All of France with Brittany, unless it’s the other way around. It is a song in Breton which will represent France at Eurovision next May in Turin, Italy. Alvan & Ahez is the meeting of a trio of Breton singers accustomed to fest-noz and an electro musician. The four friends met in a bar in Rennes.
Alexis Morvan, the “Alvan” of the name of the group, the boy of the group, a musician specializing in electro, therefore accompanies the trio of singers “Ahez”, Marine Lavigne, Sterenn Diridollou and Sterenn Le Guillou, who met in college and at the Diwan high school in Carhaix, in Finistère. The marriage of their universes therefore gave birth to Fulenn, a 100% Breton title, which means both “spark” and “pretty girl”. A small challenge for Alexis, the guitarist who did not know the language, as he confides to the microphone of franceinfo: “I learned the song phonetically at the beginning and then I learned the meaning, but I don’t speak a bit of Breton.”, he almost apologizes.
Quite the opposite of the three singers who spoke Breton in the family and who went to the bilingual school Diwan: “We grew up with this language. We were really cradled in our family, my grandparents, great-grandparents or my ancestors spoke Breton and Gallo, the second language of Brittany.“, assures one of them.
“We continue to speak a lot in Breton. We speak Breton. We want this language to live!”
A singer from the group Alvan & Ahezat franceinfo
With their meticulous choreography, the magical scenography that evokes Breton legends – the theme of the song which is intended to be feminist with the symbol of a liberated young woman who will dance at nightfall around the fire -, the costumes of the Pays bigouden, Alvan & Ahez a conquered the public. But the quartet is surprised to find themselves there: “We wrote, create this song together saying ‘Come on, why not? We try !’ And we are here today and we are going to Turin. It’s just amazing.” breathes a singer.
It is therefore in Breton that France will speak next May in Turin, during the final. In 1996, Dan Ar Braz had already sung in Breton Diwanit Bugale at Eurovision in Oslo (Norway), before finishing at the bottom of the final ranking.