Eurovision Winner Marie Myriam Slams La Zarra’s Controversial Gesture After French Defeat

During the announcement of the Eurovision 2023 results, La Zarra first pointed a middle finger down and then up towards the camera, with a haughty air. This gesture did not please Marie Myriam, the last artist to have won the contest for France. "What a shame! I am extremely disappointed, because this is just not possible. She made this gesture, sitting in an armchair with French flags behind her. France does not deserve this!" she affirmed to Le Parisien.

Faced with the controversy, La Zarra justified herself as follows: "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)." For Myriam, there is no excuse: "I know exactly the stress we feel before singing, when we count the points, the tension that builds up... But nothing justifies going off the rails!"

"There are twenty-six candidates and only one winner. Maybe they should have told her that she wasn’t sure to come in first. That’s the principle of a competition," adds the interpreter of "The Bird and the Child".