Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Belgium has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 65 times since making its debut as one of seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The only countries with more appearances are Germany (67), France (66) and the United Kingdom (66). Belgium have been absent only three times in total, in 1994, 1997, and 2001, due to low scores in the previous contests that relegated them from the contest. Belgium has won the contest once, in 1986.
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest | |
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Participating broadcaster | Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF; 1978–present) Formerly
Formerly
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Participation summary | |
Appearances | 65 (55 finals) |
First appearance | 1956 |
Highest placement | 1st: 1986 |
Host | 1987 |
Participation history | |
External links | |
Belgium's page at Eurovision.tv | |
![]() Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 |
In the first 20 years of the contest, Belgium's best result was a fourth place with "Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel" performed by Tonia in 1966. In 1978, "L'amour ça fait chanter la vie" by Jean Vallée achieved Belgium's first top three placement, when it was second. "J'aime la vie" became the first and to date only win for Belgium in 1986, performed by a 13-year-old Sandra Kim. Belgium's only other top three result came in 2003, when "Sanomi" by Urban Trad finished second, losing out by only two points. Belgium has finished last in the contest eight times, most recently in 2000, and has twice received nul points, in 1962 and 1965.
After the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Belgium failed to reach the final for five consecutive years (2005–09). Since 2010, Belgium has become more successful, qualifying for the final in eight out of 14 contests and placing in the top ten five times, with "Me and My Guitar" by Tom Dice (sixth in 2010), "Rhythm Inside" by Loïc Nottet (fourth in 2015), "What's the Pressure" by Laura Tesoro (tenth in 2016), "City Lights" by Blanche (fourth in 2017), and "Because of You" by Gustaph (seventh in 2023).
Participation
Belgium is a federal country divided into two major linguistic regions: Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north and French-speaking Wallonia in the south, each region having its own broadcaster: Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT)[a] in Flanders and Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF)[b] in Wallonia. Both broadcasters are full members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. As only one entrant per country is allowed in the contest in any given year, they take turns in participate representing Belgium. Since 2021, Flemish VRT has been in charge on odd years while Walloon RTBF has been in charge on even years, with both broadcasters sharing the broadcasting rights.
Contest history
Summarize
Perspective
Belgium has participated in Eurovision since the very first contest in 1956, however Tonia's fourth place at the 1966 contest remained the country's most notable achievement until Jean Vallée placed second in 1978. In the 80s, following good results for Stella (fourth in 1982) and Jacques Zegers (fifth in 1984), Belgium finished last for the sixth time in 1985. This was followed by Belgium's first and (as of 2023[update]) only Eurovision victory in 1986, when Sandra Kim won with her song "J'aime la vie". Although the lyrics claimed she was 15 years old, she was actually only 13 which prompted runner-up Switzerland to petition for her disqualification, to no avail.[c] By winning in 1986, Belgium became the last of the seven Eurovision founding countries to win the contest, as Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, Italy and Germany all had won at least once before. Belgium scored an absolute record at the time, with Kim earning a never-seen-before number of 176 points (that record remained until 1993, with Ireland scoring 187 points). With an average of 9.26 points per voting nation and 77.2% of the maximum possible score, as of 2022[update], Kim's record still ranks eighth among all Eurovision winners.
Belgium finished last for the seventh time at the 1993 contest, before achieving its only top ten result of the 90s decade at the 1998 contest, where Mélanie Cohl finished sixth. In the 2000s, Belgium experienced mixed fortunes: the country started the decade by finishing last for the eighth and (as of 2022[update]) final time at the 2000 contest in Stockholm, before achieving its best result of the 21st century in 2003 when Urban Trad sang in an imaginary language and earned second place with 165 points, losing out to Turkey's Sertab Erener by just two points. The country then failed to qualify from the semi-finals for 5 consecutive contests from 2005 to 2009.
The 2010 entry for Belgium was Tom Dice, runner-up of the Belgian Flemish version of The X Factor in 2008. Dice finished first in his semi-final, allowing Belgium to participate in the final for the first time since 2004 and eventually finishing sixth overall, Belgium's best result since 2003 and the best result ever for a Flemish entrant (tied with 1959).[1] Belgium then experienced a mix of ups and downs for the remainder of the 2010s: while the country failed to qualify for the final on five occasions (in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2019), Belgium qualified in 2013 (with Roberto Bellarosa placing 12th) before scoring a three-year streak in the top ten, thanks to Loïc Nottet (fourth in 2015), Laura Tesoro (tenth in 2016) and Blanche (fourth in 2017). Following two non-qualifications with Sennek (2018) and Eliot (2019), Belgium recorded three consecutive qualifications with Hooverphonic (2021), Jérémie Makiese (2022) and Gustaph (2023), the latter finishing in seventh place overall.
