Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999
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| Eurovision Song Contest 1999 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Belgium | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Eurosong '99 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Semi-finals: 7 February 1999 14 February 1999 21 February 1999 Final 28 February 1999 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Vanessa Chinitor | |||
| Selected song | "Like the Wind" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
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| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 12th, 38 points | |||
| Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Belgium entered the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 with Vanessa Chinitor and "Like the Wind". The song was selected to represent Belgium at the contest by winning the Belgium national final Eurosong '99.
Before Eurovision
Eurosong '99
Eurosong '99 was the national final that selected Belgium's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999. The competition consisted of three semi-finals that took place on 7, 14 and 21 February 1999, followed by a final on 28 February 1999 where the winning song and artist were selected. All four shows took place at the VRT studios in Schelle, hosted by Bart Peeters and broadcast on TV1.
Format
Three semi-finals took place on 7, 14 and 21 February 1999. From each semi-final, seven entries competed and the winning entry proceeded to the final. After the semi-finals, the highest scoring second-placed entry also proceeded to the final. The final took place on 28 February 1999 where four pre-qualified entries, the semi-final winners and the highest scoring second-placed entry competed and the winner was chosen. The results of all four shows were determined by five voting groups: a three-member expert jury, a Eurojury consisting of European expats living in Belgium, radio voting in Radio 2 and Radio Donna, and public televoting. Each jury had an equal stake in the result and the public televote had a weighting equal to the votes of a single jury. The results of the radio vote in both Radio 2 and Radio Donna were determined by public televoting, which the public was able to vote a week in advance of each show.[1]
During each of the five shows, the expert jury provided commentary and feedback to the artists and selected entries to advance in the competition. These experts were:
- Liliane Saint-Pierre – singer, represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987
- Anja Daems – Radio 2 presenter
- Marcel Vanthilt – singer and television presenter
Competing entries
On 1 November 1998, VRT opened a submission period for artists and composers to submit their songs, with the deadline concluding on 15 December 1998. In addition to the open submissions, VRT also directly invited composers to submit songs as pre-qualified finalists. 199 entries were submitted, and on 12 January 1999, the broadcaster announced the twenty-five entries selected for the competition.[1][2]
| Artist | Song | Composer(s) | Selection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alana Dante | "Get Ready for the Sunsand" | Peter Neefs | Open submission |
| Belle Perez | "Hello World" | Maribel Pérez, Patrick Renier, Jim Soulier | Open submission |
| Bjorn and Joeri | "Je doet wat je doet" | Johan de Backer | Open submission |
| Davy Gilles | "Waar ben jij" | Davy Gilles | Open submission |
| Dominic | "Tonight Is the Night" | Phil Francins, Luc Smets | Open submission |
| Fé | "Love Me" | A. Larson, Alain Vande Putte, Filip Martens | Open submission |
| Frank Galan | "Dame tu vida" | Luigi Bongiovani, Alexander Pascal, Christille, Frank Galan | Open submission |
| K3 | "Heyah Mama!" | Miguel Wiels, Alain Vande Putte, Peter Gillis | Open submission |
| Laurena | "Diamond in Heaven" | Peter Keereman | Open submission |
| Margriet Hermans | "Ik vaar met je mee" | Margriet Hermans, Luigi Bongiovani | Open submission |
| Martine Foubert | "Come to Me" | Marc Paelinck | Open submission |
| Matadi | "Wo-Y-Yè" | Jacky De Munck | Open submission |
| Matiz | "Negentien" | Marc Corrijn, Koen de Beir | Open submission |
| Medusa | "Into My Life" | Stefan Wuyts | Invited by VRT |
| Nadia | "I'm in Heaven" | Mike Egan, Paul Vermeulen, Lou Roman | Open submission |
| Natural High | "Finally" | Marc Paelinck | Invited by VRT |
| Petra | "Diep in mijn huid" | Miguel Wiels, Alain Vande Putte, Peter Gillis | Invited by VRT |
| Piece of Cake | "Do It Again" | Collin Pildidch, Luc Smets | Open submission |
| Ricky Fleming | "Door jou" | Patrick Feustel, Wim Claes | Open submission |
| Sarah | "He's the One" | Mark Vanhie | Invited by VRT |
| Splinter | "Als schepen verwelken" | Hedwig Demesmaeker, Frank Truyen | Open submission |
| Vanessa Chinitor | "Like the Wind" | Emma Philippa-Hjälmås, Wim Claes, Ilia Beyers, John Terra | Open submission |
| Voice Male | "This Is My Life" | Marc Paelinck | Open submission |
| Wendy Fierce | "Never Give Up" | Fonny Dewulf | Open submission |
| Yves Segers | "Recht vooruit" | Yves Segers | Open submission |
