Nous les amoureux
"Nous les amoureux" is a song recorded by French singer Jean-Claude Pascal with music composed by Jacques Datin and French lyrics written by. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 held in Cannes, resulting in the country's first ever win at the contest.
Background
Conception
"Nous les amoureux" was composed by Jacques Datin with French lyrics by and was recorded by Jean-Claude Pascal. In addition to the French original version, he also recorded the song in German and Italian.The song tells the story of a thwarted love between the singer and his lover. The lyrics go on about how the relationship is rejected by others but will finally be possible. Pascal later claimed that the song was about a homosexual relationship and the difficulties it faced.
Eurovision
The Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion internally selected the song as for the of the Eurovision Song Contest.On 18 March 1961, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès of Cannes hosted by the Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française, and broadcast live throughout the continent. Pascal performed "Nous les amoureux" fourteenth on the evening, following 's "Angelique" by Dario Campeotto and preceding the 's "Are You Sure?" by The Allisons. Léo Chauliac conducted the event's live orchestra in the performance of the Luxembourgian entry.
By the close of voting, it had received 31 points, placing it first in a field of sixteen and thus helping Luxembourg to achieve the rare feat of moving from last to first in successive years. The song was succeeded as contest winner in by "Un premier amour" by Isabelle Aubret for. It was succeeded as Luxembourgian representative that year by "Petit bonhomme" by Camillo Felgen.
Due to the contest overrunning in time, the reprise of this song was not shown in the United Kingdom, as the BBC's coverage ended shortly after the voting had finished and the winning song was declared.