Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
| Belgium | |
|---|---|
|
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| Member station | VRT, RTBF |
| National selection events | Eurosong |
| Appearances | |
| Appearances | 55 (48 finals) |
| First appearance | 1956 |
| Best result | 1st: 1986 |
| Worst result | Last: 1961, 1962, 1965, 1973, 1979, 1985, 1993, 2000 |
| External links | |
| Belgium's page at Eurovision.tv | |
Belgium is a founding member of the Eurovision Song Contest. Since 1956, the country has participated 55 times, only being absent three times in total: in 1994, 1997 and 2001, due to low scores in the previous contests that relegated Belgium from the contest.
Contents |
History [edit]
Belgium has two national broadcasters of the contest, Flemish broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep (VRT) and Walloon broadcaster Radio télévision belge de la communauté française (RTBF). The two broadcasters rotate selection for the Eurovision Song Contest each year.
While VRT normally hosts a national final, Eurosong, when selecting their entries for Eurovision, it has been normal for RTBF to hold an internal selection process (although it has been known for RTBF to hold a national final at times, for example in 1998, 2005[1][2] and 2011, while VRT internally chose Tom Dice for the 2010 edition).
Belgium has won the contest once, in 1986 when Sandra Kim won with her song "J'aime la vie" in Bergen, Norway. Although she claimed she was 15 years old, she was actually only 13, but was allowed to keep her victory. Currently the minimum age for participation is 16 and thus Sandra Kim will remain the youngest winner unless the age limit is lowered.
Belgium's next best placing has been second which it has achieved twice at the 1978 and 2003 contests. However, it has been last eight times.
In 2003, Urban Trad sang in an invented language earning second place with 165 points, 2 points fewer than that year's winner Turkey. Ishtar did the same in 2008, but came 17th in the first semi-final and thus did not qualify for the final.
In the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 Belgium participated in the first semi-final on the 12th May 2009, however they received just one point which came from Armenia and left them in second-last position.
The 2010 entry for Belgium was Tom Dice, runner-up of the Belgian Flemish version of The X Factor in 2008. Dice was internally selected and announced by VRT on 25 November 2009.[3][4] Tom Dice finished 1st in the first semi-final, allowing Belgium to participate to the final for the first time since the introduction of the semi-finals. He eventually finished 6th, Belgium's best result since 2003.
In 2011, the entry for Belgium was Witloof Bay. They didn't qualify for the finals, finishing 11th only one point behind Moldova, and thus 1 point behind the qualification.
Due to the good results & the Flemish population's choice, the VRT cancelled 'Eurosong' selection procedure and chose internally for 2012. For the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, they choose 17-year old singer Iris but decided to let the public choose what song she will sing to represent Belgium. However, she didn't qualify to the finishing 17th of 18 entrants in the first semi-final, scoring just 16 points which was the second lowest total of all the 36 semi-final entrants.[5][6][7]
In 2012, Roberto Bellarosa, winner of The Voice Belgique, was chosen to represent Belgium for the next Eurovision Song Contest to take place in May 2013 in Sweden. Bellarosa made it into the final and finished at the 12th place.[8]
Contestants [edit]
- XX on the semi-finals denotes auto-qualification. This could be the result of one of the following two reasons; if a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. The other reason being that back in 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the countries who placed 11th and 12th were advanced to the following year's grand final along with the rest of the top ten countries.
- XX on the finals denotes an unsuccessful attempt at qualifying to the final.
NOTE: The full results for the first contest in 1956 are unknown, only the winner was announced. The official Eurovision site lists all the other songs as being placed second.
Voting history (1975-2011) [edit]
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Belgium has given the most points to... (finals only)
Belgium has received the most points from... (finals only)
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Belgium has given the most points to... (with semi-finals)
Belgium has received the most points from... (with semi-finals)
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Hostings [edit]
| Year | Location | Venue | Presenter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 |  Brussels |
Centenary Palace | Viktor Lazlo |
Commentators and spokespersons [edit]
 |
This section does not cite any references or sources. (March 2012) |
Belgium has two broadcast stations VRT (Dutch speaking region) & RTBF (French speaking region). Both broadcast the event and over the years VRT and RTBF commentary has been provided by several experienced radio and television presenters, including Nand Baert, Jacques Mercier, Luc Appermont and Paule Herreman. However since the 1991 Contest, André Vermeulen has provided the Dutch language commentary every year, with the exception of the 1996 Contest. Whilst Jean-Pierre Hautier has provided the French language commentary every year since the 1994 Contest. In 1962 VRT used the commentary from NOS (The Netherlands broadcast), the reason for that was unknown.
