The Belgian-Flemish broadcaster VRT revealed this morning the names of the 5 candidates that will try to win the ticket for Stockholm, in their national final, in order to represent their country in the Eurovision Song Contest. Eurosong 2016 will take place on 17th of January.
As we have already reported VRT which is responsible for this year’s Belgian selection have already announced that Eurosong 2016 would be the mechanism to choose their representative for Sweden. Their five participants was announced today during the Peter Van de Veire Show aired on Belgian Radio MNM.
The 5 candidates that have been internally selected to compete in a national selection named Eurosong 2016 whose details will be revealed in a later time are:
- Adil Aarab
- Amaryllis Uitterlinden
- Astrid Destuyver
- Laura Tesoro
- Tom Frantzis
Eurosong 2016 will take place on 17th of January. It was also revealed that a boot camp already took place where the 5 participants presented their voice skills and stage presentation. There will be two televised shows before the final. On 3rd of January candidates will demonstrate their vocal capacities, their stage presentation and their personality. In the second show on the 10th of January they present the song for Stockholm. And in the final on January the 17th they present their songs with the full stage presentation. 10 international juries as well as the Flemish audience will decide on the final choice. The show will be hosted by Peter Van de Veire, just like he did in 2014.
VRT also published an official trailer for Eurosong 2016. Watch it below:
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
Belgium has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 57 times since making its debut as one of the seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The only countries with more appearances are Germany (59), France (58) and the United Kingdom (58). Belgium have been absent only three times in total, due to low scores in the previous contests that relegated them from the contest. Belgium has won the contest once, in 1986 when Sandra Kim won with her song J’ aime La Vie in Bergen, Norway. Sandra is the youngest winner in the contest as despite the fact she claimed she was 15 years old when she won, she was actually only 13 something that was against the rules, but EBU allowed her to keep the victory when her secret revealed. Currently the minimum age for participation is 16 and thus Sandra Kim will remain the youngest winner unless the age limit is lowered. By winning in 1986, Belgium became the last of the French-speaking countries to win the contest.
Belgium has two national broadcasters of the contest, Flemish broadcaster (VRT) and Wallonian broadcaster (RTBF). The two broadcasters rotate selection for the Eurovision Song Contest each year. VRT normally hosts a national final, Eurosong, when selecting their entries for Eurovision, while RTBF hold an internal selection process for its entries.
Last year RTBF chose another The Voice Belgique participant Loïc Nottet, who came second in 2014’s edition. He represented Belgium with his song Rhythm Inside in the first semi-final of the competition. He managed to qualify and came second with 149 points. In the final Loïc finished fourth with 217 points. It was the best result for Belgium since 2003 and it was the highest amount of points ever awarded to Belgium. It was also the first time ever that an entry who finished fourth scored over 200 points.
Below you can watch Loïc Nottet performing this year’s Belgian’s entry, Rhythm Inside:
