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Belgium: Bart Cannaerts Will Reveal The Jury Points for Eurovision 2023!

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Comedian and famous TV presenter Bart Cannaerts will reveal the results of the Belgian jury in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

The scores of the Belgian jury in the Grand Final of the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will be announced by Bart Cannaerts, known for his participation in The Masked Singer, De dag vandaag and De Allerslimste Mens ter Wereld 202.

The other spokespersons announced to date are:

Estonia – Ragnar Klavan
Albania – Andri Xhahu
Cyprus – Loukas Hamatsos
Greece – Fotis Sergoulopoulos
Israel – Ilanit
San Marino – John Kennedy O’Connor
Spain – Ruth Lorenzo
Switzerland – Chiara Dubey
Netherlands – S10
Ukraine – Zlata Ognevi
Estonia – Ragnar Klavanch
Poland – Ida Nowakowska
Azerbaijan – Narmin Salmanova
Romania – Eda Marcus
Italy – Kaze
Austria – Philipp Hansa
Sweden – Farah Abadi
Finland – Bess

Below you can enjoy the reaction video of Belgium in Eurovision 2023:

Source: Songfestival.be

Follow us on all social media, so you do not miss a moment of what will happen in Liverpool:

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the latest developments regarding the the 67th Eurovision Song Contest, that is held in Liverpool!

Eurovision 2023: Belgium’s Second Rehearsal!

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Next up is Belgium‘s rehearsal, represented by Gustaph singing “Because of You“.

Who is Gustaph ?

Stef Caers, also known professionally as Gustaph, is 42 years old and he comes from the Flemish speaking part of Belgium. He is an experienced artist regarding the contest, since he has already participated before as a back vocalist for Senek in 2018 and for Hooverphonic in 2021. His debut in the music industry began in 2000 while he was studying in at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent and also he used to be a vocal coach.

Gustaph’s participation in Eurovision is considered to be one of the most unexpected participations, since he was an outsider in Belgium’s Eurosong. He was not the winner of either public’s vote (second) or jury’s vote (third). However the combination of the two results gave Gustaph the golden tickret for Liverpool, who actually beat Starlings by just one point.

No matter the fact that Gustaph has generally gathered negative reviews regarding his qualification, his flawless live performances at pre parties may proove the exact opposite, since he is currently at the odds-in’s eighth place for qualification.

The Rehearsal

Unfortunately this year, accredited journalists don’t get the chance to watch the first and second rehearsals, so we only get the information and content that the organizers officially release to the public.

Belgium is the next country to keep their performance just the way it was in Monday’s first rehearsal. If everyone keeps their outfits from today, the first half of the second Semi-Final is going to be VERY pink.

It’s a pure pop song, full of love for the people who never let us down, with their good and bad moments. Gustaph has his own ladder, three singers and an all LED backdrop with vogueing, drag queens and all the people who make Gustaph’s world a better place.

Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

In the afternoon, after the completion of all the rehearsals, a recap video will be released with short excerpts from the footage of all the second rehearsals!

The Dress Rehearsal for Belgium and the rest of Semi Final 2 will be held on the 10th of May.

Follow us on all social media, so you do not miss a moment of what will happen in Liverpool:

Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for all the latest developments regarding Belgium’s entry in Eurovision 2023!

Belgium: Gustaph films Eurovision 2023 Postcard!

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Gustaph, Belgium’s representative at Eurovision 2023, was in February anointed to represent his country in the contest, after winning the Eurosong, which was used specifically to highlight the entry, with “Because of You“.

Through a tweet from the BBC‘s official Eurovision account, we learn information about what we will see on the postcard, while we also see some backstage footage of the filming with Gustaph enjoying the process.

With a lot of energy, Gustaph continues his preparations, who competes with “Because of You”, in the Second Semi-Final on May 11th and with an appearance on the spot number 5!

You can watch the EurovisionFun team’s reaction to Belgium’s participation in Eurovision 2023 below:

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news about Belgium in Eurovision 2023!

Belgium: Watch the Music Video of “Because Of You”!

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Two months after winning the Eurosong in Belgium Gustaph is heading for the next big thing and drops the music video for his Eurovision dance song “Because Of You”.

The official music video for “Because of You” was released on the official Eurovision YouTube channel this morning.

Watch the music video of this year entry of Belgium:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORhEoS6d8e4&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Feurovoix.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title

Gustaph was selected to represent Belgium after winning Eurosong 2023, the first Belgian national selection for Eurovision since 2016. This year Belgium will be on 2nd Semi-Final (11 May) and on the 1st Half of the show.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates regarding Belgium’s participation in Eurovision 2023, in Liverpool!

