Belgium was represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2007 The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Helsinki, Finland, following the country's victory at the with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" by Lordi. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

with the song "Love Power", written by Paul Curtiz and Wakas Ashiq, and performed by the band The KMG's. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Walloon (RTBF), internally selected its entry for the contest. The song, "Love Power", was released on 23 February 2007 and officially presented to the public on 26 February 2007. This was the first time that a Walloon entry was performed in English at the Eurovision Song Contest. Belgium competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 10 May 2007. Performing during the show in position 24, "Love Power" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Belgium placed twenty-sixth out of the 28 participating countries in the semi-final with 14 points.

Background

Prior to the 2007 contest, Belgium had participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

forty-eight times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in . Since then, the country has won the contest on one occasion with the song "" 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 in Bergen, Norway. Her father was an Italian immigrant from Torrebruna in the Province of Chie ...

Following the introduction of semi-finals for the , Belgium had been featured in only one final. In , the song " Je t'adore" performed by

Kate Ryan Kate Ryan (born Katrien Verbeeck, 22 July 1980) is a Belgian singer and songwriter, and the winner of a World Music Award. She began her singing career in 2001 and later found fame with a string of dance hits. These included covers, mostly of ...

, placed twelfth in the semi-final failing to advance to the final. The Belgian participation in the contest alternates between two broadcasters: Flemish (VRT) and Walloon (RTBF) at the time, with both broadcasters sharing the broadcasting rights. Both broadcasters –and their predecessors– had selected the Belgian entry using national finals and internal selections in the past. In and 2006, both RTBF and VRT organised a national final in order to select the Belgian entry. On 5 December 2006, RTBF confirmed its participation in the 2007 contest and internally selected both the artist and song.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

The Belgian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was selected via an internal selection by RTBF. On 20 February 2007, the broadcaster announced during the

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 VRT 1, of the Flemish broadcaster VRT. History INR ...

programme ''Bonnie & Clyde'', hosted by

Jacques Mercier Jacques Mercier (born 17 October 1943 in Mouscron) is a Belgian writer and television and radio presenter. The third eldest son of René and Denise Mercier, Jacques Mercier was educated at St. Joseph's College. Mercier joined RTBF in September ...

and Armelle Gysen, that they had selected the band The KMG's to represent Belgium. Among artists that were previously rumoured to be selected for the competition included the bands

Été 67 Été 67 (''Summer of 67''; the name is inspired by the 1967 ''Summer of Love'') is a rock band created in 1998 in Esneux (near Liège), Belgium. They generally sing in French, but also do some covers in English (like '' I'm Waiting for the Man' ...

and Saule et les Pleureurs. The song the KMG's would perform at the contest, "Love Power", was released online by Flemish broadcaster VRT on 23 February 2007 and officially presented to the public the following day during the

VivaCité VivaCité is a Belgian public service radio station operated by RTBF. The station launched on 29 February 2004 from the merger of regional network ''Fréquence Wallonie'' and Brussels station ''Bruxelles Capitale''. VivaCité is the French-langua ...

radio programme ''Tip Top''. The song was written by member of the band Wakas Ashiq along with Paul Curtiz, and was the first Walloon entry performed in English. The first live televised performance of the song occurred 26 February 2007 during ''Bonnie & Clyde''.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision 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 are required to qualify from the semi-final on 10 May 2007 in order to compete for the final on 12 May 2007. On 12 March 2007, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final and Belgium was set to perform in position 24, following the entry from and before the entry from . The semi-final and the final was broadcast in Belgium by both the Flemish and Walloon broadcasters. VRT broadcast the shows on

één VRT 1 is a public Dutch-language TV station in Belgium, owned by the VRT, which also owns Ketnet, VRT Canvas and several radio stations. Although the channel is commercial-free, short sponsorship messages are broadcast in between some programm ...

with commentary in Dutch 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 So ...

. RTBF televised the shows on

with commentary in French by Jean-Pierre Hautier and Jean-Louis Lahaye. All shows were also broadcast by RTBF on La Première with commentary in French by Patrick Duhamel and Corinne Boulangier, and by VRT on Radio 2 with commentary in Dutch 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 Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie, VRT as a disc jockey on Radio 2 (Belgium), Radio 2 in 1982. In 1992 Follet ...

and Sven Pichal. RTBF appointed

Maureen Louys Maureen Louys (born 3 November 1978 in Liège) is a Belgian television presenter. Career In 2005 she co-presented the 2005 Junior Eurovision Song Contest with Marcel Vanthilt. Louys still remained associated with the regular Eurovision Song Co ...

as its spokesperson to announced the Belgian votes during the final.

Semi-final

The KMG's took part in technical rehearsals on 4 and 6 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 9 and 10 May. The Belgian performance featured the members of the KMG's performing on stage in a band set-up and dressed in 70s outfits. Due to the band originally consisting of nine members, three of them were not featured during the performance. The stage colours were red, orange, green and purple and the LED screens displayed neon rainbows and swirling bands on a black background as well as purple fireworks. At the end of the show, Belgium was not announced among the top 10 entries in the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Belgium placed twenty-sixth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 14 points.

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 in the semi-final and the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Belgium

Points awarded by Belgium

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2007

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...