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 7 February 1999. "Like the Wind" performed by Vanessa Chinitor proceeded to the final.[3]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Radio | Televote | Total | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Splinter | "Als schepen verwelken" | 12 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 5 |
| 2 | Fé | "Love Me" | 6 | 18 | 3 | 27 | 2 |
| 3 | Piece of Cake | "Do It Again" | 6 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 6 |
| 4 | Belle Perez | "Hello World" | 12 | 8 | 7 | 27 | 2 |
| 5 | Matadi | "Wo-Y-Yè" | 4 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 7 |
| 6 | Vanessa Chinitor | "Like the Wind" | 18 | 9 | 9 | 36 | 1 |
| 7 | Margriet Hermans | "Ik vaar met je mee" | 4 | 14 | 5 | 23 | 4 |
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Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 14 February 1999. "Never Give Up" performed by Wendy Fierce proceeded to the final. "This Is My Life" performed by Voice Male also proceeded to the final as the highest scoring second-placed entry.[3]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Radio | Televote | Total | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bjorn and Joeri | "Je doet wat je doet" | 6 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 6 |
| 2 | Laurena | "Diamond in Heaven" | 7 | 8 | 2 | 17 | 4 |
| 3 | Matiz | "Negentien" | 10 | 5 | 4 | 19 | 3 |
| 4 | Voice Male | "This Is My Life" | 11 | 14 | 7 | 32 | 2 |
| 5 | Davy Gilles | "Waar ben jij" | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 7 |
| 6 | Wendy Fierce | "Never Give Up" | 18 | 18 | 9 | 45 | 1 |
| 7 | Frank Galan | "Dame tu vida" | 4 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 5 |
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Semi-final 3
The third semi-final took place on 21 February 1999. "Get Ready for the Sunsand" performed by Alana Dante proceeded to the final.[3]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Radio | Televote | Total | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martine Foubert | "Come to Me" | 18 | 3 | 9 | 30 | 2 |
| 2 | Yves Segers | "Recht vooruit" | 5 | 8 | 2 | 15 | 6 |
| 3 | Alana Dante | "Get Ready for the Sunsand" | 9 | 18 | 5 | 32 | 1 |
| 4 | Nadia | "I'm in Heaven" | 11 | 5 | 7 | 23 | 4 |
| 5 | Ricky Fleming | "Door jou" | 3 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 7 |
| 6 | Dominic | "Tonight Is the Night" | 12 | 9 | 4 | 25 | 3 |
| 7 | K3 | "Heyah Mama!" | 4 | 11 | 3 | 18 | 5 |
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Final
The final took place on 28 February 1999 where the four semi-final qualifiers alongside the four pre-qualified entries competed. "Like the Wind" performed by Vanessa Chinitor was selected as the winner.
| Final – 28 February 1999 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Radio | Televote | Total | Place |
| 1 | Wendy Fierce | "Never Give Up" | 9 | 16 | 6 | 31 | 2 |
| 2 | Natural High | "Finally" | 5 | 6 | 2 | 13 | 7 |
| 3 | Voice Male | "This Is My Life" | 8 | 12 | 4 | 24 | 5 |
| 4 | Medusa | "Into My Life" | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| 5 | Alana Dante | "Get Ready for the Sunsand" | 13 | 9 | 8 | 30 | 3 |
| 6 | Petra | "Diep in mijn huid" | 9 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 6 |
| 7 | Vanessa Chinitor | "Like the Wind" | 20 | 16 | 10 | 46 | 1 |
| 8 | Sarah | "He's the One" | 12 | 10 | 5 | 27 | 4 |
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At Eurovision
Chinitor performed second on the night of the contest, following Lithuania and preceding Spain. "Like The Wind" received 38 points, placing 12th in a field on 23.[4]
Both the participating Flemish broadcaster VRT and the non-participating Walloon broadcaster RTBF broadcast the show live. VRT broadcast the contest on TV1 with commentary by André Vermeulen and Bart Peeters, while RTBF aired the show on RTBF La 1 with commentary provided by Jean-Pierre Hautier.[5][6][7] The VRT broadcast of the contest reached a total of 1.399 million viewers, representing a 69% market share.[8]
Voting
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References
- ^ a b "Eurosong 1999". Songfestival.be.
- ^ "De grootste liedjeswedstrijd van Vlaanderen". tv1.be (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 3 February 2002. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
- ^ a b c "Eurosong 1999 • semi-finals". 4lyrics.
- ^ "Final of Jerusalem 1999". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- ^ "Radio en televisie" [Radio and television]. Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant (in Dutch). 29 May 1999. p. 38. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
- ^ "VRT zet grote kanonnen in" [VRT deploy the big guns]. De Standaard (in Dutch). 17 April 2002. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
- ^ Busa, Alexandru (12 October 2012). "Jean-Pierre Hautier dies at the age of 56". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ^ "Eurosong haalt recordcijfers". De Morgen (in Dutch). 28 May 2002. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of Jerusalem 1999". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.