Belgium: The Starlings would like to go to Eurovision if internally selected!

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The Starlings would like to represent Belgium in Eurovision.  However, it seems that after their experience in the Belgium national selection they would only do it if they are internally selected.

The Starlings ended in second place at Eurosong 2023, only one point behind the winner, Gustaf.  The Starlings were the favourites of the public.  However, the jury placed “Rollercoaster” in fifth place ending their chances to represent Belgium.

The couple seemed particularly unhappy with the choice of the jury and Alexander Rybak ‘s remark about the alleged similarity of their song to a well-known Ed Sheeran song.

In an interview with radio station MNM, the duo talked about their experience at Eurosong 2023.  They also commented on the possibility of representing Belgium in the competition, only if they are internally selected.

“The disappointment is better now. It was a very stressful period in which we worked hard.  It’s very bitter if you lose by just one point. On the one hand we wanted to participate, but on the other hand we didn’t. Not with a national selection anyway. As a household name you have everything to lose in such a qualifying round. That would stop me now. We say no to a national final, but a yes to an internal selection.” The Starlings

Rollercoaster may not be heading to Liverpool.  However, the song has been positively received in the radios.  The Starlings ended their interview mentioning that, although they did not make it, they support Belgium candidate Gustaph.

Source: songfestival.be

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates regarding Belgium’s participation in Eurovision 2023, in Liverpool!

Belgium: The Starlings are dissatisfied with the result of Eurosong 2023!

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The Starlings (Tom Dice, Kato Callebaut) in last night’s show of the Belgian national final Eurosong 2023, very narrowly took the second place in the standings with only one point separating them from the winner Gustaph. The result was formed like so because, regardless of the fact that they were the audience’s favourites, the jury didn’t vote for “Rollercoaster” enough. Detailed results and information about the performances can be read in our Eurosong 2023 article.

More specifically, Tom Dice seemed particularly unhappy with the jury’s voting and said the following in an Instagram post, not leaving Alexander Rybak‘s remark about the similarity of “Rollercoaster” to a well-known Ed Sheeran song unchallenged:

“Thank you so much for voting us up so massively! 1 out of 4 people voted for “Rollercoaster” yesterday, which is insane.

(Part of) the 15-member jury had a different opinion. So we are very disappointed. There was barely any talk about our performance, voices and music.

It felt like a lack of respect for the work that went into this.
We are asking ourselves a lot of questions.
Whether we will get an honest answer from those people, I doubt it.
It doesn’t feel right.

If it depends on you, “Rollercoaster” will be on every music channel and streaming playlist in Flanders starting today, and that’s a nice consolation. You guys are the sweetest people and we prefer to have them close to us.”

At the end he will not forget to congratulate Gustaph on his victory with a beautiful message:

“@stefgustaph you deserve this and I love you! You are a great man and after 2 times being under or behind the stage it may now be FULL in the spotlight. I will traditionally support and be proud of you in “me and my guitar” suit. You worked hard!”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tom Dice (@tomdiceofficial)

Gustaph got the ticket to represent Belgium in Liverpool for Eurovision 2023 with his song “Because of You”, receiving 121 points from the jury and 157 from the audience.

https://youtu.be/uYWhh-E_VPo

Source: Songfestival.be

Belgium: With Gustaph and “Because of You” at Eurovision 2023!

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Belgium’s national final Eurosong 2023 has just ended, having chosen Gustaph with his song “Because of You” as the big winner that will take the ticket to Liverpool in May for Eurovision 2023.

The show took place at Palais 12 in Brussels with Peter Van de Veire as the host and Duncan Laurence as the guest act.

The participants

In the national final, seven artists presented their proposals for Eurovision 2023 in the following order:

  1. Hunter Falls –  Ooh La La 
  2. Cherine – Ça m’ennuie pas 
  3. The Starlings – Rollercoaster
  4. Ameerah – The Carnival 
  5. Gustaph – Because Of You
  6. Gala Aliaj Dragot – T’lnquiete
  7. Loredana De Amicis – You Lift Me Up 

The jury is made up of 15 members, including Alexander Rybak (Norway 2009 and 2018), Laura Tessoro (Belgium 2015), Jeremie Makiese (Belgium 2022) and Nikkie Turtorials (Eurovision 2021 Presenter).

