
From my side, while I have a bigger write-up of the contest tomorrow, my main controversy was being criticised for criticising Portugal’s nth sadboy entry in a row, and not knowing who the esteemed Topo Gigio is.
I have also been advised that I should apologise to both the Italian people and Topo Gigio for my ignorance of their culture, and for my confused outburst as I saw a large mouse in a bespoke suit appear on my screen.
🗳️Far-right fight to keep Saône-et-Loire
Right, back to more serious topics: a far-right individual who wishes he had the competencies of Topo Gigio is currently running in a partial legislative election in the Saône-et-Loire department.
For some background: Arnaud Sanvert (RN) was elected during the 2024 Legislative Elections, winning against the candidate Gilles Platret (LR), who had only passed the required threshold of 12.5% of registered voters to go into the second round of the election by four votes.
After an appeal by the outgoing deputy, Louis Margueritte (Renaissance), several irregularities were found in three polling stations, which nullified five of the votes that Platret had, and nullified the election itself.
Due to this, it’s now election time once again in the fifth constituency of Saône-et-Loire with a fascinating slate of candidates.
Arnaud Sanvert (RN) is hoping to repeat his dominating performance from the last election, helped in no small part by the triangulation between the right-wing Les Républicains candidate, Gilles Platret, who refused to cede space as part of the anti-far-right firewall; the far-left La France Insoumise candidate, Fatima Kouriche; and Sanvert.
But there’s a huge barrier in his way, which is the reaction to Marine Le Pen being declared ineligible thanks to her criminal embezzlement of several million euros.
This has opened up space for right-wing candidates, like Sébastien Martin (LR), who is a member of Xavier Bertrand’s Nous France (linked to the LR), to force their way forward as the responsible party that defends law and order.
And as with many candidates for the RN who aren’t the most politically experienced, Sanvert is dealing with one major issue: he’s now a bit lost.
Not only does he no longer have Marine Le Pen to help guide voters towards him, and not only does he have to contend with an eroding support for the Rassemblement National outside of the support for the leader(s), but there’s a growing demobilisation occurring in the RN’s voter base that has been seen across the four by-elections that took place since 2024.
It’s quite remarkable when looking at the data, as the RN’s score has fallen by up to 10 points in each by-election, and you’re even seeing up to two-thirds of 2024 voters not returning for these elections, highlighting just how impressive the mobilisation for 2024 was.
Helas, we’ll have to wait to see how the election progresses, with the first round taking place today, and the second round taking place on the 25th of May.
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💶Macron expecting record-breaking Choose France funding
To close off the week: this coming Monday will see the 8th edition of the ‘Choose France’ Summit, where CEOs, industry titans, and senior officials will meet in Versailles to make major pledges towards French research and industry projects, as well as making bets on the positive future and progress that France represents for the international community.
And so far, it seems that the Élysée is setting expectations high: over €20 billion in foreign investment commitments, marking the largest round of pledges since the forum's inception, are expected this coming Monday.
Emmanuel Macron announced to the press, including Ouest France, that there will be “more than fifty” announcements during the event, and that the event “will pass the 20 billion euro mark”. If true, this figure would surpass last year’s €15 billion total, highlighting the success of President Macron’s presidency-long drive to establish France as one of the premier investment targets for international investors.
With around 200 chief executives from a broad spectrum of sectors and geographies expected to attend, and with many travelling to meet with their French counterparts and to build personal relationships with industry leaders, government ministers, and Macron himself.
But you’ll be able to read more about this later today in a longer piece.
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