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Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975

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Country
  
Belgium

Selection date(s)
  
1 March 1975

Selected song
  
"Gelukkig zijn"

Selection process
  
Eurosong

Selected entrant
  
Ann Christy

Final result
  
15th, 17 points

Belgium was represented by Ann Christy, with the song '"Gelukkig zijn", at the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 22 March in Stockholm. Christy was the winner of the Belgian national final for the contest, held on 1 March; she had previously taken part in the Belgian preselections of 1970, 1971 and 1973. Future Belgian representative Micha Marah (1979) also took part.

Contents

Final

The first stage of the selection process consisted of seven semi-finals at the Amerikaans Theater in Brussels, starting in November 1974. Full details of the semi-finals (dates, hosts, participating songs and how the finalists were chosen) are currently unknown; 30 participating songs have been identified but it is believed that there were many more, possibly up to 70.

The final, consisting of ten songs, took place on 1 March also at the Amerikaans Theater, hosted by Staf Van Berendoncks. Six singers were involved, with four (including Christy) performing two songs apiece. Voting was by five regional juries and "Gelukkig zijn" emerged the winner by a margin of almost 60 points.

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Christy performed 11th in the running order, following Israel and preceding Malta. Under the free-language rule in operation at the time, Christy performed the first half of the song in Dutch, before switching to English. At the close of the voting "Gelukkig zijn" had received 17 points (7 from Germany, 5 from the Netherlands, 3 from Yugoslavia and 2 from Sweden), placing Belgium 15th of the 19 participating countries. It was a disappointing result for a well-performed song which had been regarded before the contest as at least a top 10 finisher. The Belgian jury awarded its 12 points to Ireland.

References

Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Wikipedia