France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963


France was represented by Alain Barrière, with the song '"Elle était si jolie", at the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 23 March in London. The song was chosen internally by broadcaster RTF.
"Elle était si jolie" became a major domestic hit and served to launch Barrière into stardom in Francophone music markets. The song has never lost its popularity and remains a universally known French standard, although most are unaware of its Eurovision origin.

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Barrière performed 11th in the running order, following Switzerland and preceding Spain. Each national jury awarded 5-4-3-2-1 to their top five songs, and at the close "Elle était si jolie" had picked up 25 points, placing France joint 5th of the 16 entries.