Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song "Envie de vivre" written by Silvio Pezzuto, and performed by Nathalie Sorce. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Walloon Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF), selected its entry for the contest through the national final Finale Nationale Concours Eurovision de la Chanson 2000. In the national final on 18 February 2000 which featured ten competing entries, "Envie de vivre" performed by Nathalie Sorce was selected as the winner solely by public televoting, receiving 21,362 votes.
| Eurovision Song Contest 2000 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participating broadcaster | Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF) | |||
| Country |  Belgium | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Finale Nationale Concours Eurovision de la Chanson 2000 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 18 February 2000 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Nathalie Sorce | |||
| Selected song | "Envie de vivre" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | Silvio Pezzuto | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 24th, 2 points | |||
| Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Belgium competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 13 May 2000. Performing during the show in position 10, Belgium placed twenty-fourth (last) out of the 24 participating countries, scoring two points.
Background
editPrior to the 2000 contest, Belgium had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-two times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in 1956.[1] Since then, they have won the contest on one occasion in 1986 with the song "J'aime la vie", performed by Sandra Kim. In 1999, "Like the Wind" performed by Vanessa Chinitor placed twelfth.
The Belgian participation in the contest alternates between two broadcasters: Flemish Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) and Walloon Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF) at the time, with both broadcasters sharing the broadcasting rights. Both broadcasters –and their predecessors– had selected the Belgian entry using national finals and internal selections in the past. RTBF had the turn to participate in 2000. In 1999 and 1998, both VRT and RTBF organised a national final to select the Belgian entry. On 28 June 1999, RTBF confirmed its participation in the 2000 contest and held a national final to select its entry.[2][3]
Before Eurovision
editFinale Nationale Concours Eurovision de la Chanson 2000
editFinale Nationale Concours Eurovision de la Chanson 2000 was the national final organised by RTBF to select its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000. 145 entries were received for the competition following a submission period which was opened on 25 September 1999, from which ten acts were selected by RTBF and announced on 6 January 2000.[4][5][6] The national final was broadcast live on RTBF La Une at 20:45 CET on 18 February 2000 in the RTBF Studio 6 in Brussels, and was hosted by Jean-Pierre Hautier.[7][8] The winner, "Envie de vivre" performed by Nathalie Sorce, was selected solely by public televoting with the results being revealed by Belgium's six regions: four provinces in Wallonia with votes from Namur and Luxembourg being combined, a "Rest of Belgium" region made up of votes from Flanders, and Brussels.[9]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Televote | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria Canel | "Et si..." | Maria Canel Ferreiro, Patrice de Matos de Morais | 2,518 | 10 |
| 2 | Géraldine Cozier | "Ma voie" | Geraldine Cozier, Cécile Delamarre, Pascal Noel, Philippe Libois | 8,371 | 5 |
| 3 | Gerlando | "Rêve" | Fernando de Meersman, Hughes Maréchal | 4,002 | 9 |
| 4 | Sabrina Klinkenberg | "Tout ce que je suis" | Alexis Vanderheyden, Jacques Broun | 11,085 | 3 |
| 5 | La Teuf | "Soldat de l'amour" | Alec Mansion | 6,216 | 6 |
| 6 | Mezzo Mezzo | "Belgicanos" | Silvio Pezzuto, Michel Ianiri, Juan Gonzalez | 10,750 | 4 |
| 7 | Christel Pagnoul | "Pour la vie" | Francis Goya, Ralph Benatar, Christel Pagnoul, Valérie Weyer | 6,066 | 7 |
| 8 | Frédéric Reynaerts | "Le nomade m'a dit" | Frédéric Reynaerts | 17,774 | 2 |
| 9 | Nathalie Sorce | "Envie de vivre" | Silvio Pezzuto | 21,362 | 1 |
| 10 | Triana | "Donne" | Roberto D'Angelo, Filippo di Maira | 5,270 | 8 |
| Draw | Song | Walloon Brabant |
Hainaut | Namur and Luxembourg |
Liège | Rest of Belgium |
Brussels | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Et si..." | 163 | 63 | 142 | 68 | 48 | 2,035 | 2,518 |
| 2 | "Ma voie" | 368 | 2,042 | 2,782 | 1,072 | 228 | 1,879 | 8,371 |
| 3 | "Rêve" | 103 | 1,313 | 263 | 360 | 563 | 1,427 | 4,002 |
