Eurovision Top 100, #36: Un jour, un enfant (France, 1969)

At number 36 on the Eurovision Top 100 countdown, we are back to France with their 1969 winning song, “Un jour, un enfant.”

Of course, France’s Frida Boccara was not the only winner in 1969.  Three other countries – the United Kingdom (“Boom Bang-A-Bang”), Spain, and the Netherlands – shared the honor with her. It was a contest perhaps best remembered for its tumultuousness, which comes at the expense of the music.  Boccara and this entry do not deserve to be overlooked in this way.

Vital Information: “Un jour, un enfant”

What I Liked

The entry to this song is very pretty.  It’s soft and melodic, setting the stage for what you would expect is going to be a sweet performance.  It was, but the singing makes it work.  Boccara was a hell of a good singer and she gave one of the most powerful vocal performances I have ever heard from France.  In modern times, you might say a singer like Slimane did similarly, but Boccara did it first.

When I break out the word “grandeur” to describe a composition, that’s how you know it was good.  She powered through that performance and turned a song that had sweet beginnings into a towering entry.

Beyond that, every constituent element of the performance, from lyrics, to composition, to vocals, was strong.  To put it in more plain terms, it was just a straight-up really good song in every way that mattered.

Other Facts

• Nine teams awarded points to France during the 1969 contest.  The scoring system was nowhere near what it is today.
• Boccara was the first Eurovision winner to have been born outside of continental Europe (Morocco).
• France was the last of the four winning songs to go in the running order, at 14th out of 16.
• This was France’s fourth win at Eurovision.  They would get their fifth in 1977 (“L’Oiseau et l’Enfant”), but have not won since, as of 2024.

Watch “Un jour, un enfant”

The 1969 grand final performance is on YouTube.