Nicolas Sarkozy arrived to a rapturous reception at the Salle Gaveau, his supporters' chants of "Sarko president!" ringing in his ears.
Flanked by his two stepdaughters, and looking tanned and relaxed, the UMP leader made a speech promising to protect France and all those who have suffered from crime and its economic malaise.
Almost as soon as the first results were announced, Sarkozy supporters celebrating outside his UMP party's headquarters in Paris, also began chanting "Bayrou with us!", an appeal for the 18.7% of voters who supported the centrist Francois Bayrou to back their man in the final round.
Earlier: Hundreds of supporters of the rightwing French presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy are already gathering in the streets around his party's headquarters tonight confident of a clear victory in the first round of voting.
He is expected to be greeted as the conquering hero when he steps out onto the stage of the Salle Gaveau concert hall just after the preliminary results are announced around 7pm UK time.
Just around the corner from his UMP party's base in the swish 8th arrondisement, the hall is a home from home for Sarkozy, who in the past has wowed new intakes to party there.
Supporters of Nicolas Sarkozy celebrate after the announcement of the first exit polls in the French presidential election Photograph: Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images
As the party atmosphere built up inside the hall, the 2,000 activists inside lustily booed his main rival Segolene Royal when her face appeared on a giant TV screen.
Picnic tables laden with champagne are being set up outside in Rue de la Boetie for the 1,000 or more party workers and Sarkozy-supporting celebrities who are expected to join the celebrations later.
Activists claimed that their leader had run a "perfect" campaign but for his gaffe in the final days when he claimed that young people who took their own lives were genetically disposed to suicide.
Early indications from the polling booths, they claimed, put their man well ahead of Royal, and suggested he and the Socialist would go through to the second round runoff in a fornight's time.
