Country France Language French Lyricist(s) Rachèle Thoreau | Artist(s) Mathé Altéry Composer(s) André Lodge Conductor Franck Pourcel | |
"Le temps perdu" ([lə tɑ̃ pɛʁdy], Lost time) was the first French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1956 (that Contest being unique for allowing two songs per country), performed in French by Mathé Altéry.
The song was performed fifth on the night (following Germany's Walter Andreas Schwarz with "Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück" and preceding Luxembourg's Michèle Arnaud with "Ne crois pas"). As the scores of the 1956 Contest have not been made public, it is impossible to tell how many points it received or where it placed.
The song is in the chanson style, and features Altéry reminiscing about a former lover, hoping that her song will distract her from the pain of not having him anymore.
The song was accompanied at the 1956 contest by Dany Dauberson with "Il est là" and was succeeded as French representative at the 1957 contest by Paule Desjardins with "La belle amour".