Emmanuel Macron: his surprising nod to Slimane during his trip to Sweden

Solène Delinger 1:30 p.m., February 1, 2024

Slimane can go to Eurovision with peace of mind! The singer, who will represent France at the international competition on May 11 in Malmö (Sweden), has in fact received the support of the President of the Republic in person.

“We hope for the best with Slimane”

Wednesday January 31, Emmanuel Macron gave him a little wink during his state visit to Sweden. The head of state first joked about France's poor results at Eurovision. “I must confess that France has not always had much success at Eurovision, at least compared to Sweden,” he said, with a smile on his lips, before adding: “But we let's hope for the best with Slimane."

Emmanuel Macron: "I must confess that France has not always had much success at Eurovision, at least compared to Sweden (...) But we hope for the best with Slimane" pic.twitter.com/ BFQN1CNlES

— BFMTV (@BFMTV) January 31, 2024

The singer will try to win the trophy with 

, a poignant song that he performed for the very first time last November opposite Anne-Sophie Lapix on France 2. Will he succeed in warding off fate? As Emmanuel Macron pointed out, France has never been very lucky at Eurovision... No artist has won the competition since 1977. The pressure is therefore at its height for Slimane...

“It’s completely crazy to sing in front of 200 million people”

In an interview given to

last November, the interpreter of

explained his totally crazy decision to embark on such an adventure. "I don't know if it's such a crazy decision... In any case, when I made it, it wasn't. I've always followed Eurovision, it's a program whom I know very well. Singing in front of 200 million people is completely crazy when you're an artist," he explained to our colleagues. Does Slimane believe in his chances of winning the competition? "If I was very competitive, I don't know if I would have tackled it because it's statistical: we know that it's complicated to win. If I had thought about all that, I think I would would have hesitated. The only questions I asked myself were: 'Do I have a good song? Would I be proud to sing it in front of so many people? Would I would you be proud to represent France with this song?' The answer is: yes'", he replied, particularly serene. In any case, we believe in it!