| 4 | "Tout ce que je suis" | 292 | 809 | 393 | 7,906 | 114 | 1,571 | 11,085 |
| 5 | "Soldat de l'amour" | 290 | 727 | 731 | 1,489 | 146 | 2,833 | 6,216 |
| 6 | "Belgicanos" | 424 | 3,962 | 848 | 1,109 | 497 | 3,910 | 10,750 |
| 7 | "Pour la vie" | 340 | 681 | 221 | 742 | 456 | 3,626 | 6,066 |
| 8 | "Le nomade m'a dit" | 956 | 2,497 | 1,988 | 3,137 | 2,225 | 6,971 | 17,774 |
| 9 | "Envie de vivre" | 910 | 8,305 | 2,243 | 3,360 | 950 | 5,594 | 21,362 |
| 10 | "Donne" | 91 | 629 | 211 | 3,361 | 47 | 931 | 5,270 |
Controversy
editAfter the final, there was initially some degree of uncertainty about the disproportionately high number of votes to Sabrina Klinkenberg from the province of Liège, but RTBF subsequently confirmed that it was correct, citing the fact that Klinkenberg was a native of that province as the most probable explanation, and pointing out that Sorce had also received an exceptionally high number of votes from her home province of Hainaut.
At Eurovision
edit
The Eurovision Song Contest 2000 took place at the Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, on 13 May 2000.[10] According to the Eurovision rules, the 24-country participant list for the contest was composed of: the winning country from the previous year's contest; the 18 countries, other than the previous year's winner, which had obtained the highest average number of points over the last five contests; and any countries which had not participated in the previous year's content. Belgium was one of the 18 countries with the highest average scores, and thus were permitted to participate.[11] On 21 November 1999, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Belgium was set to perform in position 10, following the entry from Russia and before the entry from Cyprus.[12]
A somewhat shrill and at times off-key vocal performance, combined with a much-criticised choice of outfit, contributed towards an ignominious result, with only 2 points received, placing Belgium last of the 24 entrants, the eighth time that Belgium had finished at the foot of the Eurovision scoreboard.[13]
The contest was broadcast in Belgium by both the Flemish and Walloon broadcasters. VRT broadcast the show on TV1 with commentary in Dutch by André Vermeulen and Anja Daems.[14][15] RTBF televised the show on La Une with commentary in French by Jean-Pierre Hautier.[16] RTBF appointed Thomas Van Hamme as its spokesperson to announce the results of the Belgian televote during the broadcast.
Voting
editBelow is a breakdown of points awarded to and by Belgium in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Latvia in the contest.[17]
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References
edit- ^ "Belgium Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
- ^ "EN VUE La Belgique à l'Eurovision 2000". Le Soir (in French). 1 July 1999. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- ^ ESC National Finals database 2000
- ^ "EUROVISION Appel aux candidatures". Le Soir (in French). 25 September 1999. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
- ^ "WATERLOO Concours Eurovision de la chanson Frank Bechelmilh et Francis Goya en finale avec Christel Pagnoul". Le Soir (in French). 11 February 2000. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- ^ "Onbekend talent in Waalse preselectie Songfestival". Gazet van Antwerpen (in Flemish). 5 January 2000. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
- ^ "Petra is backing vocal in Belgische finale voor Eurovisie Songfestival". Het Belang van Limburg (in Flemish). 17 February 2000. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
- ^ "RTBF 1". Revue. 9 February 2000. p. 148.
- ^ Chris, Vandenabeele (28 August 2007). "The Belgian Preselection 2000". Belgian Eurovision Union. Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
- ^ "Stockholm 2000–Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
- ^ "Rules of the 45th Eurovision Song Contest, 2000" (PDF). European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2000 Details". Myledbury.co.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ "Final of Stockholm 2000". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "Televisie Zaterdag". Leidsch Dagblad. 13 May 2000. p. 32. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
- ^ Moors, Karel (12 May 2000). "Anja Daems en André Vermeulen presenteren Songfestival". Gazet van Antwerpen (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
- ^ Legrand, Dominique (13 May 2000). "Envie de vivre l'Eurovision?". Le Soir (in French). Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022. (subscription required)
- ^ ESC History – Belgium 2000
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of Stockholm 2000". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.