The competitive part

1. Hunter Falls –  Ooh La La 

First on stage is Hunter Falls dressed in black with two dancers synchronized with the rear LEDs which are in orange, yellow and red tones. Pretty good vocally in a decent performance.

https://youtu.be/w_j6bH8BO7Y

2. Cherine –Ça m’ennuie pas 

Definitely one of the favourites of the night as her song is number one on Spotify Belgium. Cherine is on stage in a pink dress and two dancers, one dressed as an octopus and one as a flower. The stage look is quite childish and reminiscent of Junior Eurovision but she is quite good vocally. Will her childish approach cost her a ticket to Liverpool?

https://youtu.be/Zy5zx79QUPc

3. The Starlings – Rollercoaster

Next up was the duo of the night in a dark black and white performance. A minimal show with some effects, a little subdued of course. The Starlings are decent vocalists. The juries pointed out their similarity to Ed Sheeran’s song.

https://youtu.be/E3rng9rC6Ks

4. Ameerah – The Carnival 

It’s Ameerah’s turn with her carnival! Dressed in red with five dancers and costumes that refer to the title of the song without being “costumes”. She is quite good vocally and comfortable on stage with the show ending with confetti and her extending to the catwalk part of the stage. A pretty well worked out performance.

https://youtu.be/uQWMGgoJkYg

5. Gustaph – Because Of You

Gustaph comes on stage in a hat and a kimono type of clothing in shades of purple and pink. With him are two women on vocals who, with their support, make the song live sound almost identical to the studio version. Simple and unpretentious appearance.

https://youtu.be/J90sSoNKTHA

6. Gala Aliaj Dragot – T’lnquiete 

Next up is the winner of the Junior version of the country. Gala in white with 5 dancers behind her in a modern choreography that doesn’t distract from her and the piece. Excellent vocals from the 17 year old singer in a highly atmospheric performance that is sure to get the judges and audience excited.

https://youtu.be/Zm_yfMR2Jbo

7. Loredana De Amicis – You Lift Me Up 

Loredana closes the curtain in a very “Eurovision” performance. She wears a black jumpsuit with rhinestones and has two male dancers. At the finale a large robot appears in the centre with various lights. The look and the singing are reminiscent of the contest of earlier times unfortunately, despite the fact that she is quite good vocally.

https://youtu.be/Rp-4eAlMVxs

The results

The winner was decided by the vote of the 15 jurors and the television audience, which has one free vote via the channel’s website and one payphone vote. The jury distributed 780 points among the seven candidates and the 780 votes from the public were divided by percentages accordingly. That is, if one of the candidates receives 10% of the public votes, he or she will receive 78 points.

The jury voted:

  1. Gala 146
  2. Cherine 145
  3. Gustaph 121
  4. Ameerah 107
  5. The Starlings 94
  6. Hunter Falls 84
  7. Loredana  83

The audience voted:

  1. The Starlings 183
  2. Gustaph 157
  3. Cherine 123
  4. Gala 146
  5. Loredana  84
  6. Ameerah 64
  7. Hunter Falls 44

Therefore, the final result is as follows:

  1. Gustaph 278
  2. The Starlings 277
  3. Gala 146
  4. Cherine 145
  5. Ameerah 153
  6. Loredana  167
  7. Hunter Falls 128

Gustaph and “Beacause of You” will wave the Belgian flag in Liverpool and will attempt to claim victory in the upcoming competition. Listen to the entry below:

https://youtu.be/J90sSoNKTHA

Will Belgium manage to get back into the top ten after 6 years? Make your prediction in the comments!

Belgium: “You Lift Me Up” as Loredana’s Eurosong 2023 entry!

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The first episode of Eurosong 2023 ended a while ago with  Loredana De Amicis selecting her final entry. She introduced us to her two potential entries “I dream In Colours” and “You Lift Me Up” and received advice from the other artists. Based on these experiences, Loredana then chose to compete in the Eurosong 2023 final with the song “You Lift Me Up”.

You can listen to “You Lift Me Up” by Loredana HERE

The grand final of Eurosong 2023 will take place on January 14 at the Paleis 12 / Palais 12 in Brussels. You can listen to a small excerpt of the songs here.

Seven artists will participate in the national final:

  • Ameerah – The Carnival & Armageddon
  • Cherine – Ca m’ennuie pas & Mon ‘Etoile
  • Gala Aliaj Dragot – Emotion Ollie & T’lnquiete
  • Gustaph – Because Of You & The Nail
  • Hunter Falls – Home & Ooh La La
  • Loredana De Amicis – You Lift Me Up & Dream in Colours
  • The Starlings – Oceanside & Rollercoaster

The remaining shows are as follows:

  • January 10 – Episode Two – 19:45 CET – Chérine & Hunter Falls
  • January 11 – Episode Three – 19:45 CET – Hunter Falls & Ameerah
  • January 12 – Episode Four – 19:45 CET – gala dragot & Gustaph
  • January 13 – Episode Five – 19:45 CET – Gustaph & The Starlings

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news about Belgium in Eurovision 2023!

