France’s Parisian disco queen: It’s obviously La Zarra

This songstress was an obvious choice for the Eurovision Song Contest, and voilà! France Télévisions chose La Zarra internally. Even at the top of the highest mountain you still can’t touch the sky — but perhaps you can from the Eurovision stage.

Her heart, her hands, her eyes, La Zarra put her whole self into her first Eurovision rehearsal on Thursday 4 May. She came ready with powerful vocals, and an impressive outfit to match — a sparkly black dress that cascaded down a huge plinth. Turning the whole stadium into the most fabulous disco in Europe, La Zarra performed on top of that plinth, undoubtedly with the best view in the room. She turned it out, évidemment.

Slightly starstruck, the official Eurovision Live Blog wrote: "Ooh la la, this is FABULOUS. It’s Edith Piaf meets Lady Gaga, with La Zarra standing on top of a sparkle-draped plinth wearing a fitted gown made entirely from black and red sequins."

Don’t be fooled by her glamorous exterior — La Zarra is quite the joker. When we asked what her favourite cheese is, she said cheesecake. Perhaps France just has too much fromage to choose from. Telling us a joke in her native language, she said: “C’est deux patates dans un four. Une patate dit à l’autre, ‘Hey! Il fait chaud ici.’ L’autre répond, ‘Oh! Une patate qui parle!’” For non French speakers, her joke goes: “Two potatoes are in an oven. One potato says to the other, ‘Hey! It’s hot here.’ The other replies, ‘Oh! A talking potato.’”

La Zarra’s all time favourite song is Édith Piaf’s Sous Le Ciel De Paris, and she’s also a big fan of Lana Del Ray’s Doin’ Time and Madonna’s Vogue. Featuring heavily in her top artists is France’s Eurovision 1988 winner, Céline Dion.

The Official Eurovision Song Contest Podcast caught up with La Zarra once she'd arrived in Liverpool, and asked about where her fashion influences come from. The superstar said, "I'm a big fan of old movies, so I always watch Audrey Hepburn — she was classy, and the way she was making jokes." La Zarra also spends a good portion of her time at her friends' drag shows, and loves all the new outfits on display, which give her a lot of inspiration. La Zarra can report, plenty of drag queens are already lip syncing to Évidemment.

There's more from La Zarra on Episode 23 of the Official Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

You can learn more about La Zarra from France right here.