Bilal Hassani (born 9 September 1999) is a French singer and YouTuber.[2][3] He will represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Roi" after scoring 200 points in the final of Destination Eurovision.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Beginning of musical career (2015–2018) 1.2 Eurovision Song Contest 2019 (2018–present) 1.3 Personal life 2 Discography 2.1 Singles 3 References 4 External links Biography

Hassani was born in Paris to a Moroccan Muslim family from Casablanca.[4][5] His mother is a naturalised French citizen,[6] while his father lives in Singapore.[7][8] He has an older brother, Taha, who was born in 1995.[9] He obtained his literary baccalaureate in 2017.[10]

Beginning of musical career (2015–2018)

Hassani started singing at the age of 5 in front of his family, then began singing lessons.[7] In 2015, encouraged by his friend Nemo Schiffman [fr], a finalist of the first season, he participated in the second season of The Voice Kids and introduced himself in the blind auditions by singing a cover of "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst, a singer who he admires.[11][12] He joined the team of judge Patrick Fiori.[11] He was eliminated during the battle rounds by Lenni-Kim [fr][13]

The LGBT magazine Têtu, in 2018, designated Hassani as part of the "30 LGBT+ who move France". The magazine described him as "an icon for French LGBT+ youth".[14]

Eurovision Song Contest 2019 (2018–present)

On 6 December 2018, Hassani was announced to be among the 18 candidates participating in Destination Eurovision, the French national selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest which broadcasts on France 2, with this edition choosing the representative of France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, which will take place in Tel Aviv, Israel in May 2019.[3][15][16]

On 20 December 2018, an excerpt from his song for the competition was released, the song titled "Roi" and written with the duo and 2018 winner of Destination Eurovision Madame Monsieur.[17] The song was described to be about self-acceptance.[18] On 4 January 2019, "Roi" was made available on all music platforms,[19] and by 14 January, it had exceeded 3 million views. The newspaper Le Monde wrote that Hassani "leaves no one indifferent".[20]

The initial front runner to represent France at Eurovision,[21] Hassani began a media tour for Destination Eurovision on media outlets such as NRJ,[22] Quotidien,[23] and France Inter. On 12 January 2019, he won his semi-final by winning 58 out of 60 points awarded by the international jury, and winning 57 points (the highest score) from the French public. He totaled 115 points and qualified for the final, alongside Chimène Badi (66 points), Silvàn Areg (59 points) and Aysat (40 points).[24] He won the final on 26 January 2019, with a total of 200 points including 150 of the French public while he was ranked fifth with the international jury vote with 50 points.[25]

Personal life

On 23 June 2017, Hassani publicly announced his homosexuality on social networks the day before he went to Paris Pride.[26][27] He has also been described as queer.[28]

Starting in December 2018, Hassani has been the victim of cyber-harassment and has received racist and homophobic attacks and death threats.[29][7] In response to this, the organizations Urgence Homophobie and Stop Homophobie joined forces to take legal action against anyone who has insulted, discriminated against or threatened him on social networks, including Twitter.[30] By 27 January 2019, the two organizations already identified 1,500 insulting, discriminating or hateful tweets because of his sexual orientation and/or physical appearance.[28] Hassani has filed a complaint to those who may be potentially identified with these lawsuits, citing "insults, incitement to hatred and violence and homophobic threats".[31]

Discography Singles Title Year Peak chart positions Album FRA[32] "Wanna Be" 2016 — Non-album singles "Follow Me" 2017 — "House Down" — "Shadows" 2018 — "Heaven with You"(with Anton Wick) — "Hot City"(with Leon Markcus) — "Mash Up"(Copines x Tout oublier) — "Roi" 2019 23[33] "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released.