Disparity between broadcasters
There has been a significant difference in the results achieved by the Belgian participant broadcasters.[2] The Walloon broadcasters recorded Belgium's only win in 1986, all of Belgium's ten top-five placements, and 18 out of Belgium's 26 top ten placements. On the other hand, the Flemish broadcasters have placed in the top ten eight times, while scoring six out of Belgium's eight last-place finishes.[2] In the 1990s, the relegation rule was introduced, where the lowest-placing countries would not be allowed to compete the following year, to accommodate for the growing number of participating countries. Belgium was relegated three times, in 1994, 1997, and 2001; twice following a poor placing by a Flemish BRTN act the previous year, and once after Walloon RTBF act, "Envie de vivre" by Nathalie Sorce, placed last in 2000.[2]
Since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, the broadcasters have scored similarly in terms of qualification: as of 2024[update], RTBF and VRT each qualified four times out of ten and nine semi-finals respectively.[3]
Participation overview
1 | First place |
2 | Second place |
3 | Third place |
◁ | Last place |
X | Entry selected but did not compete |
† | Upcoming event |
Hostings
Year | Location | Venue | Presenter |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | Brussels | Centenary Palace | Viktor Lazlo |
Awards
Barbara Dex Award
Year | Performer | Host city | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | Nathalie Sorce | ![]() |
Related involvement
Summarize
Perspective
Conductors
Year | Conductor[g] | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
1956 | Léo Souris | [5] | |
1957 | ![]() |
Host conductor | |
1958 | ![]() | ||
1959 | Francis Bay | ||
1960 | Henri Segers | ||
1961 | Francis Bay | ||
1962 | Henri Segers | ||
1963 | Francis Bay | ||
1964 | Henri Segers | ||
1965 | Gaston Nuyts | ||
1966 | ![]() |
Host conductor | |
1967 | Francis Bay | ||
1968 | Henri Segers | ||
1969 | Francis Bay | ||
1970 | Jack Say | [6] | |
1971 | Francis Bay | ||
1972 | Henri Segers | ||
1973 | Francis Bay | ||
1974 | ![]() |
||
1975 | Francis Bay | ||
1976 | ![]() |
||
1977 | ![]() |
||
1978 | ![]() |
||
1979 | Francis Bay | ||
1980 | No conductor | [7] | |
1981 | Giuseppe Marchese | ||
1982 | Jack Say | ||
1983 | Freddy Sunder | ||
1984 | Jo Carlier | ||
1985 | ![]() |
Host conductor | |
1986 | Jo Carlier | ||
1987 | Freddy Sunder | [h] | |
1988 | Daniel Willem | ||
1989 | Freddy Sunder | ||
1990 | Rony Brack | ||
1991 | Roland Verlooven | ||
1992 | Frank Fievez | ||
1993 | Bert Candries | ||
1995 | Alec Mansion | ||
1996 | Bob Porter | ||
1998 | No conductor |
Commentators and spokespersons
Over the years, commentary for the contest on VRT and RTBF has been provided by several experienced radio and television presenters, including Piet de Nuyl Jr., Jacques Mercier, Luc Appermont and Paule Herreman. From 1991, André Vermeulen provided the Dutch-language commentary every year except 1996. Jean-Pierre Hautier provided French-language commentary from 1994 to 2012, later dying shortly after the 2012 contest. In 1962, BRT retransmitted the commentary feed from the Dutch broadcaster NTS, possibly for financial reasons.
VRT supplied an additional commentator to join André Vermeulen starting in 1998; between 1999 and 2010, dual commentary was provided by either Bart Peeters or Anja Daems. Peeters provided the commentary during the years when VRT selected the entries, whilst Daems commentated the years in which RTBF selected the entries. Sven Pichal replaced Daems in 2011, whilst Peter Van de Veire replaced Peeters. In 2007, Jean-Louis Lahaye joined Jean-Pierre Hautier as a supplementary commentator for RTBF. After Hautier's death in 2012, Lahaye was joined by Maureen Louys in 2013.
