France’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was selected in a national final consisting of talent search performers. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held at the OAKA Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece on the It was held on 14 March and the public and a panel of experts, presided by Charles Aznavour, combined to select the winner. Events 1489 - The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice. Charles Aznavour OC ( Armenian: Շառլ Ազնավուր born Shahnour Varenagh Aznavourian (Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրյան Before that, there were seven regional auditions including some in France's overseas territories. Virginie Pouchain was selected to represent France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song Vous, c'est nous (You are us), but the song was later changed to Il Était Temps (It was time), as Virginie complained to the songwriter, Corneille Nyungura, that it did not suit her style. Virginie Pouchain is a 29-year-old singer and hairdresser from the Département of Ardèche in southern France " Il Était Temps " ( English translation "The Time Has Come" or idiomatically "It's About Time" was the French entry in the Eurovision Cornelius Nyungura, known as Corneille, is a German born Rwandan Quebecois francophone Singer. The song was composed by Corneille Nyungura & Virginie Pouchain.

Virginie Pouchain is a 26 year-old hairdresser, who decided to take part in ‘Entrée des Artistes’, a musical show hosted by Pascal Sevran. Virginie Pouchain is a 29-year-old singer and hairdresser from the Département of Ardèche in southern France Pascal Sevran ( 16 October 1945 – 9 May 2008) was a French TV presenter and author Virginie won that competition and along with three other participants, she entered Et si c'était vous?, the French broadcaster's national final for Eurovision, which was intended to have new talents emerge. Out of 21 participants, she was chosen to move on to the next round of the competition along with two others after she interpreted Céline Dion's French hit, Pour que tu m'aimes encore. Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( OC OQ (born March 30 1968 in Charlemagne Quebec) is a Canadian pop Singer She won the final after gaining the jury's and televoters' support to gain selection for Athens.

Matheson Bayley playing the cello on stage

Pouchain was accompanied on stage by Matheson Bayley, the first ever British person to be involved in a French entry at Eurovision. Matheson Bayley (born 15 December 1978) in Chertsey, Surrey, England) is a British pianist composer orchestrator singer and television As France is one of the top four donors to the European Broadcasting Union, it gained automatic entry to the final. The European Broadcasting Union ( EBU; L'Union Européenne de Radio-Télévision ("UER" and unrelated to the European Union) is a confederation Pouchain's song finished 22nd out of 24 entries, with just 5 votes compared to the 292 polled by winners Lordi of Finland. Lordi is a heavy metal quintet from Finland. The concept for Lordi was devised in 1992 however the band was not formed until 1996 by Tomi Putaansuu (known Finland first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961, and has participated a total of 42 times

Result of National Final

See also

France in the Eurovision Song Contest