"Echo (You and I)" is a song by Indonesian/French singer-songwriter

Anggun Anggun Cipta Sasmi (; (born 29 April 1974), known mononymously as Anggun, is an Indonesian-French singer, songwriter, and television personality. Born in Jakarta, she began performing at the age of seven and recorded a children's album two yea ...

. A mixed French-English song, it was the French entry in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song "Running Scared (Ell & Nikki song), Running Scared" by Ell & Nikki, El ...

. The song was released as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from the international edition of her album '' Echoes'' and the third single in France. The full English version of "Echo (You and I)" was later included on her Indonesia-only compilation '' Best-Of: Design of a Decade 2003–2013'' (2013).

Background

On 29 November 2011, Anggun was announced by the

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (form ...

as the French representative in the

. Marie Claire Mezzette, the head of the Entertainment Department at

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air Public broadcasting, public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming. France 3 is structured as a Region ...

, explained that Anggun had been a strong candidate for a long time and last year they were hesitating between her and

Amaury Vassili Amaury Vassili Chotard (born 8 June 1989) is a French opera singer and professional tenor. His debut album, ''Vincerò'' (2009), went double platinum in France, and he has had international success with releases in Canada, South Africa, and So ...

. Speaking about the selection, Anggun said, "It's really a great honour. It's a lovely gift for me as I'm of Indonesian origin, but having been naturalised French since 2000. I undoubtedly symbolise a mixed France of today, made up of many cultures. Your country has given me a beautiful language, a beautiful identity. Secretly, we all want to win. I'm going to shine for France."

Production

Anggun composed the song in collaboration with musicians William Rousseau and Jean-Pierre Pilot. For the mixing of the song she enlisted the help of Veronica Ferraro, who has worked on

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...

's latest project. On 29 December 2011, the demo of the song, entitled "Europa", was sent to several media and was claimed to be as engaging and inviting as

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's "

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" and

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

's "

I Wanna Go "I Wanna Go" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her seventh studio album, ''Femme Fatale (Britney Spears album), Femme Fatale'' (2011). It was written and produced by Max Martin and Shellback (record producer), Shellback, with addi ...

". On 17 January 2012, Anggun announced the official title of the song, "Echo (You and I)". The song is mostly in French, with few English lyrics in its chorus. The full English version will be recorded.

Release and promotion

"Echo (You and I)" was previewed exclusively at Midem on 29 January 2012. The single was released on all legal digital platforms on 30 January 2012. An ultra-limited edition cd single of "Echo (You and I) was released on 9 April 2012 in France. For promotional purpose, she recorded several duets of this particular song with various Eurovision finalists from previous seasons such as

Niels Brinck Niels Brinck Kristensen (born 24 September 1974) is a Danish singer and songwriter. Brinck won the '' Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2009'' with the song " Believe Again" which was written by Lars Halvor Jensen, Martin Larsson Moller and Ronan Keati ...

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, Varga Viktor, and Keo. Anggun embarked on a promotional tour to more than 15 countries in Europe. She made live appearances to perform the song during the national song selections of several countries, including

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, and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Music video

The music video premiered on 13 March 2012 and was uploaded on Anggun and Eurovision's YouTube channels on the same day. However, the music video was taken down on Eurovision's channel and was re-uploaded again on 20 March 2012 to cut out the beginning of the video which showed various product placements, such as Anggun riding a Dacia Lodgy car with her friends, and talking to a stylist in the studio while numerous hair and beauty products are being used on her. The video shows Anggun inside a military base where new recruits are seen being trained. The video was shot in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and Bucharest
Lodgy to appear in Anggun's video clip "Echo (You and I)" - Groupe Renault

Eurovision Song Contest 2012

As one of the "Big Five", the song automatically qualified for the Eurovision grand final. It was drawn to perform 9th. Anggun performed wearing a shiny metallic dress designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier. She was accompanied by two backing vocals and three acrobatic dancers. The song performed below expectations finishing in 22nd place scoring just 21 points, with nul points from the televoting. Anggun later told the press that she had originally hoped to reach a place within the top 10 and was deeply disappointed with the result.

Track listing

*Digital Download #"Echo (You and I)" – 3:03

Charts

References

{{authority control 2012 songs 2012 singles Anggun songs Eurovision songs of 2012 Eurovision songs of France Songs written by William Rousseau Warner Music Group singles Songs written by Anggun Franglais songs English-language French songs