Belgium was represented by Dream Express, with the song "A Million in One, Two, Three", at the

1977 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1977 was the 22nd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in London, United Kingdom, following the country's victory at the with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man. Organise ...

, which took place in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 7 May.

Before Eurovision

Eurosong

The selection consisted of three semi-finals, followed by the final on 5 February. All the shows were hosted by Luc Appermont and took place at the Amerikaans Theater in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Semi-finals

Three semi-finals were held in which the three selected groups performed three songs each, with the songs being marked by audience members and the lowest-scoring being eliminated while the remaining two went forward to the final.

Final

The final was held on 5 February 1977. Voting was by 192 audience members awarding each song a score between 1 and 6 points. All six songs were performed and voted on then, rather oddly, the higher-scoring song from each act was performed and voted on again by the same 192 people. The contemporary,

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

-influenced "A Million in One, Two, Three" emerged the winner, being the only song of the three to receive a significantly different score in the second round of voting, and beating the similarly styled "Drop Drop Drop" into second place.

At Eurovision

The free-language rule which had applied in Eurovision between 1973 and 1976 was abolished by the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

before the 1977 contest and participants were now obliged once again to perform in an official language of their country. However, as Belgium (along with

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) had already chosen an English-language song and did not have a native-language version available, they were given dispensation to perform in English. On the night of the final Dream Express performed 17th in the running order, following

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and preceding the eventual winner

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. At the close of the voting "A Million in One, Two, Three" had received 69 votes from 11 countries (including the maximum 12 from The Netherlands and 10 from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

), placing Belgium 7th of the 18 entries.ESC History - Belgium 1977
/ref> Although this was Belgium's highest placing since 1969 it was seen as something of a disappointment, as prior to the contest the song had been widely tipped as a contender for victory. The Belgian jury awarded its 12 points to the

Voting

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1977

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...