I’ve had a controversial Eurovision Song Contest-related opinion for as long as I can remember – France and Spain need to swap strategies for the types of acts they send to the Song Contest. Generally, Spain can be relied upon to send a modern male pop star who will sing something upbeat, energetic and distinctly Spanish; whilst France can be relied upon to send a female singer who will stand in the middle of the stage belting out big vocals on a classic French chanson.
The stats back up my opinion too! Spain have placed in the Top Ten twice in the last ten years with Pastora Soler and Ruth Lorenzo sending female-fronted Spanish ballads; whilst before Barbara Pravi’s effort in May the best French result came from Amir singing the most bouncy, modern French pop song to ever grace the Eurovision stage.
With no shortage of amazing female Spanish singers both within and beyond the general Eurovision cannon of artists, I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight a French male pop star in the Amir mould who could fit the bill.
M Pokora Live Concert (cc Flickr/Kmeron)
Matthieu Tota was born in Strasbourg to French parents in 1985. His Grandmother was Polish and taught Matthieu about the importance of humility and how the Polish word for the term was “Pokora”. Matthieu immediately decided to adopt the word as his stage name and so M. Pokora was born.
Like many pop stars of the 2000s, M. Pokora’s big break came through the singing talent show ‘Popstars’ where singers competed for the opportunity to be placed into boy bands or girl groups with each other. M. Pokora would go on to win the competition as part of the three piece boyband Linkup but the group would disband following their first album after poor sales.
From there, M. Pokora’s career has gone from strength to strength. The three singles from his first album charted in the Top Ten of the French singles chart and every album he has subsequently released has also charted in the French album chart (including every live album he’s released). In that time, he’s made music with international stars like Timbaland and Ricky Martin as well as French stars like Tal and Soprano. His music has consistently garnered attention in France and Belgium with Swiss and Polish markets also known to have taken notice over the course of his career.
However to me, the most impressive aspect of his career is that his music continues to feel fresh, modern and engaging even now with songs like ‘Tombé‘ marking the perfect balance of heartfelt, energetic and most importantly (particularly to the broadcaster) distinctly French.
So why would M. Pokora do Eurovision?
He’s an artist that has had clear success in the Francophone markets who might appreciate the challenge and opportunity to build on that success by breaking into other markets, particularly given his Polish heritage. He is the perfect blend of experience (both in terms of TV and live performing) and cultural relevance that leads me to believe he would take comfortably to the Eurovision experience (helped by the fact that being married to an American has strengthened his English-speaking ability).
The big risk, as it is for any artist, is taking such a dedicated block of time towards one performance in a high-profile international competition. However, as a result of how established he is in his home markets and the potential benefit of breaking into international markets, I could see the project being sold to him as an attractive prospect, particularly if he can work with the France 2 team to put together a promo package that highlights his personal and professional background… with maybe a National Final to select one of his songs as the entry thrown in for good measure.
Incidentally, the longest stint he has ever gone without releasing an album is the three years and with his last album having come in 2019, he is due new music in time for May 2022.
As for the Eurovision Song Contest community, it would find a fresh, energetic French artist who would not only bring a quality stage performance to the Grand Final stage but would bring with him a fresh block of new Eurovision viewers in France. The French delegation would get an artist who might just be able to excite the Polish diaspora vote who have gone quiet in recent editions of the Song Contest. They would get a fantastic story to add to the collection of great journeys that the 2022 artists will have had to get to the Contest.
And though I am obviously biased, from my own very subjective opinion, they would get somebody who would have a very realistic shot at becoming the first French winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in forty-five years.
Send M. Pokora To Eurovision.
I kind of agree with you. He is a French Luca Heanning and we saw that Luca finished 4th It would work Now curious which Spanish female you have in mind?