Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Eurosong 2014

Eurosong 2014 was the national final that selected Belgium's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. This marked a return to a national final selection procedure by the Flemish broadcaster VRT, who last organised a televised multi-artist national final in 2008, opting instead for internal selections in the years between.

Format

The format of the competition involved a series of seven televised shows that included a casting process to select performers, a call back round that gives previously eliminated performers a second chance to advance, semi-finals where the selected performers presented their potential contest entries, ultimately concluding with a final where the Belgian entry for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest was selected. The competition series was hosted by Eva Daeleman and Peter Van de Veire.

The application process for artists and songs was conducted separately. Artists were required to submit an audition film where they performed a cover of a past Eurovision Song Contest song. Candidates were able to apply to participate individually or in a group of up to six people. The submission deadline for performers was on 14 October 2013. Interested lyricists and composers were able to submit their song proposals by 28 October 2013.

A panel of four experts guided viewers through the process of selecting the best artist and song to represent Belgium in Copenhagen. The panel consisted of:

Bart Peeters, singer and television presenter

Piet Goddaer, musician known by his stage name Ozark Henry

Jef Martens, musician and DJ known by various aliases such as Basto and Lazy Jay

Ruslana, Ukrainian singer and winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004

Competing entries

The eight contestants that were selected to advance directly to the semi-finals and the eight contestants that were selected for the call back round were all provided with entries by the jury panel from the received submissions. The four contestants that did not advance from the call back round (White Bird, Jessy, Mr. Jones and Joyce) did not perform their song during the competition.

Casting

The casting shows aired on 2 and 9 February 2014. The casting process was filmed on 3 December 2013 at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp where thirty artists were given the opportunity to audition in front of the expert panel without an audience in the venue. Ruslana was unable to attend the casting due to her involvement in the pro-European Union protests in Ukraine. Fifteen auditions were broadcast during each show. The auditioning artists performed cover versions of past Eurovision Song Contest songs. Eight artists were selected to directly proceed to the semi-finals, while an additional eight were selected for the call back round.

1.^ Performed as "Sister" by the original artist.

Call Back

The call back show took place on 16 February 2014 at the Videohouse in Vilvoorde where eight artists that were selected during the casting had another opportunity to perform. An additional four artists were selected to proceed to the semi-finals after the combination of votes from the expert panel and public televotes.

2.^ Medley of "Anne" originally performed by Clouseau (from the 1989 Belgian national final), "Jennifer Jennings" originally performed by Louis Neefs and "Only Teardrops" originally performed by Emmelie de Forest.

Semi-finals

Three semi-finals took place on 23 February 2014, 2 March 2014 and 9 March 2014 at the Videohouse in Vilvoorde where the twelve artists presented their potential Eurovision songs. Four artists and songs competed in each semi-final where the combination of votes from the expert panel and public televoting selected the top two from each semi-final to qualify to the final.

Final

The final of the competition took place on 16 March 2014 at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp. Two songs that qualified from each of the previous three semi-finals, all together six songs, competed. The four member expert panel participated in the final solely in an advisory role. The winner was selected by a combination of the votes from public televoting and the votes from seven international jury groups. The public and the jury each had a total of 280 points to award. Each jury group awarded points as follows: 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 points. The public vote was based on the percentage of votes each song has accumulated. For example, if a song gained 10% of the public vote, then that entry would be awarded 10% of 280 points: 28 points.

Axel Hirsoux was the winner of Eurosong 2014 with the song "Mother".

At Eurovision

During the semi-final allocation draw on 20 January 2014 at the Copenhagen City Hall, Belgium was drawn to compete in the second half of the first semi-final on 6 May 2014. In the first semi-final, the producers of the show decided that Belgium would perform 10th, following Ukraine and preceding Moldova. Belgium failed to qualify from the first semi-final, placing 14th in a field of 16 songs and scoring 28 points.

On stage, Axel Hirsoux was joined by one female dancer: Isabelle Beernaert. The Belgian performance featured Axel performing the song and the dancer performing gentle choreography.

In Belgium, both the semi-finals and final were broadcast on één and Radio 2 with commentary in Dutch provided by Peter Van de Veire and Eva Daeleman. All three shows were also broadcast on La Une with French commentary provided by Jean-Louis Lahaye and Maureen Louys. The Belgian spokesperson revealing the result of the Belgian vote in the final was Angelique Vlieghe.

Split voting results

The following five members comprise the Belgian jury:

Bob Savenberg – Chairperson – musician, singer, producer, artist, manager, represented Belgium in the 1991 Contest as part of Clouseau

Laura van den Bruel (Iris) – singer, represented Belgium in the 2012 Contest

Roos van Acker – radio DJ, television host, artist

Yannic Fonderie – music producer, composer

Wouter Van der Veken – music producer, composer, label manager

Semi-final 1

The Belgian votes in the first semi-final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.

Final

The Belgian votes in the grand final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.