| Year(s) | Flemish Commentator | Waloon Commentator | Spokesperson | Dual Flemish Commentator | Dual Waloon Commentator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Nand Baert | Janine Lambotte | No Spokesperson | No Dual Commentator | No Dual Commentator |
| 1957 | Anton Peters | Bob Van Bael | |||
| 1958 | Nand Baert | Arlette Vincent | Paule Herreman | ||
| 1959 | Anton Peters | Paule Herreman | Bob Van Bael | ||
| 1960 | Nand Baert | Georges Désir | Arlette Vincent | ||
| 1961 | Anton Peters | Paule Herreman | Unknown | ||
| 1962 | Willem Duys | Nicole Védrès | Arlette Vincent | ||
| 1963 | Herman Verelst | Pierre Delhasse | Unknown | Denise Maes | |
| 1964 | Paule Herreman | André Hagon | No Dual Commentator | ||
| 1965 | Nand Baert | ||||
| 1966 | André Hagon | ||||
| 1967 | Janine Lambotte | Jan Theys | |||
| 1968 | André Hagon | ||||
| 1969 | Paule Herreman | Nand Baert | |||
| 1970 | Claude Delacroix | André Hagon | |||
| 1971 | Janine Lambotte | No spokesperson | |||
| 1972 | Arlette Vincent | ||||
| 1973 | Paule Herreman | ||||
| 1974 | Georges Désir | André Hagon | |||
| 1975 | Paule Herreman | Staf Van Berendoncks | |||
| 1976 | Luc Appermont | Georges Désir | André Hagon | ||
| 1977 | Paule Herreman | Anne Ploegaerts | |||
| 1978 | Claude Delacroix | André Hagon | |||
| 1979 | Paule Herreman | Anne Ploegaerts | |||
| 1980 | Jacques Mercier | Jacques Olivier | |||
| 1981 | Walter De Meyere | ||||
| 1982 | Jacques Olivier | ||||
| 1983 | Anne Ploegaerts | ||||
| 1984 | Jacques Olivier | ||||
| 1985 | Anne Ploegaerts | ||||
| 1986 | Patrick Duhamel | Jacques Olivier | |||
| 1987 | Claude Delacroix | Anne Ploegaerts | |||
| 1988 | Pierre Collard-Bovy | Jacques Olivier | |||
| 1989 | Jacques Mercier | Anne Ploegaerts | |||
| 1990 | Claude Delacroix | Jacques Olivier | |||
| 1991 | André Vermeulen | Anne Ploegaerts | |||
| 1992 | Jacques Olivier | ||||
| 1993 | Anne Ploegaerts | ||||
| 1994 | Jean-Pierre Hautier | Did not participate | |||
| 1995 | Marie-Françoise Renson | ||||
| 1996 | Michel Follet | Anne Ploegaerts | Johan Verstreken | Sandra Kim | |
| 1997 | André Vermeulen | Did not participate | No Dual Commentator | No Dual Commentator | |
| 1998 | Marie-Hélène Vanderborght | Andrea Croonenberghs | |||
| 1999 | Sabine De Vos | Bart Peeters | |||
| 2000 | Thomas Van Hamme | Anja Daems | |||
| 2001 | Did not participate | ||||
| 2002 | Geena Lisa | Bart Peeters | |||
| 2003 | Corinne Boulangier | Anja Daems | |||
| 2004 | Martine Prenen | Bart Peeters | |||
| 2005 | Armelle Gysen | Anja Daems | |||
| 2006 | Yasmine | Bart Peeters | |||
| 2007 | Maureen Louys | Anja Daems | Jean-Louis Lahaye | ||
| 2008 | Sandrine Van Handenhoven | Bart Peeters | |||
| 2009 | Maureen Louys | Anja Daems | |||
| 2010 | Katja Retsin | Bart Peeters | |||
| 2011 | Maureen Louys | Sven Pichal | |||
| 2012 | Peter Van de Veire | ||||
| 2013 | Maureen Louys | Tom De Cock | |||
Additionly since 1998 VRT has supplied a dual commentator to join André Vermeulen, between 1999 and 2010 Dual commentary was provided by Bart Peeters and Anja Daems. Peeters provided the commentary during the years when VRT selected the entries whilst Daems commentated the years RTBF selected the entries. Since 2011 Sven Pichal has replaced Daems as commentator, whilts Peter Van de Veire has replaced Peeters. Since 2007 Jean-Louis Lahaye has joint Jean-Pierre Hautier as dual commentator for RTBF. After Hautier's death in 2012 Lahaye was joined by Maureen Louys in 2013.
References [edit]
- ^ "Belgian National Final 1998". Archived from the original on 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
- ^ "Belgian National Final 2005". Archived from the original on 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
- ^ Hondal, Victor (2009-11-25). "Tom Dice to represent Belgium in Oslo". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 28 November 2009. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ "Tom Dice gaat naar het Eurovisiesongfestival" (in Dutch). VRT. 2009-11-25. Archived from the original on 29 November 2009. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ "Eén begraaft Eurosong als selectie voor het Songfestival" (in Dutch). VRT. 2009-09-09.
- ^ "No Euroson in 2012 but internal" (in Dutch). 2011-02-14.
- ^ http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=1573
- ^ Griper, Ann (19 May 2013). "Who are Eurovision Song Contest 2013 winners? Full results table". Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ a b Barclay, Simon (June 17, 2010). The Complete and Independent Guide to the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. Silverthorn Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-4457-8415-1.
External links [edit]
- Points to and from Belgium eurovisioncovers.co.uk
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