France participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "J'ai cherché" written by Amir, Nazim Khaled and Johan Errami. The song was performed by Amir. The French broadcaster France Télévisions in collaboration with the television channel France 2 internally selected the French entry for the 2016 contest in , Sweden. "J'ai cherché" was officially announced by France 2 as the French entry on 29 February 2016 and later the song was presented to the public as the contest entry during a live performance by Amir on 12 March 2016 during the France 2 programme The DiCaire Show.

As a member of the "Big 5", France automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 11, France placed sixth out of the 26 participating countries with 257 points.

Prior to the 2016 Contest, France had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-eight times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in the inaugural contest. France first won the contest in 1958 with "Dors, mon amour" performed by André Claveau. In the 1960s, they won three times, with "Tom Pillibi" performed by Jacqueline Boyer in 1960, "Un premier amour" performed by Isabelle Aubret in 1962 and "Un jour, un enfant" performed by Frida Boccara, who won in 1969 in a four-way tie with the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. France's fifth victory came in 1977, when Marie Myriam won with the song "L'oiseau et l'enfant". France have also finished second four times, with Paule Desjardins in 1957, Catherine Ferry in 1976, Joëlle Ursull in 1990 and Amina in 1991, who lost out to Sweden's Carola in a tie-break. In the 21st century, France has had less success, only making the top ten three times, with Natasha St-Pier finishing fourth in 2001, Sandrine François finishing fifth in 2002 and Patricia Kaas finishing eighth in 2009. In 2015, the nation finished in twenty-fourth place with the song "N'oubliez pas" performed by Lisa Angell.

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