Ishtar is a Belgian (

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

)

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

band who represented Belgium at the

2008 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcastin ...

with the song "

O Julissi Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "O Julissi" written by Michel Vangheluwe. The song was performed by the band Ishtar. The Belgian entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia was selected through the natio ...

", sung in an

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. ...

. They competed in the first semi-final on 20 May 2008.

O Julissi

" is a song by Ishtar. The band's sit

claims that the song is in an imaginary language. There is, however, a certain similarity to Ukrainian language, Ukrainian; in particular, the first line is fully understandable (Ukrainian "Ой у лісі на ялині", meaning "Oh, in the forest on a

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

"). The

song represented Belgium at the semi-finals of

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcas ...

on 20 May 2008 in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, but did not proceed to the finals. The single was released 14 March 2008. The song entered the Belgian

Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization ...

at #7. In its second week, O Julissi topped the list. Ishtar's song was elected after they won the final of Eurosong 2008. Ishtar, until then an unknown band, defeated better known artists, like pop singers Sandrine and Brahim. The other contestants in the final were rock group Paranoiacs and

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, who had written a modern ballad.

Band members

* Soetkin Baptist * Michel Vangheluwe * Ann Vandaele * Marleen Vandaele * Els Vandaele * Hans Vandaele * Lode Cartrysse * Frank Markey * Korneel Taeckens * Karel Vercruysse

External links

*
Incomplete list of songs
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Belgium Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2008 Belgian folk music groups {{Belgium-band-stub