Eurovision 2023: "The France always passes for the arrogant and the bad loser", laments Stéphane Bern

Solène Delinger 17:06 p.m., May 16, 2023, modified at 17:07 p.m., May 16, 2023

Stéphane Bern will remember Eurovision for a very long time to come, which he presented this year... And for good reason, the representative of the France, La Zarra, finished 16th in the contest, while all the bookmakers placed her in the big favorites. A big disappointment for the host who really believed in it... Alas, Stéphane Bern understood that what we will remember from the evening is not the performance of the France but rather the behavior of its representative. Upon learning of her defeat, the Quebec singer made a controversial gesture, which strongly resembled a middle finger addressed to the public. The Zarra assures her, she only made a simple "toz".

"There was a crisis meeting"

"It's a gesture of disappointment for me that means 'whatever' that could be translated as 'so be it'. No more, no less. No desire to shock or provoke. I apologize if this was misinterpreted," she explained on her Instagram account to extinguish the controversy.

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Invited this Tuesday morning in the program Culture Médias on Europe 1, Stéphane Bern returned to this fiasco of Eurovision and even unveiled the backstage. "There was a crisis meeting. How to manage what is called damage control. There was Christian Louboutin, the press service, Alexandra Redde-Amiel, the head of the French delegation. That's where I learned what a 'toz' was. It is a middle finger in North Africa. In Quebec, it's generational and cultural. It's nice, "explained the host at the microphone of Philippe Vandel. Stéphane Bern also stressed that the justification for La Zarra had not really been unanimous...