Belgium was represented by Jean Vallée, with the song "Viens l'oublier", at the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Amsterdam on 21 March. "Viens l'oublier" was chosen at the Belgian national final on 3 February.
Before Eurovision
Chansons Euro '70 / 09.36.70
Format
Chansons Euro '70 consisted of nine shows; six quarter-finals, two semi-finals, and a final. In each quarter-final there were six songs where the top two qualified for the semi-finals. Each semi-final had six songs where the top three qualified to the final, which would then have six songs. All shows were hosted by Claude Delacroix.[1]
Chansons Euro '70 also went by an alternative name in Walloon newspapers; 09.36.70. The numbers represented the number of shows in the national final, the total number of songs competing, and the year. The name would change as the national final went on, and instead represented the number of shows left, the number of songs still left in the competition, and the year.[2]
Competing Entries
RTB received 350 submissions, from which 36, by 20 different artists, were chosen to participate in the national final.[1]
The qualifiers in the quarter-finals were decided by two different juries. Jury A consisted of 100 people across 10 cities in Belgium who would be phoned and asked to vote for 1 song. Jury B consisted of postcard voting; since the postcard voting started after the semi-final had already taken place and the Jury A qualifier was already known, the Jury A winner would often place last with Jury B. Only the placements of Jury B are known.[1]
Quarter-final 1 - 09.36.70 - 14 October 1969
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Points
Jury B Place
1
Bébé Suong
"Le temps d'avril"
19
4
2
Eddy Pascal
"Oublie que tu l'aimes"
0
5
3
Cecily Forde
"Mon amour est tombé du nid"
9
3
4
Serge & Christine Ghisoland
"Laï laï laï"
49
6
5
Ann Christy
"Le vent, le temps"'
20
1
6
Concetta di Maria
"Marche le temps"
3
2
Quarter-final 2 - 08.32.70 - 28 October 1969
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Points
Jury B Place
1
Rosy Dany
"Et moi je chante"
4
4
2
Serge Davignac
"La vie"
16
2
3
Nicole Josy
"Je n'en reviens pas"
12
3
4
Jean Vallée
"Viens l'oublier"
40
5
5
Joanna
"Flash-back"
1
6
6
Marc Bertrand
"Ne prends pas le temps comme il vient"
27
1
Quarter-final 3 - 07.28.70 - 11 November 1969
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Points
Jury B Place
1
Eddy Pascal
"Virginia"
15
1
2
Josiane Janvier
"Tu seras celui-là"
6
3
3
Johnny White
"Mary-Ann"
9
2
4
Bébé Suong
"On m'avait dit"
11
4
5
Jacques Albin
"Chatte"
3
5
6
Andrée Simons
"La belle époque"
56
6
Quarter-final 4 - 06.24.70 - 25 November 1969
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Points
Jury B Place
1
Miles Kovacs
"Mélodie d'automne"
1
5
2
Lucienne Troka
"Toi soleil"
5
4
3
Jean Narcy
"Une rose"
10
2
4
Andrée Simons
"Perle d'etoile"
42
6
5
Frédéric François
"Comme tous les amoureux"
28
1
6
Ann Christy
"Merci, printemps"
14
3
Quarter-final 5 - 05.20.70 - 9 December 1969
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Place
Jury B Place
1
Rosy Dany
"Ce n'etait que l'amour"
3
2
2
Marc Bertrand
"Notre raison de vivre"
2
1
3
Concetta di Maria
"Oui, mais quand"
5
3
4
Bébé Suong
"Triste été"
4
4
5
Serge & Christine Ghisoland
"Nous serons toi et moi"
1
6
6
Nicole Josy
"C'est toi qui as raison"
6
5
The Jury A points are unknown for quarter-final 5.
Quarter-final 6 - 04.16.70 - 23 December 1969
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Points
Jury B Place
1
Bébé Suong
"La fête aus musiciens"
5
3
2
Cecily Forde
"Prends ma main"
5
4
3
Serge Davignac
"Monsieur du printemps"
20
1
4
Lucienne Troka
"Dix épines pour une rose"
15
2
5
Joanna
"A huit heurs au printemps"
5
5
6
Johnny White
"Quand on est amoureux"
50
6
Semi-Finals
The qualifiers in the semi-finals were decided by three different juries. Jury A consisted of 100 people across 10 cities in Belgium who would be phoned and asked to vote for 1 song. Jury B consisted of 100 young people who each voted for a song. Jury C consisted of postcard voting; since the postcard voting started after the semi-final had already taken place and the Jury A and Jury B qualifiers were already known, the Jury A and B qualifiers would often place low with Jury C. The winner of each jury qualified; Jury A's qualifier was decided first, then Jury B then Jury C. Only the placements of Jury C are known.[1]
Serge & Christine Ghisoland and Andrée Simons, who had each qualified two songs for the final, both decided in advance to withdraw one of their songs ("Nous serons toi et moi" and "Perle d'étoile" respectively) in order not to risk splitting their vote, leaving only four songs in the final. The winning song was chosen by a combination of two juries; Jury A consisted of 600 TV viewers from 6 cities who were gathered in Dinant; and Jury B consisted of one jury from each of the other eleven participating countries in Eurovision 1970 and several journalists.[1][3]
On the night of the final Vallée performed 5th in the running order, following Yugoslavia and preceding France. At the close of voting "Viens l'oublier" had received 5 points (3 from France and 1 apiece from Ireland and Luxembourg), placing Belgium joint 8th (with Italy and Monaco) of the 12 entries. The Belgian jury awarded 9 of its 10 points to contest winners Ireland, the highest ever mark given by one country to another under the 10-points-per-jury system.[4]
Belgium
