France participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song with the song "Il était temps" written by Corneille Nyungura and Virginie Pouchain. The song was performed by Virginie Pouchain.

The French broadcaster France Télévisions in collaboration with the television channels France 2, France 3 and RFO organised the national final Et si c'était vous? in order to select the French entry for the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece. Singers interested in entering the French national final had the opportunity to apply to one of three open competitions with defined periods organised by France 2, France 3 and RFO. A total of 21 artists were selected; thirteen were selected from the France 3 selection and four were each selected from the France 2 and RFO selections. The 21 finalists competed in the national final on 14 March 2006 where the winner was selected over three rounds of voting. In the first round, the top ten candidates were selected by a four-member jury panel to advance to the second round. In the second round, the top three candidates were selected to advance to the final round following the combination of votes from the jury panel and a public vote, during which "Vous, c'est nous" performed by Virginie Pouchain was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from the jury and public vote. On 17 March 2006, France Télévisions announced that Pouchain would perform a new song at the Eurovision Song Contest and "Il était temps" was presented to the public as the new contest entry during a live performance by Pouchain on 10 April 2006 during the France 3 programme Questions pour un champion.

As a member of the "Big Four", France automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 19, France placed twenty-second out of the 24 participating countries with 5 points.