Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "City Lights", written by Pierre Dumoulin and Ellie Delvaux (Blanche). The song was performed by Blanche, who was selected by the Belgian broadcaster Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF) on 22 November 2016 to represent the nation at the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. "City Lights" was internally selected as the song Blanche would perform at Eurovision and later premiered on 8 March 2017.

Eurovision Song Contest 2017
Country Belgium
National selection
Selection processInternal Selection
Selection date(s)Artist: 22 November 2016
Song: 8 March 2017
Selected entrantBlanche
Selected song"City Lights"
Selected songwriter(s)Pierre Dumoulin
Blanche
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (4th, 165 points)
Final result4th, 363 points
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2016 • 2017 • 2018►

Belgium was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 2017. Performing during the show in position 5, "City Lights" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 13 May.

Background
Main article: Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2017 contest, Belgium had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-eight times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in 1956.[1] Since then, the country has won the contest on one occasion in 1986 with the song "J'aime la vie" performed by Sandra Kim. Following the introduction of semi-finals for 2004, Belgium had been featured in only five finals. In 2016, Laura Tesoro represented the country with the song "What's the Pressure", qualifying to the final and placing tenth.

The Belgian broadcaster for the 2017 Contest, who broadcasts the event in Belgium and organises the selection process for its entry, was Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF). The Belgian participation in the contest alternates between two broadcasters: the Walloon RTBF and the Flemish Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT). Both broadcasters have selected the Belgian entry using national finals and internal selections in the past. In 2015, RTBF internally selected a contestant from the reality singing competition The Voice Belgique to represent the nation, while in 2016, VRT organised the national final Eurosong in order to select the Belgian entry. On 23 May 2016, RTBF confirmed Belgium's participation in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.[2]

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

On 22 November 2016, RTBF announced that Ellie Delvaux would be representing Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017.[3] While her song, "City Lights", had been previously announced to be released on 8 March 2017, the song leaked the night before through Spotify. After leaking, Belgium rose 23 places and came 2nd in the online betting odds. The song also received praise and became an over night sensation on Twitter. It was released as a digital download on 8 March.[4] Ellie had earlier competed in the TV talent competition The Voice Belgique. At Eurovision, she competed under her stage name 'Blanche'.

Promotion

Blanche made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "City Lights" as the Belgian Eurovision entry. On 2 April, she performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French. Between 3 and 6 April, she took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel where she performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Ha'teatron venue.[5][6] On 8 April, Blanche performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Selma Björnsdóttir.[7] On 15 April, she performed during the Eurovision Spain Pre-Party, which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid, Spain.[8]

At Eurovision
Blanche during a press meet and greet

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[9] On 31 January 2017, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Belgium was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 9 May 2017, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[10]

Once all the competing songs for the 2017 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Belgium was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from Albania and before the entry from Montenegro.[11]

Semi-final

Blanche took part in technical rehearsals on 30 April and 4 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 8 and 9 May.[12] This included the jury show on 8 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.

At the end of the show, Belgium was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Belgium placed fourth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 165 points: 125 points from the televoting and 40 points from the juries.

Final

Shortly after the first semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the reverse order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Belgium was drawn to compete in the second half.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Belgium and awarded by Belgium in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:[13][14]

Points awarded to Belgium
Points awarded to Belgium (Semi-final 1)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Points awarded to Belgium (final)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Belgium

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Belgian jury: [15]

