A French MP has said he is outraged that the song chosen to represent the nation in the Eurovision song contest has English lyrics.

Jacques Myard, of the UMP party, has urged the company that runs most of France's TV networks to reconsider.

Sebastien Tellier's entry, entitled Divine, combines both English and French lyrics with electro music.

France's culture minister has defended his song, saying the country should fully support his bid for victory.

A total of 43 countries are taking part in a contest that draws hundreds of thousands of viewers from Europe and beyond.

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"Sebastien Tellier has great talent, he has a real international dimension," Christine Albanel told Agence France Presse.

But she also admitted: "I do think it is a shame that it isn't a French song."

Mr Myard told the BBC that allowing an English song to represent France was a fiasco: "The French language is the tool of a huge industry in terms of cultural influence and if we French give up our language, what do you think the others will say?"

Mr Myard, himself a fluent English speaker, said it was not appropriate that, in a European contest, France should "monkey another's culture".

"I think that even in a song, especially in this Euro contest, we have to sing in French," he added.

(BBC)

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