Belgium | Meet Eliot Vassamillet From Belgium
This year will mark the 64th Eurovision Song Contest. The contest will be held in Tel Aviv, Israel, and will see 41 countries compete for the honour of being Europe's best. There will be two semi finals taking place on Tuesday 14th May, and Thursday 16th May. Ten artists from each will progress to the final that will be held on Saturday 18th May 2019. A grand total of twenty six countries will compete to be Netta's successor at the competition. With just a short time until this event, Eurovoxx will bring you a series of meet the artist articles, that will introduce you to each country that will be participating. Today's instalment comes from Belgium who will be represented by Eliot Vassamillet.
Who Is Eliot Vassamillet?
Eliot Vassamillet was born in Bergen, Belgium on the 29th December 2000, and is 18 years old. He is fairly new to the music scene, with the Eurovision Song Contest being this young performers biggest achievement to date. His singing career started last year on season 7 of "The Voice Belgique". He impressed the judges at the blind auditions, and managed to proceed through the auditions, and battle stages. He was eliminated in the first week of the live shows, however.
He describes himself as a "calm" person, with his performances reflecting his personality. He has also said in interviews that he is a quiet person, but does have a very positive outlook on life. He is still currently in school, and will be missing classes to be able to represent his country at the contest. However, he has the support of all his teachers, and friends. His song was released in February, and made it to number 40 in the Belgium FL, and number 42 in the WL charts.
Check Out Eliot's Eurovision Entry, "Wake Up" Below:
How Was Eliot Vassamillet Chosen?
Belgium has two broadcasters who rotate every year, as the channel responsible for Belgium's Eurovision entry. RTBF is the French speaking broadcaster, whilst VRT is the Flemish one. This year was the turn of RTBF, who opted to send Eliot to Tel Aviv. He was selected, and officially announced on the 14th January 2019, whilst the official release of the song was on 28th February 2019. The song is written by Pierre Dumoulin who is also responsible for Blanche's entry in 2017.
Check Out Andy Reacts to, "Wake Up" Below:
Belgium At The Eurovision Song Contest
Belgium first appeared at the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1956 when Fud Leclerc came second with the song, "Messieurs les noyés de la Seine". They have appeared at the competition on sixty occasions with this year marking their 61st participation. It was during 1994, 1997, and 2001 that they have not been at the contest. They have been one of the countries that have participated the most. Of 60 appearances they have quite a mixed bag of results. They have come last during 8 participations (1961, 1962, 1965, 1973, 1979, 1985, 1993 and 2000). Of these eight times, there were two occasions where they had the dreaded nil point when Fud Leclerc would sing, "Ton Nom" in 1962, and in 1965 when Lize Marke would also share the same fate with the song, "Als het weer lente is". The country has only won the contest once in 1986 when Sandra Kim would sing, "J'aime la vie". She would be Eurovision's youngest winner. Since they first appeared in 1956, Belgium have made the top 10 on 25 occasions. The top 5 has been hit 11 times, whilst it has made the top 3 on five appearances. The introduction of the semi finals have seen Belgium qualify six times.
In the finals, Belgium have awarded most of their points to the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, and France, whilst they have received most of their points from the Netherlands, France, Ireland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.
Last year, Belgium was represented by Sennek with the song, "A Matter Of Time". Unfortunately, the song failed to qualify scoring 91 points coming 12th.
Do you like Belgium's entry this year? Do you think, "Wake Up" will qualify? Please tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
