Chanteur de charme

"Chanteur de charme"
Eurovision Song Contest 1988 entry
Country	France
Artist(s)	Gérard Lenorman
Language	French
Composer(s)	Gérard Lenorman
Lyricist(s)	Gérard Lenorman, Claude Lemesle
Conductor	Guy Mattéoni
Finals performance
Final result	10th
Final points	64
Appearance chronology
◄ "Les mots d'amour n'ont pas de dimanche" (1987)
"J'ai volé la vie" (1989) ►

"Chanteur de charme" (English translation: "Crooner") was the French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, performed in French by Gérard Lenorman.

The song was performed nineteenth on the night (following Italy's Luca Barbarossa with "Vivo (Ti scrivo)" and preceding Portugal's Dora with "Voltarei"). At the close of voting, it had received 64 points, placing 10th in a field of 21.

As befits the title, the song is a ballad, with Lenorman singing about the subject matter that crooners traditionally sing about. That is to say, he sings about the subject matter itself, rather than singing the type of song usually associated with the style. Indeed, he likens the songs themselves to "these stories of three times nothing, which rhyme badly, which do good" and later adds that "Nothing has ever prevented us from setting to music, those endlessly repeated clichés, romantic feelings" and remarks that his heart "stupidly proposes on the first page of a paper".

It was succeeded as French representative at the 1989 Contest by Nathalie Pâque with "J'ai volé la vie".

Sources and external links

• Official Eurovision Song Contest site, history by year, 1988
• Detailed info & lyrics, The Diggiloo Thrush, "Chanteur de charme".