Year | Flemish Community (VRT) | French Community (RTBF) | Spokesperson | Ref. | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Television | Radio | Television | Radio | |||||||
Channel | Commentator(s) | Channel | Commentator(s) | Channel | Commentator(s) | Channel | Commentator(s) | |||
1956 | NIR | Piet te Nuyl Jr.[i] | No radio broadcast | INR | Raymond Colbert[j] | No radio broadcast | No spokesperson | [8][9] | ||
1957 | Unknown | Brussel Vlaams | Unknown | Robert Beauvais | Unknown | [10][11] | ||||
1958 | No radio broadcast | Unknown | Bruxelles I | Unknown | [12] | |||||
1959 | Paule Herreman | No radio broadcast | [13][14] | |||||||
1960 | Nic Bal | Georges Désir | [15][16][17] | |||||||
1961 | BRT | RTB | Robert Beauvais | [18][19] | ||||||
1962 | Willem Duys[i] | Unknown | [20][21] | |||||||
1963 | Bob Boon and Denise Maes | Pierre Delhasse | [22][23] | |||||||
1964 | Unknown | Unknown | [24] | |||||||
1965 | Premier Programme | Unknown | [25] | |||||||
1966 | [26][27] | |||||||||
1967 | Paule Herreman | RTB 3 | [28][29][30] | |||||||
1968 | RTB 1 | [31][32] | ||||||||
1969 | Jan Theys | Eugène Senelle | [33][34][35] | |||||||
1970 | Unknown | Unknown | [36][34] | |||||||
1971 | Anton Peters | BRT 2 | Fred Braeckman | Paule Herreman | No spokesperson | [37][38][39] | ||||
1972 | Unknown | No radio broadcast | [40] | |||||||
1973 | BRT 1 | Unknown | [41][42][43][44] | |||||||
1974 | Unknown | Unknown | [45][46][47] | |||||||
1975 | No radio broadcast | [48][49][50] | ||||||||
1976 | No radio broadcast | [51][52] | ||||||||
1977 | TV1 | Luc Appermont | Radio 1 | Unknown | RTB1 | [53][54][55] | ||||
1978 | No radio broadcast | RTBF1 | [56][57] | |||||||
1979 | Unknown | Paule Herreman | [58] | |||||||
1980 | Unknown | RTBF Radio 1 | Unknown | [59][60] | ||||||
1981 | Luc Appermont | [61][62][63][64] | ||||||||
1982 | RTBF Radio 1, Bruxelles 21 | [65][66][67][68] | ||||||||
1983 | BRT 2 | Unknown | Télé 2 | RTBF Radio 1 | [69][70][71][72] | |||||
1984 | RTBF1, Télé 2 | Unknown | [73][74][75] | |||||||
1985 | Unknown | [76][77][78][79] | ||||||||
1986 | BRT 2 | Unknown | Patrick Duhamel | [80] | ||||||
1987 | RTBF1 | Unknown | Radio Deux | Unknown | An Ploegaerts | [81][82][83][84] | ||||
1988 | Pierre Collard-Bovy | Unknown | Unknown | [85][86][87] | ||||||
1989 | Ann Lepère | Jacques Mercier | [88][89] | |||||||
1990 | TV2 | Unknown | Claude Delacroix | [90][91][92] | ||||||
1991 | TV1, TV2 | André Vermeulen | Radio 2 | [93][94] | ||||||
1992 | Marc Brillouet and Julien Put | [95][96][97][98] | ||||||||
1993 | TV1 | No radio broadcast | RTBF1, Télé 21 | [99][100] | ||||||
1994 | TV2 | Radio 2 | Marc Brillouet and Julien Put | RTBF1 | Jean-Pierre Hautier | Did not participate | [101][102][103] | |||
1995 | TV1 | Unknown | Marie-Françoise Renson | [104][105][106][107][108] | ||||||
1996 | Michel Follet and Johan Verstreken | Radio 2 | Guy De Pré and Bart Pieters | Jean-Pierre Hautier and Sandra Kim | An Ploegaerts | [109][110][111][112][113][114] | ||||
1997 | André Vermeulen | No radio broadcast | RTBF La 1 | Jean-Pierre Hautier | Did not participate | [105][115][116] | ||||
1998 | André Vermeulen and Andrea Croonenberghs | Radio 2 | André Vermeulen and Andrea Croonenberghs | Marie-Hélène Vanderborght | [117][118][119][120] | |||||
1999 | André Vermeulen and Bart Peeters | No radio broadcast | Sabine De Vos | [121][122][123][124] | ||||||
2000 | André Vermeulen and Anja Daems | La Une | No radio broadcast | Thomas Van Hamme | [125][126][127][128] | |||||
2001 | Did not participate | [129][130][131] | ||||||||
2002 | André Vermeulen and Bart Peeters | Radio 2 | Filip Pletinckx and Katrien Palmers | Geena Lisa Peeters | [122][132][133] | |||||
