Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
participated in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2003
The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the 48th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Riga, Latvia, following the country's victory at the with the song " I Wanna" by Marie N. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) a ...
with the song "
Sanomi
"Sanomi" is a song recorded by Belgian six-piece band Urban Trad, written by Yves Barbieux. It is best known as the entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, held in Riga.
Eurovision
This was the second time that Belgium finished as the runner ...
" written by Yves Barbieux. The song was performed by the group
Urban Trad
Urban Trad is a Belgian folk music group, consisting of both Flemish and French speaking people and a close connection with Galicia.
Members
*Yves Barbieux: flutes and Galician bagpipe
*Veronica Codesal: vocals
*Soetkin Collier: vocals
*Sophi ...
, which was internally selected by the Walloon broadcaster
Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française
The ''Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française'' (RTBF, ''Belgian Radio-television of the French Community'', branded as rtbf.be) is a public service broadcaster delivering radio and television services to the French-speaking Commu ...
(RTBF) in December 2002 to represent the nation at the 2003 contest in
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
, Latvia. The song, "Sanomi", was presented to the public on 31 March 2003.
Belgium competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 24 May 2003. Performing during the show in position 22, Belgium placed second out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 165 points. This was Belgium's best result in the contest since their victory in
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
.
Background
Prior to the 2003 contest, Belgium had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-four times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in . Since then, the country has won the contest on one occasion in with the song "
J'aime la vie
"J'aime la vie" (; "I Love Life") was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1986, performed for by Sandra Kim. Belgium had finished the 1985 contest in last place, and thus achieved the rare turnaround from last to first in the space o ...
" performed by
Sandra Kim
Sandra Caldarone (born 15 October 1972), better known as Sandra Kim, is a Belgian singer of Italian descent who won the Eurovision Song Contest 1986. Her father was an Italian immigrant from Torrebruna in the Province of Chieti in the Abruzzo re ...
. In
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
,
Sergio and the Ladies
Serge Jean Karel Quisquater (born 2 April 1965), known professionally as Sergio Quisquater or simply Sergio, is a Belgian singer and television presenter. Together with Sandy Boets, he formed the duo Touch of Joy. As the frontman of the band ...
represented the country with the song "Sister" and placed thirteenth.
The Belgian broadcaster for the 2003 contest, who broadcasts the event in Belgium and organises the selection process for its entry, was
Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française
The ''Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française'' (RTBF, ''Belgian Radio-television of the French Community'', branded as rtbf.be) is a public service broadcaster delivering radio and television services to the French-speaking Commu ...
(RTBF). The Belgian participation in the contest alternates between two broadcasters: the Flemish
Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie
The VRT (), is the national public-service broadcaster for the Flemish Community of Belgium.
History
VRT is the successor to a succession of organisations. The Belgian National Institute of Radio Broadcasting was known as the Nationaal Insti ...
(VRT) and the Walloon RTBF. Both broadcasters have selected the Belgian entry using national finals and internal selections in the past. In
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
and 2002, both RTBF and VRT organised a national final in order to select the Belgian entry. On 18 December 2002, RTBF confirmed Belgium's participation in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest having internally selected both the artist and song.
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
The Belgian entry for the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest was selected via an internal selection by RTBF. On 18 December 2002, the broadcaster announced that they had selected the group
Urban Trad
Urban Trad is a Belgian folk music group, consisting of both Flemish and French speaking people and a close connection with Galicia.
Members
*Yves Barbieux: flutes and Galician bagpipe
*Veronica Codesal: vocals
*Soetkin Collier: vocals
*Sophi ...
to represent Belgium in Riga, performing the song "
Sanomi
"Sanomi" is a song recorded by Belgian six-piece band Urban Trad, written by Yves Barbieux. It is best known as the entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, held in Riga.
Eurovision
This was the second time that Belgium finished as the runner ...
" at the contest. The song was written by member of the group, Yves Barbieux, and was performed in
imaginary language
A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction. ...
. "Sanomi" was also the first ever entry at the Eurovision Song Contest that was in imaginary language. On 31 March 2003, RTBF held a press conference 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 ...
where the song was presented to the public. The music video for the song, filmed in late March 2003, was released on the same day of the presentation.
Controversy
Following the announcement of the Belgian entrant, it was revealed by the
Belgian State Security Service
The State Security Service (VSSE) (known in Dutch as ''Staatsveiligheid''; French: ''Sûreté de l'État'') is a Belgian intelligence and security agency. Established in 1830, it is the oldest intelligence service except for the Vatican's. The S ...
that one of the members of Urban Trad, Soetkin Collier, had been linked to extreme right wing political groups and has had two criminal records relating to participations in prohibited protests. It was alleged that Collier had also attended a commemorative event in honour of the Nazi leader
Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position unt ...
in Antwerp in 1996. Following pressure from local politicians, RTBF announced on 19 February 2003 that Collier would not perform with the group at Eurovision.
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the bottom five countries in the
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
contest competed in the final on 24 May 2003.
On 29 November 2002, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Belgium was set to perform in position 22, following the entry from
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
and before the entry from
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. Belgium finished in second place with 165 points.
The contest was broadcast in Belgium by both the Flemish and Walloon broadcasters. VRT broadcast the show on
TV1 with commentary in
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
by
André Vermeulen
André Leopold Adiel Vermeulen (born 25 October 1955 in Bruges) is a Belgian-Flemish journalist and television personality for VRT.
Between 1991 and 2013, Vermeulen following Luc Appermont had been the Flemish commentator for the Eurovision Son ...
and
Anja Daems
Anja Daems (born 26 May 1968) is a Belgian radio presenter and television host.
Biography
Daems spent her childhood in Geel. She studied at the Conservatory in Antwerp. During her last year of study she started working as a reporter at Radio ...
. RTBF televised the shows on
La Une
La Une () is a Belgian national television channel, owned and operated by the French-language public-service broadcasting organization RTBF. La Une is the equivalent of Flemish station Eén, of the Flemish broadcaster VRT.
History
INR
Expe ...
with commentary in
French by
Jean-Pierre Hautier
Jean-Pierre Hautier (18 October 1955 – 12 October 2012) was a Belgian television presenter and broadcaster for RTBF.
Hautier was known for his long-time commentary for RTBF viewers on the Eurovision Song Contest which he has done since the 19 ...
.
The show was also broadcast by RTBF on
La Première with commentary in French by Patrick Duhamel and Sophie Brems, and by VRT on
Radio 2 with commentary in
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
by Julien Put and
Michel Follet
Michel Follet (born 16 December 1959) is a Flemish radio and TV host and a film critic.
Follet started his radio career for VRT as a disc jockey on Radio 2 in 1982. In 1992 Follet co-founded Radio Donna and presented the show ''Jabbedabbedoe' ...
. The Belgian spokesperson, who announced the Belgian votes during the final, was Corinne Boulangier.
Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Belgium and awarded by Belgium in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Turkey in the contest.
References
{{Eurovision Song Contest 2003
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003