Belgium in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest explained

Belgium
Contest:JESC
Apps:10
Best:4th:
Current:2012

Belgium competed in every Junior Eurovision Song Contest before withdrawing in 2013. The country's best result was in, when Laura Omloop came 4th with "Zo verliefd". Belgium's worst result was in, with Trust coming 15th with "Anders".

History

Belgium are one of the sixteen countries to have made their debut at the inaugural contest, which took place on 15 November 2003 at the Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark.[1]

National selection

Two broadcasters were once responsible for the Belgium entry at Junior Eurovision - as for the Eurovision Song Contest, both Flemish broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep (VRT) and Walloon broadcaster Radio télévision belge de la communauté française (RTBF) were responsible for organising the Belgian entry for Junior Eurovision. The two broadcasters shared responsibility, with VRT organising one year, and RTBF organising the following year. In 2003 VRT organised the Belgian entry, sending X!NK to Copenhagen with "De vriendschapsband", while in, RTBF organised the Belgian entry, sending the Free Spirits to the contest in Lillehammer with "Accroche-toi".

2005 marked a change to the format, with both broadcasters organising one national final due to the contest being held in the Belgian city of Hasselt. Each broadcaster chose six songs to compete in one national final, with the final winner representing Belgium at the contest.[2] The winner was Lindsay Daenen with "Mes rêves". 2006 returned to the previous format, with VRT organising the entry. Following this RTBF decided to withdraw from Junior Eurovision due to a lack of interest for the contest in Wallonia and in RTBF.[3] This gave VRT total control of Belgium's Junior Eurovision entry.

Although VRT is a Dutch broadcaster, they have been known to include some French songs in their national finals, for example, in . However, since 2006 all Belgian entries have been in Dutch. In 2010, Belgium sent a duo for the first time since their debut. Belgium was also the first country who confirmed to participate in Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2011 and 2012.[4]

Withdrawal

On 26 March 2013, VRT announced that Belgium will withdraw from the contest in 2013 in order to launch a new show for young performs in Belgium.[5] However, they held a national final called , which was won by then 14-year-old Pieter Vreys. On 20 December 2013, Belgium's Flemish TV channel Ketnet announced that they are no longer interested in Junior Eurovision and decided not to make a comeback. On 31 December 2023, VRT stated that it had not yet made a decision as to a return to the contest in 2024, but that it would consider the possibility in the following months.[6] However, Belgium eventually opted against participation in the 2024 contest.[7]

Participation overview

YearArtistSongLanguagePlacePoints
X!NK"Dutch; Flemish: De vriendschapsband|i=unset"Dutch683
Free Spirits"French: Accroche-toi|i=unset"French1037
Lindsay"French: Mes rêves|i=unset"French1063
Thor!"Dutch; Flemish: Een tocht door het donker|i=unset"Dutch771
Trust"Dutch; Flemish: Anders|i=unset"Dutch1519
Oliver"Shut Up"Dutch1145
Laura"Dutch; Flemish: Zo verliefd|i=unset (Yodelo)"Dutch4113
Jill and Lauren"Get Up!"Dutch, English761
Femke"Dutch; Flemish: Een kusje meer|i=unset"Dutch764
"Abracadabra"Dutch572

Gallery

Commentators and spokespersons

The contests are broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website junioreurovision.tv and YouTube. In 2015, the online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov.[8] The Belgian broadcasters, VRT and RTBF, send their own commentator to each contest in order to provide commentary in Dutch and French. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Belgium. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2003.

YearFlemish commentatorWalloon commentatorSpokesperson
Ilse Van Hoecke and Bart PeetersCorinne BoulangierJudith Bussé
Ilse Van Hoecke and Marcel VanthiltJean-Louis LahayeAlexander Schönfelder
Ilse Van Hoecke and André VermeulenMax Colombie
Ilse Van Hoecke and Jelle CleymansSander Cliquet
Kristien Maes and Ben RoelantsBab Buelens
Chloé Ditlefsen
Oliver Symons
Kristien Maes and Tom De CockLaura Omloop
Jill & Lauren
Astrid Demeure and Tom De CockFemke Verschueren

See also

Notes and references

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: García. Belén.
    1. BestOfJESC – Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003
    . esc-plus.com. ESC+Plus. 26 August 2016. 7 September 2015.
  2. Web site: Junior 2005: 6 Flemish and 6 French songs in Belgian finals. Philips. Roel. 2004-11-22. ESCToday. 2009-06-10.
  3. Web site: VRT take over Belgian JESC. West-Soley. Richard. 2006-10-03. ESCToday. 2009-06-10.
  4. Web site: Schrijf je in voor Junior Eurosong 2011 | Ketnet . 2010-11-20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101122035407/http://www.ketnet.be/node/283042 . 2010-11-22 .
  5. Web site: Belgium: Belgium withdraw from Junior Eurovision. Clark. Liam. 27 March 2013. escXtra. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130329111115/http://escxtra.com/2013/03/belgium-withdraw-from-junior-eurovision/. 29 March 2013.
  6. Web site: 2023-12-31 . Bélgica: VRT podría participar en Eurovisión Junior 2024 . Belgium: VRT could participate in Junior Eurovision 2024 . 2023-12-31 . Eurofestivales . es-ES.
  7. Web site: Mancheño . José Miguel . 2024-05-18 . La VRT belga descarta participar en Eurovisión Junior 2024 . Belgian VRT rules out participation in Junior Eurovision 2024 . 2024-05-18 . ESCplus España . es.
  8. Web site: Tonight: Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015!. Fisher. Luke James. Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Bulgaria 2015. 21 November 2015. 21 November 2015.