Belgium | Eliot Vassamillet to sing for Belgium at Eurovision 2019

Following several months of rumours and speculation - according to reports by MSN - it has been confirmed by Belgian broadcaster RTBF following a report by outlet Télépro that 18 year old Eliot Vassamillet will be the Belgian participant at the 64th Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Tel Aviv, Israel later this year in May 2019.

Source: RTBF.be

Eliot Vassamillet - who for Eurovision will perform using his forename Eliot only - first rose to fame in Belgium when he appeared on the 2018 season of 'The Voice Belgique'. Following a successful audition of Kodaline's 'High Hopes' (which saw two of the judges turn their chairs to select him for their teams) he joined Team Slimane and advanced very far in the competition before being eliminated in the first live show. Being only 18 years old, following his appearance on the show he completed high school and has therefore not to date released any follow up material so there is still an air of mystery over what type of song Eliot will be bringing to Eurovision.

In another news reveal, RTBF have also confirmed that Pierre Dumoulin will compose the Belgian entry following the success of his composition 'City Lights' for fellow young singer Blanche in 2017. Back in 2017, Dumoulin chose Blanche for the competition after seeing her appear on 'The Voice Belgique' and being inspired by her ... are we starting to see a similarity? Dumoulin released the following statement about working with Eliot:

"As soon as I saw Eliot's performance at his Blind, I felt he had 'that extra stuff' that I'm looking for in an artist, that sensitivity and crack that's needed to convey the emotion."

Check out his performance of 'Mad World' during The Voice Belgique battle round:

In 2018, Belgium failed to qualify for the final for the first time since 2014 after Sennek's song 'A Matter of Time' shockingly only placed 12th with 91 points. However as is tradition Belgium's two main broadcasters RTBF and VRT alternate responsibility of organising the Belgian Eurovision participation and therefore the last two times RTBF were in charge (2015 and 2017) the country placed fourth both times.

Are you excited by the reveal of Eliot? Do you think he has what it takes to keep up the Belgian RTBF success? Let us know in the comments below or via our social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube for the latest Eurovision news, selection updates and exclusive video content.