"His explanations are even more out of place than his gestures." : a former Eurovision contestant accuses La Zarra

The Eurovision 2023 final did not go as planned for the French delegation. The singer finished 16th as La Zarra showed great ambitions and crossed fingers to finish in the top 3.^to With 104 points, he is well behind Swedish winner Loreen and her 583 points. But more than that disappointing result, there was another aspect of this finale that left its mark.

After learning about the public vote and its overall score, La Zarra drew a gesture that quickly went viral. However, the singer representing France denied it in front of the journalists present there. Television 7 Days, after giving the tiniest middle finger. “You have to understand that even though I represent France, I also have a culture, and it’s not a somewhat generational, negative gesture, it’s a gesture of disappointment among friends.”she said, making sure she didn’t do the middle finger.

A position he maintains in a message posted on social networks. “I also wanted to tell you that the gesture I made in the green room and the way everyone reacted on social networks was definitely not an insult or an insult. And not the middle finger by any means. It’s a gesture of disappointment on my part, meaning “whatever”, which can be translated as “so be it”. Neither more nor less. No intention to shock or provoke. I apologize if this was misunderstood.”He wrote on Instagram.

But his refusal did not convince everyone. “His explanations are even more out of place. Then okay, we all went through tough times, seeing the few points we got, we slapped them and we were worthy”reacted to our colleagues who are a former Eurovision candidate. Parisian / Today in France.

“France must position itself in this competition on grace and modesty like Patricia Kaas or Barbara Pravi in ​​the past.a Eurovision expert also said in the newspaper’s column.

Clara Kolodny