Télévision Française 1 (TF1) held the national final on 8 March 1981 at its studios in Paris, hosted by television hostess Fabienne Égal.

The winner was decided by a random sampling of 1,086 television viewers who were contacted by TF1 and asked which song was their favorite.

The winning entry was "Humanahum", performed by Jean Gabilou and composed by Jean-Paul Cara with lyrics by Joe Gracy.

[1][2] Jean Gabilou performed ninth on the night of the contest, following Finland and preceding Spain.

[3] Despite finishing in the top three, TF1's head of entertainment programming, Pierre Bouteiller, famously opted out of the 1982 Contest, referring to Eurovision as "a monument to inanity [sometimes translated as "drivel"].