“I want my music to touch people”: we present to you Monroe, France’s candidate in the Eurovision final this evening

Monroe twirls. Dozens of blonde braids adorned with silver jewelry dance around her. There is something in her enlightened face, even when she is not smiling or when she is not playing with her immense crystalline eyes, which makes us say that it is no coincidence: some people are made for the light.

This is undoubtedly the case for this young Franco-American who will represent France on Saturday May 16 evening during the Eurovision final live at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria. Festivities surrounding the European singing competition began on Sunday in Vienna with thousands of fans from around the world, despite a call for a boycott launched due to the presence of Israel.

Met just a month before flying to Vienna, Monroe Vata Rigby had just returned from “pre-show“In Amsterdam. Perfectly bilingual after growing up between her father’s Utah and France – her mother is Franco-Congolese – Monroe sometimes juggles with anglicisms, searches for her words and above all does not stifle her enthusiasm. American style, everything is “amazing” or “so exciting“. “It was crazy, it was very intense. It’s great to feel all the energy from the audience“, she said about these few days spent meeting fans, the others “contestants“(participants) and above all, to repeat Regarde ! for the first time in real conditions, on stage, surrounded by her dancers.

Composed by the two internet star violinists from Violin Phonix, Regarde ! East “cut like a glove for her. It’s tailor-made“, says Léa Ivanne, the vocal coach of the French Eurovision team who has been supporting the young girl for sixteen months. A song in the form of a modern and very pop symphony, a challenge for the singer, initially trained in lyrical singing.

It was with the show “Prodiges”, the young talents of classical music which she won in 2024, that France Télévisions discovered her. “I’m intrigued.recalls Léa Ivanne. I said to myself that if at 17, she had this power and this vocal maturity, this technicality… It’s very strong! But it was going to be a lot of work to make her a pop singer.“

Monroe discovered singing at the church she attends every week with her parents. If she remembers singing Céline Dion and Lara Fabian at the top of her voice with her mother, dreaming while listening to the group Pentatonix or the flights of Whitney Houston in her father’s car, it is lyrical singing that thrills her.

“When I sing, I feel like I’m making the connection between earth and sky. I’ve already seen people cry when I sang. What emotions we can give is incredible“, confides Monroe. She connects this almost mystical dimension to the message of Regarde ! “which speaks of universal love. Who is there, all around us, that we often wait for. Who binds us all“, he interpreted.

Following her victory in “Prodigies”, Monroe was able to record her first album with Warner Classics. There we find his interpretations of theHail Mary orOver the Rainbow. A tour of churches in France was initially planned, but it will have to resume later, because Eurovision has priority: a pop branch on the journey of a future cathedral singer. “Whether it’s in a church or a concert hall, it doesn’t matter, I want my music to touch people.“

At Eurovision, there is work to be done. Monroe takes some time to visit the capital, accompanied by her mother, who never leaves her side. But his days are more like: sports, voice work, rehearsals, dancing and creating content to fuel his presence on social media. At Eurovision, public votes count for half for France which, as one of the main financiers of telecrochet, is directly qualified for the final.

“She is a huge workeradmits his vocal coach. She wasn’t afraid to turn to pop while keeping lyrical passages in RegardeÂ!. She wants to work, to learn, she is very curious about music in general.“Lyrical singing is particularly technical, composed of octave jumps, large note gaps, great mastery of breathing.”In pop, everything happens lower down, in the midrange. The intention of the song is not at all the same.“

The last two editions have dedicated winners to lyrical profiles: in 2024, in Malmo, the Swiss Nemo won the competition with The Codea song mixing pop and lyrical flights of fancy… Nemo had turned to lyrical singing at the age of 9 before crossing several genres. In 2025, it was the countertenor JJ, trained at the Vienna Opera, who won the victory with Wasted Lovefusion of techno and soprano voice.

Two very impressive performances for the young Monroe: “They set the bar very high. Especially in their handling of technique while performing their choreography.“For her vocal coach, she has every chance.”She became a real pop singer. She left pure technique to join emotion. This is what will count during his live performance!“