Radio Donna | Jan Bosman | |||||||||
2003 | André Vermeulen and Anja Daems | No radio broadcast | La Une, RTBF Sat | Corinne Boulangier | [134][135][136][137] | |||||
2004 | Unknown | La Une (Final) | La Première (Final) | Unknown | Martine Prenen | [138][139][140][141][142] | ||||
2005 | Eén | André Vermeulen and Anja Daems | La Une, RTBF Sat | Jean-Louis Lahaye (Semi-final) Jean-Pierre Hautier (Final) |
No radio broadcast | Armelle Gysen | [135][143][144][145][146][147][148][149] | |||
2006 | André Vermeulen and Bart Peeters | Radio 2 | Unknown | Jean-Pierre Hautier | Yasmine | [150][151][152][153][154][155][156] | ||||
2007 | André Vermeulen and Anja Daems | No radio broadcast | Jean-Louis Lahaye and Jean-Pierre Hautier | La Première | Unknown | Maureen Louys | [157][158][159][160][161][162][163] | |||
2008 | Eén (SF1/Final) Eén+ (SF2) |
André Vermeulen and Bart Peeters | La Une (SF1/Final) | No radio broadcast | Sandrine Van Handenhoven | [164][165][166][167][168] | ||||
2009 | Eén | André Vermeulen and Anja Daems | La Une, RTBF Sat | Maureen Louys | [169][170][171][172][173][174][175] | |||||
2010 | André Vermeulen and Bart Peeters | La Une | Katja Retsin | |||||||
2011 | André Vermeulen and Sven Pichal | Radio 2 | André Vermeulen and Sven Pichal | Maureen Louys | [176][177][178] | |||||
2012 | één | André Vermeulen and Peter Van de Veire | André Vermeulen and Peter Van de Veire | Peter Van de Veire | [179][180][181] | |||||
2013 | André Vermeulen and Tom De Cock | André Vermeulen and Tom De Cock | Jean-Louis Lahaye and Maureen Louys | Barbara Louys | [182][183][184] | |||||
2014 | Peter Van de Veire and Eva Daeleman | Peter Van de Veire and Eva Daeleman | VivaCité (Final) | Olivier Gilain | Angelique Vlieghe | [185][186][187][188] | ||||
2015 | Walid | [189][190][191][192] | ||||||||
2016 | Peter Van de Veire | No radio broadcast | No radio broadcast | Umesh Vangaver | [193][194][195][196] | |||||
2017 | Peter Van de Veire | Radio 2 | Peter Van de Veire | VivaCité (SF1/Final) | Olivier Gilain | Fanny Gillard | [197][198][199][200] | |||
2018 | No radio broadcast | No radio broadcast | Danira Boukhriss | [201][202][203] | ||||||
2019 | één (SF1/Final) Ketnet (SF2) |
David Jeanmotte | [204][205][206][207][208] | |||||||
Not announced before cancellation | ||||||||||
2021 | één | Peter Van de Veire | Radio 2 (Final) | Anja Daems and Showbizz Bart | La Une, RTBF Auvio | Jean-Louis Lahaye and Fanny Jandrain[k] | VivaCité | Jean-Louis Lahaye and Fanny Jandrain | Danira Boukhriss | [209][210][211][212][213] |
Ketnet | Dutch audio description | |||||||||
2022 | één | Peter Van de Veire | No radio broadcast | La Une | Jean-Louis Lahaye and Maureen Louys | Jean-Louis Lahaye and Maureen Louys | David Jeanmotte | [214][215][216][217][218] | ||
2023 | VRT 1 | Radio 2 | Peter Van de Veire | Tipik (SF1) La Une (SF2/Final) |
Bart Cannaerts | [219][220][221][222] | ||||
2024 | Radio 2 (Final) | VivaCité (Final) | Livia Dushkoff | [223][224][225][226][227][228] | ||||||
2025 | TBA | TBA | [229] |
Photo gallery
- Roberto Bellarosa performing "Love Kills" in Malmö (2013)
- Axel Hirsoux performing "Mother" in Copenhagen (2014)
- Laura Tesoro performing "What's the Pressure" in Stockholm (2016)
See also
- Belgium in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Junior version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
- Belgium in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21.
- Belgium in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger.
Notes and references
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