Belgium was represented by

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 ...

singer Stella Maessen (billed simply as Stella), with the song "Si tu aimes ma musique", at the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 24 April. This was Stella's third appearance at Eurovision: She had appeared twice as part of the group Hearts of Soul/Dream Express for the Netherlands in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

and for Belgium in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

. As a solo singer, she had also taken part in the Belgian preselection in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

Before Eurovision

Eurosong

''Eurosong'' consisted of three heats, a semi-final, and the final on 21 February 1982. All the shows took place at the

RTBF 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 ...

studios 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 ...

, hosted by Pierre Collard-Bovy.

Heats

The first heat took place on 24 January 1982 and six of the competing acts performed. The top two entries decided by televoting advanced to the semi-final. The second heat took place on 31 January 1982 and six of the competing acts performed. The top two entries decided by televoting advanced to the semi-final. The third heat took place on 7 February 1982 and six of the competing acts performed. The top two entries decided by televoting advanced to the semi-final.

Semi-final

The semi-final took place on 14 February 1982 and six of the competing acts performed. The top four entries decided by televoting advanced to the final.

Final

The final was held on 21 February 1982 with the winning song chosen by a 12-member jury panel. After Stella's win, it was reported that some RTBF executives were unhappy about the fact that they were to be represented by a Dutch-born singer who spoke very little French.

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Stella performed 11th in the running order, following

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and preceding

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. At the close of the voting "Si tu aimes ma musique" had received 96 points, placing Belgium 4th of the 18 entries. Although the song did not receive any 12 points votes (the highest were 10 from

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and Spain), it achieved the distinction of being only the eighth song in Eurovision history to that date (and only the third non-winner) to receive points from every other participating country (excluding the 1971-1973 contests where each country had to award a minimum of 2 points to every song). The Belgian jury awarded its 12 points to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

.ESC History - Belgium 1982
/ref>

Voting

References

External links

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1982

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1982

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...