Source: VRT

 

Gala Dragot: “Both songs have a strong personal meaning for me”| Exclusive Interview |

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Following the announcement of her participation in this year’s national final of Belgium, Eurosong 2023, Gala Dragot speaks exclusively to EurovisionFun’s, Apostolos Bogiannos and Apostolis Matamis.

Gala is among the finalists of this years Eurosong and she will try to represent her country in Eurovision 2023 with one of her two songs, Emotion Ollie or T’lnquiete.

Gala Aliaj Dragot explained that when her label heard about the open call for Eurovision 2023 in Belgium, they suggested that she should send some demos and of course she liked the idea of getting to Eurovision.

About the two songs she is competing on the national final she told us:

“These song were not written especially for Eurovision! I wrote them when I was 15 years old, but I never had the opportunity to release them. Now I feel is the right moment and I feel they fit perfectly to me and also to Eurovision!”

“Both songs have a strong personal meaning for me and everyone will find something about themselves on those lyrics!”

When Gala was asked if she prefers one of her two songs, she said:

“Ιt’s difficult, because these are both my babies and I love them so much but I think I have a preference on T’lnquiete, because it has beautiful strings and It’s more Eurovision!”

Then, she told us that among the other entries of the national final of Belgium her favourites are Hunter Falls with “Ooh La La”, “Nail” by Gustaph and Cherine.

She talked about her experience on winning “The Voice Kids” and how much it helped her to realise that she loves music.

“I’ve always known that I love music, to write music and also sing, but before The Voice it wasn’t clear to me”

Also, Gala talked about her Albanian roots and how much she loves going back to Albania her artistic family was mentioned during the interview. Gala expressed her love for Greece, cause she visits the country for her vacation in Halkidiki and Thessaloniki, but also a big part of her family lives in Greece and her parents actually lived in Greece and speak the language.

Lastly, she mentioned Maneskin from 2021 and Salvador Sobral as her favourites entries from Eurovision!

Watch the exclusive interview on the video below:

We would like to thanks Gala for talking with us and wishing her the best of luck on her Eurovision journey that has just begun!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news about Eurovision 2023 and more interviews from our favourite artists!

 

Belgium: The jury of Eurosong 2023 has been announced!

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Less than two weeks before Belgium‘s national final, the names of the 15-member jury which, together with the public, will choose the country’s song for Eurovision 2023 have been announced.

The members of the jury are the following:

Nikkie De Jager aka NikkieTurtorials (presenter of Eurovision 2021 in Rotterdam)
Alexander Rybak (Winner of Eurovision 2009 and representative of Norway in 2018)
Jeremie Makiese (Representative of Belgium in Eurovision 2022)
Laura Tesoro (Representative of Belgium in Eurovision 2016)
Laura Govaerts (Presenter)
Ann Reymen (Radio producer)
Korneel De Clercq (Radio producer)
Thibault Christiaensen (Musician)
Francicso Schuster (Musician)
Leslie Cable (Head of delegation)
Stephan Monsieur (President of OGAE)
André Vermeulen (Journalist and Eurovision expert)
Els Germonpré (Music coordinator)
Manu Lammens (Music director)
Jasper Van Biesen (Author of “65 years of Belgium at Eurovision”)

Eurosong 2023

Belgium’s national final will take place on Saturday, 14 January. The seven artists who will participate in Eurosong 2023 have qualified with two song entries each. A week before the national final, the artists themselves will choose, with the help of a group of other expert Belgian musicians, which of their two entries will be their participation in the national final. The Belgian representative in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest will be determined by both the jury and the TV audience. The candidates are the following:

Ameerah – The Carnival & Armageddon
Cherine – Ca m’ennuie pas & Mon ‘Etoile
Gala Aliaj Dragot – Emotion Ollie & T’lnquiete
Gustaph – Because Of You & The Nail
Hunter Falls – Home & Ooh La La
Loredana De Amicis – You Lift Me Up & Dream in Colors
The Starlings – Oceanside & Rollercoaster

Listen to teasers of all the songs here!

Belgium was represented by Jeremie Makiese in Eurovision 2022 with the song “Miss You”, finishing 19th in the Grand Final:

https://youtu.be/sB09advfF6E

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding the Belgian entry in Eurovision 2023!

Source: songfestival.be