Louane singing “Maman,” a song addressed to her mother, who died of cancer.Credit…Fabrice Coffrini/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

When Louane was offered the chance to represent France at Eurovision, she immediately knew what she wanted to sing about: her mother.

As a child growing up in a small town, Louane, whose real name is Anne Peichert, watched Eurovision with her parents and five siblings while gathered around the TV eating pizza. Even when it wasn’t Eurovision season, Louane recalled in an interview, her mother would put on videos of Celine Dion’s winning performance from 1988, and they would watch together, mesmerized by the Canadian singer’s voice.

Those happy Eurovision sessions ended abruptly in 2014 when Louane’s mother died from cancer.

A star in France with five hit albums, Louane, now 28, said that over the past decade she had written and sung many songs expressing grief and anger over her mother’s death.

Her Eurovision track, a powerful ballad called “Maman,” has an altogether different message, however. “It’s a letter to my mother saying: ‘I’m finally fine. I’m finally good in my life. I am, myself, a mother,’” Louane said. “It’s a super special song to me.”

Louane makes that transformation clear when she sings in French: “I’m better now / I know the way / I’m done walking down this memory lane.”

Louane said the track had a secondary message that went beyond her own story. “What I’m going to try and make everyone understand,” she said, “is that even through the deepest pain, deepest sadness, you can find a way to be better, to finally be well.”