J'ai cherché

"J'ai cherché"
Single by Amir Haddad
from the album Au cœur de moi
Released15 January 2016 (2016-01-15)
Recorded2015
Genre
Length
  • 3:32 (album version)
  • 3:00 (eurovision edit)
LabelSash Productions
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Nazim Khaled
  • Silvio Lisbonne
  • Skydancers
Amir Haddad singles chronology
"Oasis"
(2015) 		"J'ai cherché"
(2016) 		"On dirait"
(2016)
Music video
"J'ai cherché" on YouTube
Eurovision Song Contest 2016 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Languages
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Final result
6th
Final points
257
Entry chronology
◄ "N'oubliez pas" (2015)
"Requiem" (2017) ►

"J'ai cherché" (French pronunciation: [ʒɛ ʃɛʁʃe], English: I searched) is a song performed by French-Israeli singer Amir Haddad. The song represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden. The song finished 6th overall in the grand final, with 257 points, finishing 3rd with the juries and 9th in the televote, France's best result since 2002. It was written by Haddad along with Johan Errami and Nazim Khaled, while Khaled produced the track along with Silvio Lisbonne and Skydancers.[1][2] The song was released as a digital download on 15 January 2016 through Sash Productions.[3] The song was released as the second single from his second studio album Au cœur de moi (2016).

Eurovision Song Contest

Main article: France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Amir performing at Eurovision 2016

On 29 February 2016, the French broadcaster announced that Haddad would perform the song "J'ai cherché" as the country's Eurovision Song Contest 2016 entry. Being a member of the "Big Five", he automatically advanced to the final.[4] He performed the song during the first semi-final on 10 May 2016.[5] The song finished 6th overall in the grand final, with 257 points, finishing 3rd with the juries and 9th in the televote, France's best result since 2002.

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "J'ai cherché" was first released onto Amir's YouTube channel on 3 March 2016 at a total length of three minutes and thirty-two seconds.[6] An abridged version of the video was uploaded to the Eurovision Song Contest's YouTube channel on 13 March 2016 with an alternate lyrics and a total length of 2:59 minutes.[7] It has since received over 18 million views and is one of the most positively received among all of the 2016 participants, and his first version of the song has received over 100 million views on his own channel on YouTube.[6]

Reception

Since its release to French radio in January 2016, the song has received largely positive feedback from the public. The song reached number two on the French Singles Chart, on 20 May 2016, behind "Can't Stop the Feeling!" by Justin Timberlake.[8] Many of these fans were pleased when it was chosen to represent France at Eurovision, leading much of the media covering the contest to believe that this was the first French contest entry in recent memory to be positively backed by its own public. The song has been listened to on radio over 1.2 billion times, earning Amir the first W9 Gold Award on 11 December 2016 for the most listened-to French song on radio.

The single was certified platinum in France in October 2016. In August 2022, it was certified Diamond.

Other versions

After the good reception of the song, two different versions of J'ai cherché were released, one in English and one in Spanish. One month after the release of "J'ai cherché", Haddad released the all-English version of the song, titled "Looking for You".[9] On 10 May 2016, in the morning of the very first Semi-final the Spanish version of the song was uploaded to his YouTube channel, titled "Yo Busqué".[10] This last version was made with the help of the Spanish representative of Eurovision that year (2016), Barei, after they both formed a strong friendship in the Eurovision Tour around Europe, where they sang the early version of the song together in the streets of London.[11] Both the English and Spanish versions of the song were released on the special edition of Amir's album Au cœur de moi on November 11

Track listing

Digital download[3]
No.TitleLength
1."J'ai cherché"3:32

Chart performance

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[23] Diamond 333,333‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Worldwide 15 January 2016[3] Digital download Sash Productions

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Result
2016 NRJ Music Awards Francophone Song of the Year Won

References

  1. ^ "J'ai cherché Credits". All Music. Retrieved 29 Feb 2016.
  2. ^ Omelyanchuk, Olena (29 Feb 2016). "Amir is the French choice for Stockholm!". EBU.
  3. ^ a b c J'ai cherché - Single by Amir on iTunes
  4. ^ Jordan, Paul (21 January 2016). "Semi-Final Allocation Draw on Monday, pots revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  5. ^ Granger, Anthony (23 September 2015). "ESC'16: Big 5 & Sweden Will Perform in the Semi Finals". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  6. ^ a b Amir - J'ai cherché (Clip officiel) - YouTube
  7. ^ Amir - J'ai cherché (France) 2016 Eurovision Song Contest - YouTube
  8. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles téléchargés". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on 20 May 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  9. ^ "Looking for You". Spotify. 15 April 2016.
  10. ^ "Amir - Yo busqué (J'ai cherché | Spanish version)". YouTube.
  11. ^ Amir y Barei - Yo busqué (J'ai cherché Versión en Español) - Eurovision 2016 [1] YouTube
  12. ^ "austriancharts.at – Amir – J'ai cherché" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  13. ^ "ultratop.be – Amir – J'ai cherché" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  14. ^ "ultratop.be – Amir – J'ai cherché" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  15. ^ a b "Lescharts.com – Amir – J'ai cherché" (in French). Les classement single.
  16. ^ "Amir – J'ai cherché" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  17. ^ – Amir – J'ai Cherché Archived 2015-06-12 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "dutchcharts.nl – Amir – J'ai cherché" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  19. ^ TopHit Track Info - Amir, "J'ai Cherche"
  20. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Amir [FR] – J'ai cherché (song)". Hung Medien.
  21. ^ "Sverigetopplistan - Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan. Archived from the original on December 26, 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  22. ^ "Rapports Annuels 2016". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  23. ^ "French single certifications – Amir – J'ai cherché" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2016.