Belgium In The Eurovision Song Contest 2004
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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 2004 The Eurovision Song Contest 2004 was the 49th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Istanbul, Turkey, following the country's victory at the with the song "Everyway That I Can" by Sertab Erener. Organised by the European Broa ...
with the song "1 Life" written by Dirk Paelinck and Marc Paelinck. The song was performed by
Xandee Xandee is a stage name of Sandy Boets (born 18 December 1978 in Tienen), Flemish singer who represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. At the age of 16 she founded the pop duo Touch of Joy with Serge (Sergio) Quisquater. Sergi ...
. The Belgian entry for the 2004 contest in
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, Turkey was selected through the national final ''Eurosong '04'', organised by the Flemish broadcaster
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). The competition featured twenty-eight competing entries and consisted of five shows. In the final on 15 February 2004, "1 Life" performed by Xandee was selected as the winner via the votes of five voting groups. As one of ten highest placed finishers in the
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 ...
contest, Belgium directly qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 15 May 2004. Performing in position 13, Belgium placed twenty-second out of the 24 participating countries with 7 points.


Background

Prior to the 2004 contest, Belgium had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-five 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
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 ...
,
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 ...
represented the country 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 ...
" and placed second in the final—Belgium's best result in the contest since their victory in 1986. The Belgian broadcaster for the 2004 contest, who broadcasts the event in Belgium and organises the selection process for its entry, was
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). The Belgian participation in the contest alternates between two broadcasters: the Flemish VRT and the Walloon
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). Both broadcasters have selected the Belgian entry using national finals and internal selections in the past. 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 ...
, VRT organised the national final '' Eurosong'' in order to select the Belgian entry, while in 2003, RTBF internally selected both the artist and song that would represent the nation. On 19 September 2003, VRT confirmed Belgium's participation in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest and announced that the '' Eurosong'' national final would be held to select their entry.


Before Eurovision


Eurosong '04

''Eurosong '04'' was the national final that selected Belgium's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. The competition consisted of five shows that commenced on 18 January 2004 and concluded with a final on 15 February 2004 where the winning song and artist were selected. All shows took place at the Studio 100 in
Schelle :''Schelle is also the German name for Šaľa, Slovakia.'' Schelle () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Schelle proper. In 2021, Schelle had a total population of 8,559. The t ...
, hosted by Bart Peeters and broadcast on TV1.


Format

Twenty-eight entries were selected to compete in ''Eurosong''. Four semi-finals took place on 18 January 2004, 25 January 2004, 1 February 2004 and 8 February 2004 with each show featuring seven entries. The winner of each semi-final qualified to the final, and the three highest scoring second placed acts in the semi-finals were also selected to advance. The final took place on 15 February 2004 where the winner was chosen. The results of all shows were determined by an expert jury, an international jury, voting on Radio 2 and Radio Donna and public televoting. Each voting group had an equal stake in the result during all shows with the exception of the public televote which had a weighting equal to the votes of two groups. For the radio voting, listeners of the two stations was able to vote in advance prior to each of the five shows via televoting between Tuesday and Friday and their votes were combined with a jury consisting of representatives from the respective stations. During each of the five shows, the expert jury provided commentary and feedback to the artists as well as selected entries to advance in the competition. The experts were: *
Dana Winner Dana Winner (born Chantal Ernestine Vanlee on 10 February 1965 in Hasselt) is a Belgian singer. Biography In 1990 she released her first single ''Op het dak van de wereld'', (Dutch: "On the roof of the world"), a cover of The Carpenters' '' ...
– singer *
Marcel Vanthilt Marcel Céline Gerard Edgard Vanthilt (; born 24 August 1957) is a Belgian singer and television presenter.Heerema,Y.Marcel Vanthilt – Presentator Marcel Vanthilit NCRV-gids 1, 5 till 11 January 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2011. Early life Mar ...
– singer and television presenter * André Vermeulen – Belgian commentator at the Eurovision Song Contest * Serge Simonart – journalist at ''
HUMO ''HUMO'' is a popular Dutch-language Belgian weekly radio and television supermarket tabloid. History and profile ''Humoradio'' (meaning a portmanteau of 'humor' and 'radio' in English) was first published in 1936 as a Dutch-language counterpa ...
''


Competing entries

A submission period was opened on 19 September 2003 for artists and songwriters to submit their entries until 24 November 2003. On 10 December 2003, VRT held a press conference at the Reyerslaan in
Schaerbeek (French language, French and History of Dutch orthography, archaic Dutch, ) or (contemporary Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Re ...
where the twenty-eight acts selected for the competition from a record number of 360 entries received during the submission period were announced. Among the competing artists were former Eurovision Song Contest participants
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 ...
, who represented Belgium in 1973, and
Barbara Dex Barbara Maria Karel Deckx (born 22 January 1974), better known by her stage name Barbara Dex, is a Belgian singer who represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 with the song "Iemand als jij". Dex had qualified via the Belgian n ...
, who represented Belgium in 1993.


Shows


Semi-finals

The four semi-finals took place on 18 January, 25 January, 1 February and 8 February 2004. In each show seven entries competed and the combination of results from two jury groups, two radio voting groups and a public televote determined the winner that qualified to the final. The three highest scoring second placed acts in the semi-finals also proceeded to the final.


Final

The final took place on 15 February 2004 where the seven entries that qualified from the preceding four semi-finals competed. The winner, "1 Life" performed by
Xandee Xandee is a stage name of Sandy Boets (born 18 December 1978 in Tienen), Flemish singer who represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. At the age of 16 she founded the pop duo Touch of Joy with Serge (Sergio) Quisquater. Sergi ...
, was selected by the combination of results from two jury groups, two radio voting groups and a public televote.


Ratings


At Eurovision

It was announced that the competition's format would be expanded to include a semi-final in 2004. According to the rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the " Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the
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 ...
contest are required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. As Belgium finished second in the 2003 contest, the nation automatically qualified to compete in the final on 15 May 2004. On 23 March 2004, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Belgium was set to perform in position 13 in the final, following the entry from
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
and before the entry from
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. Despite being considered a favourite to win the whole competition, Belgium placed twenty-second in the final, scoring 7 points. The semi-final and the final were broadcast in Belgium by both the Flemish and Walloon broadcasters. VRT broadcast the shows 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 Bart Peeters and
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 ...
. 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 ...
. All shows were also broadcast 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
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' ...
and Sven Pichal, and by RTBF on La Première with commentary in French by Patrick Duhamel and Serges Otthiers. The Belgian spokesperson, who announced the Belgian votes during the final, was Martine Prenen.


Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Belgium and awarded by Belgium in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to the Netherlands in the semi-final and to Turkey in the final of the contest.


Points awarded to Belgium


Points awarded by Belgium


References


External links


Belgian National Final page
{{Eurovision Song Contest 2004 2004 Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 Eurovision