  • Jean-François Pottier – Chairperson – Head of Music Nostalgie Belgique
  • Kevin Cocco – teacher, singer, composer, communication officer
  • Tiffany Baworowski (Typh Barrow) – singer, author of lyrics, composer
  • Etienne Baffrey – Founder and Director of radio antipode, teacher at IAD-Radio
  • Marie Benmokaddem (Mia Lena) - singer, student
Split voting results from Belgium (Semi-final 1)
Draw Country Jury Televote
K. Cocco T. Barrow J-F. Pottier E. Baffrey M. Lena Average Rank Points Rank Points
01  Sweden 2 1 1 1 2 1 12 6 5
02  Georgia 9 11 9 4 10 8 3 16
03  Australia 5 3 4 2 1 2 10 10 1
04  Albania 17 17 14 3 13 14 12
05  Belgium
06  Montenegro 15 12 16 17 14 17 14
07  Finland 11 16 11 10 8 11 8 3
08  Azerbaijan 1 4 2 16 7 6 5 15
09  Portugal 6 2 6 11 4 4 7 1 12
10  Greece 12 14 10 9 16 12 5 6
11  Poland 7 6 5 5 12 7 4 3 8
12  Moldova 14 9 15 7 6 10 1 2 10
13  Iceland 8 8 7 13 9 9 2 11
14  Czech Republic 3 7 8 8 3 5 6 13
15  Cyprus 4 5 3 6 5 3 8 7 4
16  Armenia 10 10 12 12 17 13 4 7
17  Slovenia 13 13 13 15 15 15 9 2
18  Latvia 16 15 17 14 11 16 17
Split voting results from Belgium (final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
K. Cocco T. Barrow J-F. Pottier E. Baffrey M. Lena Average Rank Points Rank Points
01  Israel 25 23 25 18 21 24 19
02  Poland 18 11 15 13 16 14 7 4
03  Belarus 10 18 9 10 14 12 20
04  Austria 5 9 14 11 4 8 3 15
05  Armenia 14 14 17 17 15 15 12
06  Netherlands 9 21 21 19 17 19 2 10
07  Moldova 22 15 18 2 11 13 4 7
08  Hungary 23 13 24 24 19 22 10 1
09  Italy 12 7 2 23 12 11 6 5
10  Denmark 15 20 12 16 22 18 25
11  Portugal 7 3 3 4 6 3 8 1 12
12  Azerbaijan 3 8 8 8 8 7 4 21
13  Croatia 24 25 23 25 20 25 11
14  Australia 6 4 11 9 3 5 6 17
15  Greece 20 22 16 15 23 20 13
16  Spain 13 17 22 22 10 17 24
17  Norway 2 5 10 5 5 4 7 18
18  United Kingdom 11 12 7 7 9 9 2 16
19  Cyprus 8 6 5 3 13 6 5 14
20  Romania 21 24 20 20 18 23 5 6
21  Germany 16 16 13 14 24 16 22
22  Ukraine 17 19 19 21 25 21 23
23  Belgium
24  Sweden 1 1 1 1 2 1 12 9 2
25  Bulgaria 4 2 6 6 1 2 10 3 8
26  France 19 10 4 12 7 10 1 8 3

References
  1. "Belgium Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  2. Jiandani, Sanjay (23 May 2016). "Belgium: RTBF confirms participation in Eurovision 2017". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  3. Jiandani, Sanjay (22 November 2016). "Belgium: Ellie Delvaux (Blanche) to Kyiv!". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  4. Granger, Anthony (7 March 2017). "BELGIUM: SNIPPET OF BLANCHE'S "CITY LIGHTS" APPEARS ONLINE". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix.
  5. Kavaler, Ron (22 March 2017). "ISRAEL CALLING! EUROVISION PROMO EVENT SET FOR APRIL 3 TO 6". wiwibloggs.com. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  6. Laufer, Gil (5 April 2017). "Tonight: Israel Calling 2017 to be held with 28 participating countries". esctoday.com. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  7. Jordan, Paul (29 March 2017). "Eurovision in Concert sets a new record with 33 acts". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  8. Fuster, Luis (1 April 2017). "MADRID CALLING! 19 ACTS WILL TAKE PART IN EUROVISION SPAIN PRE-PARTY". wiwibloggs.com. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  9. Jordan, Paul (25 January 2017). "Semi-Final Allocation draw to take place in Kyiv". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  10. Jordan, Paul (31 January 2017). "Results of the Semi-Final Allocation Draw". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  11. Jordan, Paul (31 March 2017). "Semi-Final running order for Eurovision 2017 revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  12. "Press". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  13. "Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 First Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  14. "Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  15. Jordan, Paul (29 April 2017). "Who will be the expert jurors for Eurovision 2017?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
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