The French have lost interest in Eurovision in recent years, no doubt because they've been doing so badly.

French entrants haven't even cracked the top 20 for four years, haven't made the top five since 2002, and haven't had a victory since 1977.

Yikes, not great stats. But could Amir Haddad be the one to turn it all around? 

On May 14th, Amir will represent France at the Eurovision final in Stockholm, Sweden. Seeing as he just might bring glory and renewed enthusiasm for Eurovision in France, you should probably know a thing or two about him.

He’s the product of multiple cultures

Laurent Amir Khlifa Khedider Haddad (say that three times fast), usually known as Amir Haddad or just Amir, was born in Paris to a Tunisian father and a Moroccan-Spanish mother.

They moved to Israel when Amir was eight, and it was there that he first got some attention when he made it to the finals of a televised Israeli talent show in 2006. Unfortunately he didn’t win, but it paved the way for him to start recording his first album. 

If he weren’t a singer, he’d be a… dentist

After the initial disappointment of not winning the talent competition, Amir went on to graduate from dentistry school in Jerusalem in 2012. We can imagine getting your teeth cleaned would be a lot more pleasant if you were serenaded by Amir at the same time. 

He only has one working ear

Yep, Amir can only hear on the left side. You’d think he might be a bit tone deaf since he was born with this 50 percent hearing loss, but he manages to sing better than most humans with two working ears.

He's a fan of franglais

His competition song J’ai Cherché is sung in French with an English chorus, which really ticked off France’s culture minister. The song, co-written by Amir, Nazim Khaled, and Johan Errami, wasn’t even originally intended for Eurovision.

Instead it was just supposed to be the first single on Amir’s new album until he was approached and asked to perform the song to represent France. 

He has influential fans

Not only have some bookies tipped him to finish in the top four, but Amir has the backing of previous winner Céline Dion, as evidenced in this picture he tweeted a day before the Eurovision final. 

Now it's just a matter of the rest of Europe discovering the talent and it could be the crown for France!