Performing the Nation with Slimane “Mon amour”

 Performing the Nation with Slimane “Mon amour”

Who is the Singer?

The song I will be doing for this assignment is “Mon amour” by Slimane. This song was debuted in the

2024 Eurovision Song Contest which was hosted in Sweden. Slimane’s song was in the grand finale and

he placed 4th in the contest. Slimane Nebchi is his full name, but he goes by just Slimane. He is French,

and he is from Chelles, Siene-et-Marne, France. Slimane is 34 years old and ever since Slimane was 15,

he and his friends have been writing music. This is not Slimane’s first time performing, he actually

participated in the TV series, The Voice in France, and he won first place in 2016. Since his win from The

Voice, he started to become famous and has “3 million monthly listeners on Spotify and over 2 million

albums sold” (Katelyn Mensah, 2024). This shows how hard work can result in a good outcome. But even

before participating in the TV Series, The Voice France, he started doing concerts at bars located in

Pigalle, France. Being on the TV Series, The Voice France and having concerts at bars in Pigalle, gave him

the courage and desire to pursue his career and take on the challenge of participating in the Eurovision

Song Contest. Slimane talked about how he felt about representing France at the Eurovision Song

Contest in 2024. He was very excited to go to the Eurovision Song Contest because it shows a lot of pride

and it is a big responsibility as well. His Eurovision Song Contest Hero is Marie Myriam who was the last

person to win the contest for France. He stated that “I’ll be singing for my parents. For my daughter. For

France. And for you, you for whom I wrote this song...” (Katelyn Menash, 2024). Slimane saying this

shows how extremely prideful and honored it is to represent France, his country. Which is also part of

being a part of the French Identity.

Analyzing the Performance

Production

2While watching Slimane’s performance of “Mon amour”, it was definitely different than the other

performances I have seen. There was no one else on the stage but him (usually there would be back up

dancers in the background, but there was not). There was a lot of movement to the camera work, it

almost looked like he was singing to us. At the very beginning of his performance, it starts with him lying

on the ground with the camera, making it seem like we (the audience) were laying with him. He

interacted with the camera a lot (making movements with his hands and the camera would follow),

making it look like we were the other main subject of the song. He also barely looked at the crowd

during his performance; he mostly looked at the camera. There was also fog machines as well during his

performance. There was not a lot of colors other than white, which made me wonder why he did not

use red and blue which is the colors of the French flag, since other countries mostly do that in their

performance. I would say that the way he set up his performance made it feel like a very intimate

moment.

Lyrics and Music

During Slimane’s performance, he is singing in French the whole time. In an interview with “wiwibloggs”

he stated that the song had came to him when he was in Geneva. In the interview he also stated that it

is a love letter to the European hearts. While I was reading the lyrics to his song “Mon amour”, I would

say it is a love song, but it also sounds like he is trying to win someone back and that he will wait for that

person when they are ready. When he sings “I play the scene again But it's always the same ending that

keeps repeating” (but in French) it sounds like there is a memory of him and this other person that he

cannot let go of and it always pop up in his mind when he thinks of that person. “Oh my love Please

come back to Paris Do it for us, I am begging you I promise, I've learned my lesson” these lyrics stood

out to me because while reading them, it seems that during their relationship he messed up, but ever

since he realized what he has done and that he has fixed that problem and it will not happen again.

3Throughout his whole song, it seems that he is very hopeful that this relationship with this person will

rekindle and no matter what he will wait for this person to come back to him because they are his true

love. Throughout out his song, I mostly hear piano playing and some other string instruments (pop

ballad genre). In one part of his song, he just sings with no music playing and he is a few feet away from

the mic. He is projecting his voice, but you could still hear him clearly, meaning that his voice is very

powerful. Most of Slimane’s songs are centered around love, and in the interview, he said that love is his

main source of inspiration when writing music and it gives him this motivation in his life.

Performer

Slimane comes from an Algerian descent, but his family has immigrated from Algeria to France, meaning

he is a French citizen. Slimane has not been open about his sexuality, religion, or any minority group

membership(s) he is a part of.

What Topics does the Song Cover?

While analyzing Slimane’s performance of Mon amour, the performance does not cover, orientalism

because it does not show any representation of Eastern cultures, visual, musical, or lyrical elements that

portray or objectify Eastern cultures that would stereotype them. His performance also does not really

show any essentialism, because the performance is not structured towards any characteristics whether

it is culturally, national, or a gender group. It shows more emotion towards a general human experience.

However, the performance does reflect some aspects of cosmopolitanism because although he is singing

in French the whole time and he is representing France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 which is an

international event, the themes of his song is majority focused on love and vulnerability that resonates

across cultural and national boundaries by prioritizing shared emotional experience over national

symbolism. I think it shows a little bit of representational diversity since he does come from an Algerian

4descent and he is representing France, but his song does not talk about ethnicity or migration. Slimane’s

performance does not show any cultural appropriation, virtue-signaling, art washing, or political

messaging.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Slimane’s performance of Mon amour at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2024, it displays

how a present day Eurovision Song Contest entry can prioritize an emotional storytelling over

undisguised political or cultural symbolism. Although his staging is very minimal (no background, one

light color), intimate camera work and a very powerful vocal execution, Slimane centers his performance

on vulnerability, regret, and hope rather than display on nationalist imagery. The lack of visual or

musical references towards Eastern cultures means that his performance does not take part or engage

in Orientalism, and it does not rely on essentialist assumptions about identity, gender, or nationality.

Instead, his song is mainly based about love and heartbreak as a universal human experiences that

exceeds borders. At the same time, Slimane’s performance of Mon amour reflects elements of

cosmopolitanism. While he is representing France and is performing the entire song in French the whole

time, the themes of longing and reconciliation connect with the audience beyond language and culture,

which supports the Eurovision’s international characteristics. Him being a French citizen and a French

singer with also having an Algerian descent also reflects contemporary European diversity, even though

his song itself does not really address migration or identity politics. In the end, the song Mon amour

highlights how music can work as a common ground, highlighting a shared emotional experience. By

focusing on intimacy rather than ideology, Slimane’s performance supports the idea that the Eurovision

Song Contest can promote connection through authentic and emotional depth rather than political

messaging.

Word count: 1,361

References

Adams , W. L. (2023, November 8). Slimane “Mon Amour” INTERVIEW | France’s Eurovision 2024 act

reacts to his selection. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpD_QkvrFII

Eurovision Song Contest Wiki . (n.d.). Slimane | Eurovision Song Contest wiki | fandom. Slimane .

https://eurosong-contest.fandom.com/wiki/Slimane

Mensah, K. (2024, May 9). Who is Slimane? meet France eurovision 2024 entry. Radio Times.

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/entertainment/slimane-france-eurovision-2024-profile-age-

instagram-explained/

Slimane - France. Eurovision Song Contest. (n.d.). https://www.eurovision.com/eurovision-song-

contest/malmo-2024/all-participants/slimane/

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