[eurovision] chanson sung in english

Marianne feels Sebastien Tellier should not perform "Divine" at Eurovision -- unless it is in French.

"A song represents the soul of a country," said Marc Favre d'Echallens, who heads a group dedicated to defending French against the growing use of English.

"It appears logical that a song representing France be a French song sung in French," he said, denouncing cultural "uniformity" and the "hegemony" of the English language in the world today.

It's the latest battle in a war France has waged for decades to defend French against the encroachment -- some call it the invasion -- of the English language.

The televised May 24 Eurovision contest, with entries from Andorra to Russia, drew some 100 million viewers last year -- when France placed 22 out of 24 finalists, with 19 points.

And the French are less than amused by the British attempt to mock them:

Les journaux britanniques qui ne manquent pas une occasion de se moquer de la France, s'amusent beaucoup en ce moment. Le Times en tête, ils racontent avec délectation comment la France envoie au concours de l'Eurovision, un candidat qui chante en… anglais. «Après des décennies de scores très embarrassants, la France a trouvé une étrange parade pour remporter le concours à Belgrade, le 24 mai prochain» , écrit perfidement le Times.

This blogger feels that the song should be sung in the native language by a native of the country to a reasonable number of generations.

English is a big enough language to accommodate that - there's hardly a need for this fixation for everything to be in English.

This blogger also feels that people should perhaps be a little less over-sensitive about some things and that good relations are more important than imagined slights.

Sebastien Tellier: "Divine"