Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest

Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participating broadcaster	Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF; 1978–present) Formerly Institut national belge de radiodiffusion (INR; 1956–1960) Radio-Télévision Belge (RTB; 1961–1977) Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT; 1998–present) Formerly Nationaal Instituut voor de Radio-omroep (NIR; 1956–1960) Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep (BRT; 1961–1990) Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep Nederlandstalige Uitzendingen (BRTN; 1991–1997)
Participation summary
Appearances	65 (55 finals)
First appearance	1956
Highest placement	1st: 1986
Host	1987
Participation history 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
External links
RTBF page VRT page
Belgium's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024

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.

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).

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.

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.

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]

Year	Performer	Host city	Ref.
2000	Nathalie Sorce	Stockholm	[5]

Year	Conductor[g]	Notes	Ref.
1956	Léo Souris		[6]
1957	Willy Berking	Host conductor
1958	Dolf van der Linden
1959	Francis Bay
1960	Henri Segers
1961	Francis Bay
1962	Henri Segers
1963	Francis Bay
1964	Henri Segers
1965	Gaston Nuyts
1966	Jean Roderes	Host conductor
1967	Francis Bay
1968	Henri Segers
1969	Francis Bay
1970	Jack Say		[7]
1971	Francis Bay
1972	Henri Segers
1973	Francis Bay
1974	Pierre Chiffre
1975	Francis Bay
1976	Michel Bernholc
1977	Alyn Ainsworth
1978	Jean Musy
1979	Francis Bay
1980	No conductor		[8]
1981	Giuseppe Marchese
1982	Jack Say
1983	Freddy Sunder
1984	Jo Carlier
1985	Curt-Eric Holmquist	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

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Over the years, commentary for the contest has been provided by several experienced Belgian radio and television presenters, including 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.

• 
  Fud Leclerc performing "Ma petite chatte" in Hilversum (1958)
• 
  Xandee performing "1 Life" in Istanbul (2004)
• 
  The KMG's performing "Love Power" in Helsinki (2007)
• 
  Ishtar performing "O Julissi" in Belgrade (2008)
• 
  Copycat in Moscow (2009)
• 
  Tom Dice in Oslo (2010)
• 
  Roberto Bellarosa performing "Love Kills" in Malmö (2013)
• 
  Axel Hirsoux performing "Mother" in Copenhagen (2014)
• 
  Loïc Nottet performing "Rhythm Inside" in Vienna (2015)
• 
  Laura Tesoro performing "What's the Pressure" in Stockholm (2016)
• 
  Blanche performing "City Lights" in Kyiv (2017)
• 
  Sennek performing "A Matter of Time" in Lisbon (2018)
• 
  Eliot performing "Wake Up" in Tel Aviv (2019)
• 
  Hooverphonic performing "The Wrong Place" in Rotterdam (2021)
• 
  Jérémie Makiese performing "Miss You" in Turin (2022)
• 
  Gustaph performing "Because of You" in Liverpool (2023)
• 
  Mustii performing "Before the Party's Over" in Malmö (2024)

• 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.