Belgium was represented by

Nicole and Hugo Nicole and Hugo were a Belgian singing duo of Nicole Josy (born Nicole Van Pamel; 21 October 1946, Wemmel – 4 November 2022) and Hugo Sigal (born 10 November 1947 as Hugo Verbraeken, Leopoldstad/Léopoldville, now Kinshasa). Beginnings The du ...

, with the song "Baby, Baby", at the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Lu ...

on 7 April. "Baby, Baby" was the winner of the Belgian national final for the contest, held 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 ...

on 25 February. Nicole and Hugo had won the 1971 Belgian preselection with the song "

Goeiemorgen, morgen Belgium was represented by Jacques Raymond and Lily Castel, with the song "Goeiemorgen, morgen", at the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 April in Dublin. Raymond and Castel had not taken part in the original Belgian final, which ...

", but days before the contest Nicole had fallen ill and was unable to travel to host city

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, so

Jacques Raymond Jacques Raymond (born Jozef Remon on 13 October 1938) is a Belgian singer. He represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 with the Dutch song "Waarom?". In the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, he teamed up with Lily Castel to sing " ...

and

Lily Castel Lily Castel (born Alice van Acker on 10 April 1937) is a Belgian singer, best known for her participation with Jacques Raymond in the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest. Early career Castel started out as a dancer before auditioning for televisio ...

had been drafted in as last-minute replacements.

Before Eurovision

Liedje voor Luxemburg

The final took place on 25 February 1973, held in the Amerikaans Theater in Brussels and hosted by Jan Theys, with five acts performing two songs apiece. The contest was pre-recorded on 24 February and broadcast on the 25th. The winner was chosen by seven expert jurors who each named their favourite song, and "Baby, Baby" was the choice of four of them.

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Nicole and Hugo performed second 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

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Among the backing singers was

Claude Lombard Claude Lombard (25 February 1945 – 20 September 2021) was a Belgian singer, best known internationally for her participation in the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest. Early career Lombard studied at INSAS, a college of film, theatre and televisi ...

, Belgium's 1968 Eurovision entrant. At the close of the voting "Baby, Baby" had received 58 points, placing Belgium last of the 17 entries, the fourth time the country had finished at the foot of the Eurovision scoreboard.ESC History - Belgium 1973
/ref> Notwithstanding the bad result however, the couple's outrageously

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

styling and performance have ensured that "Baby, Baby" has over the years gained

cult status A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

amongst Eurovision fans. Several clips from the performance were shown during Eurovision's 50th anniversary TV gala ''

Congratulations Congratulations may refer to: Film and television *'' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'', 2005 television programme to commemorate its fiftieth anniversary Music Albums * ''Congratulations'' (album), an album by ...

'' in 2005, culminating in a live appearance by the pair, wearing their infamous purple 1973 outfits and performing an abridged version of the song. "Baby, Baby" remains an iconic Eurovision performance, far better remembered than hundreds of songs which finished much higher up the scoreboard.

Voting

References

External links

Belgian 1973 ESC preselection (audio only)
{{Eurovision Song Contest 1973 1973 Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 Eurovision