France 2023: La Zarra with ‘Evidement’

Our first internally selected song to be fully/officially released is here in the form of La Zarra for France:

This is kind of on the quality levels I was anticipating for France (which is always nice): a good song but one where the winning case feels a long shot, if a shot at all.

France 2017, and 2022 meet a Dua Lipa beat is the quick synopsis and the consensus of verses strong/chorus weak is something I’d be inclined to agree with. I don't think there's a style clash but there is a sense of ‘is that all’ which is never a good sign.

La Zarra is more reliable than most on the live front but there is a staging question mark here. France's track record on uptempo numbers (2012, 2014, 2016, 2022) is pretty poor- they should be playing into the verses more but this is worth having in the back of your mind. The video was also pretty low effort- read into that what you will but the ‘not wanting to host’ theory has been floating around.

This would also probably benefit in coming through a semi final than making do with it's one showing as it does feel more of a grower than having immediate impact. On the plus side, the appeal to jurors and televotes should be faiy similar.

Personal Rating: 8/10

Competitve Rating: 7/10

Early Prediction: 9th-13th