France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968
| Eurovision Song Contest 1968 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  France | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Internal Selection | |||
| Selected entrant | Isabelle Aubret | |||
| Selected song | "La Source" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 3rd, 20 points | |||
| France in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
France was represented by their 1962 Eurovision Song Contest winner Isabelle Aubret, with the song '"La Source", at the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 6 April in London. The song was chosen internally by broadcaster ORTF.
At Eurovision[edit]
On the night of the final Aubret performed 10th in the running order, following Finland and preceding Italy. "La Source" was a deceptively gentle-sounding song with a much-praised lilting musical arrangement which, to non-French speakers, hid lyrics often said to deal with the darkest subject matter – rape and murder – ever heard in a Eurovision song.[1] In the early voting Aubret appeared to be on course to become the first performer to score two Eurovision victories, as after six juries had voted "La Source" held a seemingly commanding lead of 17 points over the United Kingdom on 10. Then the song suffered one of Eurovision's more spectacular voting collapses, gaining only 3 more points from the remaining ten juries – and none at all from the final six – to finish the evening in third place with 20 points. The French jury awarded 4 points apiece to eventual contest winners Spain and runners-up the United Kingdom.[2]