Eurovision 2023: French Singer La Zarra Sparks Controversy with Middle Finger Gesture After Loss

While she was announced in the top 10 of the bookmakers, La Zarra finally finished in 16th place (104 points, far behind Loreen, the winning Swede, who accumulated 583) on Saturday at Eurovision 2023. Her defeat will not have been what shocked her fans or the connoisseurs of the contest. It is indeed her gesture after the announcement of the results. The singer first pointed a middle finger down and then up towards the camera, with a haughty air, reports Le Parisien. Enough to inflame Eurovision. Faced with the controversy, she had to justify herself: "Although I represent France, I also have a dual culture. It’s a bit generational. It’s not a negative gesture, on the contrary, it’s a gesture of disappointment that we use among friends. [...] There are a lot of gestures that mean something else in other countries. It’s absolutely not (a middle finger)."

But La Zarra is struggling to convince. In a late-night Instagram story, she still wants to explain herself: "The gesture I made [...] is absolutely not contempt or an insult. And in no way a middle finger. It’s a gesture at home of disappointment that means whatever, which could be translated as: so be it. Nothing more. No intention to shock or provoke. I apologize if it was misinterpreted." Not enough to calm the spirits. "The gesture is inappropriate and is no more acceptable on a sports field than in an artistic competition," confirms a former participant in the contest who has already experienced the event from the inside. "But his explanations are even more inappropriate. And then, come on, we’ve all been through tough times, we’ve been slapped seeing the few points we were given and we’ve remained dignified."

The candidate’s supporters do not hide their disappointment either. "I’m disappointed," confirms Benoît Blaszczyk, head of the Eurofans, on Sunday afternoon. "This is not the image of France I want to give in this competition. La Zarra was not in the decency or the fair play that we expected from her. It’s a competition, there’s only one winner. Look, the Spanish candidate who smiled and had a gesture of gratitude even though the public only gave her 5 points..."