THIS YEAR'S ENTRY

 SELECTION
Having convinced one of France's biggest music stars, Patricia Kaas, to represent them in Moscow in 2009, French television opted for another internal selection, but struggled to find he high profile artist that they had hoped to send to Oslo.

In the middle of February, rumours started to circulate that the choice was between Emmanuel Moire and Jessy Matador and on February 24th, France 3 confirmed that the Congolese born Matador had won the French ticket to Oslo and that the song song "Allez Olla Olé" would also be used as the theme tune for the French broadcasters coverage of the 2010 World Cup.

The song was made public on March 20th, but the promotion video for the song was only released six weeks later. 

 BIOGRAPHY
France will try to win the hearts of Europe in Oslo with a real summer hit this year. For that they handpicked the charismatic singer Jessy Matador.

Jessy Matador began his artistic career as a dancer in 2001. His artistic concept is a mixture of several styles, inspired by the famous African - Ivorian music ranging from hip-hop, jamaican dancehall and zouk.

He made his debut in the group called Les Coeurs Brisés with which he has performed all around the world. He started his singing career in 2008 and has scored a summer hit with the song "Decale Gwada". Jessy is currently in the studio finishing his new album, which is about to hit the shops.

 REACTION
The press release that confirmed the selection of Jessy Matador's selection for Eurovision seemed to deliberately underplay France's chances of doing well in Oslo. There wasn't even a proper video for the song, until all the preview shows had been filed and there has been no international promotion for the song. France can be backed at 125/1 to win the contest and the song is in the middle ranked in most internet polls.

"Décalé Gwada", Jessy Matador's breakthrough hit

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