Bilal Hassani for France 2019

🇫🇷 France 2019 / “Roi” (English: King)

Photograph by Fifou

Grand Final | 16th Place | 105 points | Prequalified

Bilal Hassani, a Moroccan-French singer and YouTuber, won Destination Eurovision with his song “Roi” and thus is the representative of France at Tel Aviv 2019. He originally came to light via YouTube and has built himself a strong social media following in France. It’s also known that he is a big Eurovision fan and was particularly inspired by Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst (Austria 2014).

“Roí” is a song about self acceptance and loving yourself in spite of what difficulties you may face. For Hassani, this is an especially personal message, as he is a queer Muslim and has dealt with numerous homophobic and islamophobic messages. The song was written in collaboration with Madame Monsieur (France 2018).

Hassani is the son of Moroccan and naturalized-French parents, currently living with his mother as his father works in Singapore. He appeared on French version of The Voice Kids, whereafter he began to build his social media following and rise to fame. Hassani has released his debut album, Kingdom, prior to Tel Aviv 2019.

Watch “Roi” below, and follow Bilal Hassani on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Listen to his debut album, Kingdom, on Spotify.