Voilà: 9 Greek covers of French songs

Earlier this week, it was announced that the 65th Eurovision Song Contest would not take place ‘as normal’ this year. The organisers are currently considering 3 alternative scenarios. Either way, the event will definitely take place on 18, 20 and 22 May. A total of 41 countries will participate in the contest, five of which have already chosen the song that will represent them this year. Among these countries is France. Last week, Barbara Pravi was (rightly) chosen out of 12 participants and will now go on to represent France with her beautiful song ‘Voilà’. Since then, I have been listening to French artists, as well as to Greek covers of French songs.

As a souvenir of this musical journey, I curated a playlist, which includes not only Greek covers of French songs, but also the French originals. This playlist is by no means exhaustive; instead, it reflects my personal taste in music.

‘Εχω ανάγκη να σε δω (Un ange frappe à ma porte)

Natasha St-Pier is one of my favourite Francophone singers (she is actually Canadian). She was also one of the 10 members of the jury panel that helped select the French entry for the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. I have been a fan of hers since she represented France in Eurovision in 2001, when she came fourth with the power ballad ‘Je n’ai que mon âme’. In 2006, she released the album ‘Longueur d’ondes’. The album’s lead single, ‘Un ange frappe à ma porte’, was the most-played French single across the world that year. In 2017, the song was covered in Greek by Rallia Christidou and was included in her sophomore album ‘’Ενα Χάδι Ζεστό’.

Γιατί (Je sais)

Chimène Badi has been one of my favourite French singers since the early noughties. She was also on the jury panel that helped select ‘Voilà’. Her song ‘Je sais’, from her sophomore album ‘Dis-moi que tu m’aimes’, has been covered in Greek (again) by Rallia Christidou.

Δε θα’μαι εδώ (Ma philosophie)

‘Ma philosophie’ by Amel Bent was a big hit in France back in 2004. In 2006, it was covered in Greek by Donna Kountouri and was included in her debut album ‘Παιχνίδι Ισορροπίας’.

Υπάρχει Θεός (Si tu ouvres tes bras)

Ishtar is an Israeli vocalist who began her musical career in France. She sings in multiple languages, including French. Her album ‘La voix d’Alabina’ features two songs that were later covered in Greek. ‘Si tu ouvres tes bras’ was the first of the two; it was covered in Greek by Irini Merkouri and features in her debut album ‘Να φυσάει η άνοιξη’.

Μη μου ζητάς να ξεχάσω (Je n’oublie rien)

‘Je n’oublie rien’ is the second Ishtar song covered in Greek. It was covered by Georgian-born singer Tamta, long before she represented Cyprus in Eurovision. It features in her debut, self-titled album, released in 2006.

Δες καθαρά (Face à la mer)

Andriana Babali is one of my favourite Greek singers. In 2007, she released her third album ‘Δες καθαρά’. The title track is a cover of the French hit ‘Face à la mer’ performed by Calogero and Passi.

Οι άντρες περνούν μαμά (Les hommes qui passent)

Haris Alexiou is one of the most successful Greek singers, as well as one of my favourites. Since the 1970s, she has released over 30 albums, including ‘Οδός Νεφέλης ’88’. This album is among my favourite albums of hers, and features a cover of the song ‘Les hommes qui passent’. The French original was the first single from ‘Scène de vie’, the sophomore album by Patricia Kaas. It was released in 1990, almost two decades before Kaas represented France in Eurovision (with the song ‘Et s’il fallait le faire’, finishing in the eight place in the 2009 contest).

Αν εσύ μ’αγαπάς (Pour que tu m’aimes encore)

In 1988, the Canadian-born global superstar Céline Dion represented Switzerland in Eurovision with the song ‘Ne partez pas sans moi’. The rest is history. Dion won the contest and went on to become one of the best-selling singers of all time. In 1995, she released the album ‘D’eux’. The song ’Pour que tu m’aimes encore’ was the second single to be released from that album. Fast forward to 2005, Swedish-born Helena Paparizou represented Greece in Eurovision with the aptly-named song ‘My number one’: it was the first and only Greek win in the contest’s history. Two years later, Helena covered ’Pour que tu m’aimes encore’ in Greek.

Ζητάς (Viens, viens)

Greek-Cypriot singer Evridiki has represented her home country in Eurovision three times, the last one being in 2007 with the French-language song ‘Comme ci, comme ça’. This was the first entry from a non-Francophone country to be performed entirely in French. Evridiki had previously represented Cyprus in 1992 and in 1994 (both times singing in Greek) and had subsequently recorded her songs in French. Before that, in 1990, she had released the song ‘Ζητάς’, a cover of a 1970s song. The song was originally released in English as ‘Rain, rain, rain’ (performed by the German singer Simon Butterfly) and was later covered in French by Marie Laforêt.

Further listening

I hope you have enjoyed these Greek covers of French songs.

If you’d like to listen to more French songs, follow me on a musical journey to France.

If, on the other hand, you’d like to listen to more Greek songs, then follow me on a musical journey to Greece or on a musical journey to the Greek islands.

Or, simply follow me on a musical journey around Europe.

If, however, you are yet to listen to ‘Voilà’, now is the time.

And the douze points go to… France this year?

Alex

(the Traveling Psychiatrist)