After a semi-final 2 which kept all its promises in terms of diversity and surprises, it is with Rémi that we board the third semi-final (already!) of France 2024 – who will be your Eurostar? Place this Tuesday morning in a group A which combines discoveries, revelations, musical mixes and (very) big names!
A quick reminder of the rules for this selection non official (no, we are still not France 2):
- Each semi-final is divided into two groups (A and B), in which six or seven artists compete.
- In each group, the first two in the ranking are directly qualified for the final.
- The artists who come in third and fourth positions are drafted into the duels event. The last two or three in the ranking are eliminated from the adventure.
- For the duels event, the third in group A faces the fourth in group B, while the third in group B faces the fourth in group A. The winners of the duels face each other in a final duel, the winner of which wins the fifth and final finalist ticket.
And what’s more, you choose!
Enough chatter, and let the competition begin again!
Ready, set, … listen!
KO KO MO – Your Kiss
Warren on vocals and guitar, Kevin “K20” on drums and backing vocals. Here are the Nantes-based KO KO MO, whose name was inspired by the American blues singer and guitarist James Kokomo Arnold and the chief of the Miami Native American tribe Ma-Ko-Ko-Mo. Formed in 2014, the group has released two EPs (Stole My Soul2014; KO-KO-MO2016) and three albums (Technicolor Life, 2017; Lemon Twins2019, Need Some Mo’, 2022) to date. He also distinguished himself by the covers of Personal Jesus of Depeche Mode and Last Night A DJ Save My Life from Indeep, the latter having achieved two million streams. Critically acclaimed, KO KO MO immerses us in a post-2000s psychedelic hard blues rock universe, which is reminiscent of touches of delta blues, electro and even hip hop. A spirit that we find in Your Kissfirst extract from their third album, with which KO KO MO competes today in the unofficial selection.
Melissa Laveaux – Cold Swim
A native of Canada, Melissa Laveaux is of Haitian origin. Through her background, she has always navigated between cultures. It was at the age of twenty that as a student of ethnology, she really launched into music with self-production, Camphor & Copper – future first album – and obtaining a grant from the Lagardère Foundation. After several years of touring in Europe, Canada and Japan, she released her second album, Dying is a Wild Night, in 2013, before releasing the third, Radyo Siwèl, five years later and entirely in Creole for the first time. . His latest album Mama Forgot Her Name Was Miracle dates from 2022 and pays tribute to historical feminist and LGBTQIA+ figures. His folk musical universe combines the influences inherited from his musical culture, from Canadian folk to Creole rhythm, including American jazz. It is with a collaboration with DJ Pone (who has collaborated with numerous French rap groups) that she advances today in France 2024 – who will be your Eurostar? with the title Cold Swim.
Nabil Harlow – It’s not true
This is one of the French revelations of the year 2023. While he was the artistic director of Balmain Hair Couture and rubbed shoulders with the biggest names in fashion, Nabil Harlow decided to return to his first love to music, in which he has been immersed since childhood. The one who did the hair of international stars is encouraged to follow this path which has always been his life by his friends Rose McGowan, Milla Jovovich and Kiddy Smile. So he introduces us to his first title, Hotel Parisin February 2022, before delivering his first EP, The heretic, This year. A title that resonates less as a way of defining himself than as the way people perceive him, some saying of him that he doesn’t have the physique of his music. Inspired by American cinema of the 30s and 40s, influenced by the big names of French song, Nabil Harlow brings together pop and French variety through captivating titles burning with passion. Among which It’s not true, with which we find it today.
November Ultra – caramel heart
Of Spanish origin on his mother’s side and Portuguese on his father’s side, November Ultra was part of the electro pop group Agua Roja between 2013 and 2018, during which two EPs were released. Inspired by a Frank Ocean mixtape, she adopted the solo name November Ultra, under which she reveals an indie pop universe on the borders of R&B, folk and even musicals, which she mixes with rhythms from her origins. After a first EP, Honey Please Be Soft & Tender in 2021, she released her first album the following year, Bedroom Walls, which allows it to be revealed to the general public. The reception was dithyrambic, November Ultra continued the opening acts and took the stage alongside Barbara Pravi for her dates at the Trianon. Already winner of the Joséphine Prize, she achieved recognition this year, winning the Victoire de la musique for female revelation. This a few months before embarking on a tour of France and Belgium, which will take her to the Olympia next November. She is now in the running for the EAQ selection with the title Caramel core.
Olivia Stone – Lonely
She has just been signed by Parlophone, the same company that offers France many of its talents and its Junior winners. We continue this decidedly multicultural group A with a Belgian artist of American origins. Olivia Stone has been composing her own songs since adolescence and releasing them on the Internet, where she was discovered. Which led him to participate in the blind auditions of The Voice Belgium in 2019, where his interpretation of Passionfruit by Drake did not seduce any of the coaches (including a competitor in this semi-final…). No matter, the young artist continues to chart her course, revealing her compositions to us under the name of Olivia Thonart, including Last tablet in 2022. She then adopted the name Olivia Stone to offer us this year the title Lonely, with which she defends her chances here. A modern production which reflects a musical universe between American pop and neo-soul, which we should find in Olivia’s future first album.
Slimane – Thousands of I love you
Last but not least, since it is with the big favorite of this group that we end. After several participations in tele-hook shows, France really discovered Slimane in 2016 during his participation in The Voice: the most beautiful voice. Her performance during the blind auditions on On the flower of you de Vitaa made such an impression that he immediately established himself as the big favorite for victory, which he obviously won. Since then, with his urban pop universe, Slimane has established himself as one of the most popular artists in our country, with a string of successes since his first album At the end of dreams. After his second album Solune in 2018 (No. 1 in sales), he entered into a collaboration with Vitaa. Their albums VersusS And VersuS: Chapter II and the titles extracted from it (I give it to you, Before you, It’s going, it’s coming) are an absolute hit. Together, the two artists triumphed and even won a Victoire de la Musique. After a break, it was solo that Slimane – former coach of The Voice Belgiumand now coach of The Voice Kids in France – is making a comeback. Last year he offered us a new album, Chronicles of a Cupidin which we find Thousands of I love you, the title with which Slimane appears in our competition. Slimane who, moreover, publicly revealed his interest in Eurovision…
Now it’s up to you to decide in the form below.
This will involve awarding 12 points to your favorite, 10 points to your second, 8 points to your third, 6 points to your fourth, 4 points to your fifth and 2 points to your sixth and last. Attention : you cannot make duplicates in the allocation of points, otherwise your vote will be invalidated. Example: the same candidate cannot obtain both 8 and 12 points…
Come in large numbers, listen in large numbers, vote in large numbers, and discover all the artists and titles in competition on Deezer and Spotify.
See you Thursday morning for the results of group A and discover the songs competing in group B of a third semi-final which promises to be open and full of revelations.
