This is it! The last one!! Belgium’s decision on 16 March was the last contestant selection for Eurovision that the public had anything to do with, and marked the end of the pre-selection season. Thank God for that, I’m sure you’re all sick of it by now, aren’t you? Is there anyone left?
Belgium were here from the start, a founding father of Eurovision and only absent from three contests – forcibly removed after being relegated for bad results. They’ve only got one win to their names, all the way back in 1986, and had victory cruelly snatched away in Riga, coming a very close 2nd in 2003. But since the semi-finals have come in, things have been tough.
Of its 9 entries put through the semi-final process, only two made it to the final, though last year’s 12th place finish for the delightful Roberto Bellarosa made it clear that they can still get noticed with the right song. 2010’s Tom Dice even won his semi in Oslo, though had to settle for 6th on the night.
Eurosong decided the Belgian representative, with an extensive audition process governed by three jurors, and later on also the spirited Ukranian winner Ruslana. 30 competitors were thinned down to 12 semi-finalists (4 via a second-change ‘callback’ round), who finally performed their songs in 3 semi-finals. Six acts survived to the final, where a Belgian jury, several international juries and a televote decided the winner. I like when the televote scores are proportional to the votes, I’m just like that. Let’s hope this was worth the wait though, this contest is still wide open.
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