 Belgium belongs to the “founding members” of the Eurovision Song Contest, participating since 1956! They won the contest only one time in 1986 with “J’aime la vie” by Sandra Kim, in Bergen, Norway. As it is known generally, Belgium has two official languages, so there was a rotation in Flemish and French speaking entries. Due to the overhang of Eastern European countries, the Western European countries did suffer a lot in the ESC. The music industries are not that big in the East, so the Eurovision Song Contest is treated with higher respect. Countries like Azerbaijan and Belarus are allowed to sing in English recently and that’s high competition. So nowadays there are Patricia Kaas singing for France, Andrew Lloyd Webber composing for the UK, for being competitive. Even Belgian super star Kate Ryan took part in 2006 and failed with a superb song in the semi final. No Belgian entry could qualify for the final in the last 5 years! Of course, the motivation harms a lot.
There was no pre decision in Belgium this year. The song has been determined by the Flemish TV. “Me and my Guitar” is a lovely ballad with a wonderful chorus and a climax. This is something really good from Belgium, it doesn’t sound like Eurovision. The singer has a very positive charisma and he can sing, but he will not be the only one with a guitar – Sweden and Cyprus also use the same instrument on stage. This song might be the dark horse this year. Respect!
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Participant(s): Tom Dice
