He was chosen to wear the colours of France on May 16th, 2020. At the same time singer, actor and humorist, Tom Leeb, the son of Michel Leeb, has more than one string to his bow.
“We are proud to announce that Tom Leeb will defend our colours at the next Eurovision competition “. It is on these words that France Televisions formalized, Tuesday 14th January 2020, the candidacy of the singer for the European song contest, which will be held in Rotterdam (Netherlands) in the spring.
💥 #Eurovision2020 💥
Nous sommes fiers de vous annoncer que #TomLeeb défendra nos couleurs au prochain concours de l’Eurovision diffusé le 16 mai sur @france2tv !
RT pour l’encourager pic.twitter.com/QGMrQtJJ7E— Eurovision France 🇫🇷 (@EurovisionF2) January 14, 2020
His face probably means nothing to you, but his patronymic is already well known to the general public…
He is the son of Michel Leeb and Béatrice Malicet
Aged 30, Bilal Hassani’s successor is the son of humorist Michel Leeb and journalist Béatrice Malicet , and the brother of singer Fanny Leeb and Elsa Leeb.
View this post on Instagram
Jamais 2 sans 3 – So much love @fannyleebofficial @elsaleeb #montreuxjazzfestival 📸by @anoushabrar
He appeared for the first time on the small screen in 2013, in the series “Sous le soleil de Saint-Tropez” , in which he interpreted the role of Tom Drancourt. In 2014, he also appeared in the “Research Section” series.
The same year, he worked alongside Jean Reno in the film “Avis de Mistral”. Three years later, he landed a role in several comedies, including “Mon Poussin” and “Les Nouvelles Aventures de Cendrillon”, and more recently in “Edmond”.
He will be showing several films in 2020
Tom Leeb also formed, in 2013, a comic duet with the actor Kevin Levy. He shared the stage with his father Michel Leeb in 2014 in “Madame Doubtfire”.
n 2020, in addition to Eurovision, Tom Leeb will be back on television against Claire Keim in season 2 of “Infidèle”, on TF1 . It can also be found in the cinema, in “C’est la vie” (in theatres on April 29) and in “Spoiled Rot” (August 19).
Read also: Eurovision: the Netherlands winners, disappointment for France and Bilal Hassani
An album arose
At the same time, the Eurovision candidate thrives in music. He released his first single, Are we too late , in 2018, whose clip has 26 million views.
This was followed in 2019 by the release of his album under the French label Roy Music – which mixes rock, blues and folk – called Recollection .
Watch the video for Are we too late by Tom Leeb:
Why it did not go through the Eurovision Destination box
As Le Parisien revealed, this year, France Télévisions did not wish to renew the Destination Eurovision program, which allowed the public to elect its candidate. Tom Leeb was thus selected among other artists by an internal committee of France Télévisions.
Alexandra Redde-Amiel, director of entertainment and variety for the group, said:
“We thought it was complicated to find 18 songs and that it was better to focus on one and give it all our energy. So we decided to redeploy our forces differently and to look for the song internally.”
The choice, therefore, fell on the artist, with a “unique grain of the voice”. “It’s someone who is modern, who is universal, who is charismatic, who is authentic,” adds the director.
As for the song he will perform at the 65th edition of Eurovision, suspense since it will be unveiled in a few weeks by the group. In the meantime, the singer delivered his first impressions on Twitter :
“Eurovision is an emblematic and unifying event. I am very proud to represent France and look forward to living this exceptional adventure with you!”
Will he better Bilal Hassani, 16th in the ranking? Answer on May 16th.
When did France win Eurovision?
As one of the seven founding countries of the competition, France has participated since its creation in 1956. It has distinguished itself on five occasions:
– In 1958 with “Dors, mon amour”, interpreted by André Claveau ;
– In 1960 with “Tom Pilibi” interpreted by Jacqueline Boyer ;
– In 1962 with the song “Un premier amour”, performed by Isabelle Aubret ;
– In 1969 , with the song “Un jour, un enfant”, performed by Frida Boccara ;
– In 1977, with the song ” L’Oiseau et l’Enfant”, performed by Marie Myriam .
