Weekend Playlist #8: The Eurovision Edition
La Zarra, France's entry in the music competition, didn't win. But did she give the audience the finger?
France didn’t win Eurovision, which is pretty much a given every year. That doesn’t stop the nation from getting its hopes up only to see its dreams crushed.
Being picked to represent France in Eurovision is not so different than being picked to be a tribute in the Hunger Games. Sure, you could win, in theory. But in reality, you’re most likely doomed to go down in flames.
For the most recent edition, the sacrificial lamb was Fatima-Zahra Hafdi, who is known as La Zarra. While she is Canadian and of Moroccan descent, she lives in France. Eurovision’s definition of Europe is flexible enough to include Australia but not Canada. Because why? (shrugs) In any case, that means La Zarra can represent France.
This year, she participated in the Liverpool edition where she sang the song Évidemment (Obviously). She finished in 16th place. That is entirely predictable, as was the wailing and gnashing of teeth by French TV announcers complaining about the injustice of it all.
This is the 65th time France has been in Eurovision, and back in olden times, the French did pretty well. They won the first time, and have won a total of 5 times. The last victory was in 1977 when Marie Myriam sang L'oiseau et l'enfant.
But since 1998, when Eurovision added the element of popular voting, France has generally finished in the bottom 10. Interpret that as you wish how the rest of Europe feels about the French. But with the exception of a 2nd place finish in 2021, the French entry is just mainly trying not to embarrass themselves.
Which brings us back to La Zarra.
As her results were announced live, she made a gesture that appeared to be what the French call the doigt d'honneur and what English speakers call giving the finger or flipping the bird.
Yikes!
Naturally, this was all the French media could talk about for days as the video was dissected like it was the Zapruder film. One of the French Eurovision co-hosts, the elfen Stéphane Bern, said a crisis meeting was convened by the French Eurovision officials about how to respond and to come up with a damage control strategy.
In response, La Zarra said this was all a cultural misunderstanding. Her gesture was a toz, which she said was a North African middle finger that among the youth in Quebec is something friends do among themselves to express disappointment.
“It’s not a gesture that is negative,” she said. “Au contraire, it’s a gesture of disappointment that we use among friends.”
Of course, this being France in 2023, the controversy brought out French racist Twitter which lamented the country’s moral downfall being brought about by letting people who weren’t “real” French represent the nation. And they weren’t talking about Canada.
In any case, Bern joked on TV that La Zarra will probably make a mint selling t-shirts with a toz at her concerts.
As the controversy subsides, you can take a walk down memory lane and listen to a playlist of all the French Eurovision songs. Some of which, of course, are more listenable than others.
Chris O’Brien
Le Pecq