Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Country	Belgium
National selection
Selection process	Eurosong '06
Selection date(s)	Heats 8 January 2006 15 February 2006 22 January 2006 29 January 2006 Semifinals 5 February 2006 12 February 2006 Final 19 February 2006
Selected entrant	Kate Ryan
Selected song	"Je t'adore"
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (12th, 69 points)
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2005 • 2006 • 2007►

Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, Greece. The Belgian entry was selected through a national selection, Eurosong '06, organised by the Belgian broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT). Kate Ryan represented Belgium with the song "Je t'adore", which failed to qualify from the competition's semi-final, placing 12th and scoring 69 points.^[1]

Eurosong '06

Eurosong '06 Logo

Eurosong '06 was the Belgian national final for choosing the Belgian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006.

The selection process involved the staging of seven shows; the final on February 19, plus four quarter finals and two semi finals held during January and early February 2006. All shows were hosted by Bart Peeters at VRT TV Studios in Schelle. Each qualifying heat contained seven songs and the top three from each heat proceeded to one of the two semi finals. After the quarter finals, the jury chose two wildcards - one for each of the semi finals - bringing the total amount of songs in each semi final to seven. The top three of each semi final proceeded to the final and the jury selected one wildcard to bring the total in the final to seven. In the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, the juries accounted for 66% of the votes while the televote accounted for 33%. In the final, the juries accounted for 40% of the vote, the international juries accounted for 30% of the vote and the televote accounted for the remaining 40%. The songs were judged by a professional jury (consisting of Yasmine, Marcel Vanthilt, André Vermeulen and twice Eurovision winner Johnny Logan), Radio 2, Radio Donna, Press Jury and televoters. Three European juries were implemented in the final.

Two former Eurovision Song Contest participants competed in the selection: Vanessa Chinitor (1999) and Barbara Dex (1993).

Kate Ryan won the national final after being a top three favourite with all eight juries, and being the top favourite amongst the televoters and two of the international juries. The winning composition, "Je t'adore" - with a French title but English lyrics - was written by Kate herself and three Swedish composers; Niklas Bergwall, Niclas Kings and Lisa Greene.

Quarter-finals

Quarter-final 1

• Sonny O'Brien was later chosen as one of the two wild cards for the semi finals by the professional jury.

Quarter-final 2

• Els de Schepper was later chosen as one of the two wild cards for the semi finals by the professional jury.

Quarter-final 3

Quarter-final 4

Semi-finals

Semi-final 1

Semi-final 2

• The day after the last semi final, Brahim was chosen to be the professional jury wild card in the Belgian final.

Final

• In the final, there were implemented three international juries - one German, one Israeli and one Polish - in addition to the already existing juries and the televoters.
• Each international jury consisted of eight - 8 - members, four random viewers and four music experts. They will watch the show from their native countries where it will be streamed live for them.
• The division of powers between the different juries were like this; 40% for national juries, 30% for international juries and 30% for televoters.
• The decision for broadcaster VRT to choose these three countries to represent the European audience was based on a study they asked two independent professors in statistics to do, on which countries gave the points most close to the actual results in the last few Eurovision Song Contests.

Promotion

Flemish Minister of Culture Bert Anciaux gave a subsidy of 60000 euros in order to promote Kate Ryan and her song in the other participating countries of the year's contest. The money was used to pay for a promotional tour throughout these countries. The subsidy itself has been harshly criticized in the Flemish press.

At Eurovision

Belgium competed in the semi-final of the 2006 Contest on 18 May 2006 performing 7th, following Albania and preceding Ireland. Belgium failed to qualify to the final, placing 12th in the semi-final and scoring 69 points.^[2]

The Belgian voting spokesperson, Yasmine, held up a placard with the words "We Love Kate Ryan" during the final.

Points Awarded to Belgium

Points Awarded by Belgium

Semi-final Points awarded in semi-final:[2] 12 points  Armenia 10 points  Finland 8 points  Turkey 7 points  Lithuania 6 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina 5 points  Sweden 4 points  Netherlands 3 points  Ireland 2 points  Russia 1 point  Poland

Final Points awarded in the final:[1] 12 points  Armenia 10 points  Greece 8 points  Finland 7 points  Turkey 6 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina 5 points  Sweden 4 points  Lithuania 3 points  Russia 2 points  Romania 1 point  Germany

See also

Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest

References

Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest   Participation 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016   Artists 1950s Fud Leclerc Mony Marc Bobbejaan Schoepen Fud Leclerc Bob Benny 1960s Fud Leclerc Bob Benny Fud Leclerc Jacques Raymond Robert Cogoi Lize Marke Tonia Louis Neefs Claude Lombard Louis Neefs 1970s Jean Vallée Lily Castel & Jacques Raymond Serge & Christine Ghisoland Nicole & Hugo Jacques Hustin Ann Christy Pierre Rapsat Dream Express Jean Vallée Micha Marah 1980s Telex Emly Starr Stella Pas de Deux Jacques Zegers Linda Lepomme Sandra Kim Liliane Saint-Pierre Reynaert Ingeborg 1990s Philippe Lafontaine Clouseau Morgane Barbara Dex 1994 Frédéric Etherlinck Lisa del Bo 1997 Mélanie Cohl Vanessa Chinitor 2000s Nathalie Sorce 2001 Sergio & The Ladies Urban Trad Xandee Nuno Resende Kate Ryan The KMG's Ishtar Patrick Ouchène 2010s Tom Dice Witloof Bay Iris Roberto Bellarosa Axel Hirsoux Loïc Nottet Laura Tesoro   Songs 1950s "Messieurs les noyés de la Seine" "Le plus beau jour de ma vie" "Straatdeuntje" "Ma petite chatte" "Hou toch van mij" 1960s "Mon amour pour toi" "September, gouden roos" "Ton nom" "Waarom?" "Près de ma rivière" "Als het weer lente is" "Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel" "Ik heb zorgen" "Quand tu reviendras" "Jennifer Jennings" 1970s "Viens l'oublier" "Goeiemorgen, morgen" "À la folie ou pas du tout" "Baby, Baby" "Fleur de liberté" "Gelukkig zijn" "Judy et Cie" "A Million in One, Two, Three" "L'amour ça fait chanter la vie" "Hey Nana" 1980s "Euro-Vision" "Samson" "Si tu aimes ma musique" "Rendez-vous" "Avanti la vie" "Laat me nu gaan" "J'aime la vie" "Soldiers of Love" "Laissez briller le soleil" "Door de wind" 1990s "Macédomienne" "Geef het op" "Nous, on veut des violons" "Iemand als jij" 1994 "La voix est libre" "Liefde is een kaartspel" 1997 "Dis oui" "Like The Wind" 2000s "Envie de vivre" 2001 "Sister" "Sanomi" "1 Life" "Le grand soir" "Je t'adore" "Love Power" "O Julissi" "Copycat" 2010s "Me and My Guitar" "With Love Baby" "Would You?" "Love Kills" "Mother" "Rhythm Inside" "What's the Pressure" (Note: Entries scored out are when Belgium did not compete)