The song was composed by Daniel Moyne and Quentin Bachelet, who have been working with Vassili since the beginning of his career. The lyrics of "Sognu" were written by Jean-Pierre Marcellesi. The song was chosen internally by France 3 and SACEM and announced on 4 February 2011. "Sognu" was sung in the Corsican language, which marks the first French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest sung in Corsican since "Mama Corsica" in 1993.
Selection of Vassili
Regarding the decision to select Amaury Vassili and "Sognu", Pierre Sled, programme supervisor at France 3, declared: "We wanted someone young, representing the excellence of French music. We didn't hesitate much, given the fact that the other names were not satisfying". He also pointed out that "the choice was driven by the desire to promote a young talented artist representing the best of the French music and its diversity. That's why we quickly agreed an opera singer was the most elegant option. Amaury is an angel of music with a powerful voice. Without any hesitation, he was the perfect choice." This song was presented on 7 March. An English version of Sognu, which appeared on The Nouvelle edition of Cantero and on the CD Single, called "I would dream about her" was written by the acclaimed International UK songwriter Dele Ladimeji. "Our goal is clear", Pierre Sled assured, "France 3 is the channel of French regions and we wanted to have them honoured. Corsican is close to Italian, thus it will perfectly suit an opera song".
Promotion
Amaury Vassili was invited to many shows such as "Le Plus Grand Cabaret Du Monde", the "13h00 news", the "Sidaction"sShow, "Les Années Bonheur", "Morandini!" etc. Amaury will continue to participate in various shows on French TV channels. In addition, France3 broadcasts a short program several times a day. Just before the Big Final, France3 will broadcast a video about the Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf with Amaury Vassili and various other artists. The target is clearly to have French TV viewers understand the reality and the importance of the event through its organisation, by visiting the press centre, the arena, et cetra, and with interviews with European press and fans. A show called "En Route Pour L'Eurovision Avec Amaury" will be recorded on the 29th of April and broadcast by France3 on May the 9th, 5 days before the Big Final. TV archives will let viewers dive into the Eurovision Song Contest history. Many past contests singers will participate in the show like Marie Myriam, Catherine Ferry, Séverine, Corinne Hermes, Natasha Saint-Pier, Patrick Fiori, Tom Dice, Eric Saade, Raphael Gualazzi and Amaury Vassili. Young French artists will join and sing past Eurovision hits. Among them, Sofia Essaïdi, Shym, the Mamma Mia group, et cetra. Amaury's record company, Warner Music Group, has decided to promote Sognu all around Europe through all of Europe by signing deals with radio stations. Furthermore, Warner Music Europe is preparing a European release of Amaury's CD-album, including Sognu.
Music video
The official music video premiered on 8 March 2011 in Vassili's official YouTube channel.
