Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983

Last updated

Eurovision Song Contest 1983
CountryFlag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium
National selection
Selection processEurosong
Selection date(s)Semi-finals
19 February 1983
26 February 1983
5 March 1983
Final
19 March 1983
Selected entrant Pas de Deux
Selected song"Rendez-vous"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Walter Verdin
  • Paul Peyskens
Finals performance
Final result18th, 13 points
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄198219831984►

Belgium was represented by Pas de Deux, with the song "Rendez-vous", at the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Munich on 30 April. The 1983 preselection has gone down as the most controversial in Belgian Eurovision history due to the extreme hostility shown by the audience towards Pas de Deux's victory.

Contents

Before Eurovision

Eurosong

The selection consisted of three semi-finals, followed by the final on 19 March 1983. All the shows took place at the Amerikaans Theater  [ nl ] in Brussels and were hosted by Luc Appermont. Each show had live music from the BRT Big Band conducted by Freddy Sunder, and each artist had the option to use backing vocals provided by Bob Baelemans, Fred Beekmans, Luc Smets, and Linda Williams. [1]

Competing entries

The BRT selected nine artists for Eurosong 1983. Three women, three men, and three groups, with one from each category being an unknown artist, a known artist, and an artist with a unique style. However, it is unknown which of the artists fit into those groups, especially since all three groups were fairly unknown in Belgium at the time. Each of the nine artists competed with three songs. [1]

ArtistSongSongwriter(s)
Bart Kaëll "Primaballerina"Tony Kolenberg, Guy Grammant
"Stop"Tony Kolenberg, Guy Grammant
"Symfonie"Tony Kolenberg, Guy Grammant
Espresso"Het regent"Marc De Coninck, René Van Wijck
"Love"Marc De Coninck, René Van Wijck
"Rij je mee"Marc De Coninck, René Van Wijck
Gene Summer"Verliefd op twee"Fred Beekmans
"Vlaanderen"Gyuri Spies, Henk van Montfoort
"Zonder wikken en wegen"Bob Baelemans, Luc Smets
Marina Marcia"Goodbye"Tony Kolenberg, Guy Grammant
"Love, Liebe"Tony Kolenberg, Guy Grammant
"Tic tac"Tony Kolenberg, Guy Grammant
Pas de Deux "Cello"William Overloop, Walter Verdin, Dett Peyskens
"Hartedief (Cardiocleptomanie)"Frank Michiels, Walter Verdin, Dett Peyskens
"Rendez-vous"Walter Verdin, Paul Peyskens
Sofie"Ik wil enkel van je houden"Gus Roan
"Met zondagochtend"Fred Beekmans
"Nummer één"Fred Beekmans
Venus"Addio, addio"Gus Roan
"Boemerang"Fred Beekmans
"Bye, Bye, Scoubidou"Willy Van Couwenberghe
Wim De Craene "Gisteren"Wim De Craene
"Het exuberante leven van Leentje De Vries"Wim De Craene
"Kristien"Wim De Craene
Yvette Ravel"Als je droomt van liefde" Luc Smets, Yvette Ravel
"Herinneringen"Jacques Ran, Yvette Ravel
"Niemand weet"Muys, Yvette Ravel

Semi-finals

Three semi-finals were held to select the nine songs for the Belgian final. One semi-final was each dedicated to the male singers, female singers and groups. Each act performed their three candidate songs and an expert jury consisting of people from the BRT Light Music Service chose the best song from each act to go forward to the final. [1] [2]

Semi-final 1 – Eurosong Dames – 19 February 1983
DrawArtistSongResult
1Yvette Ravel"Als je droomt van liefde"Advanced
2Marina Marcia"Love, Liebe"Eliminated
3Sofie"Met zondagochtend"Eliminated
4Yvette Ravel"Herinneringen"Eliminated
5Yvette Ravel"Niemand weet"Eliminated
6Marina Marcia"Goodbye"Eliminated
7Marina Marcia"Tic tac"Advanced
8Sofie"Nummer één"Advanced
9Sofie"Ik wil enkel van je houden"Eliminated
Semi-final 2 – Eurosong Heren – 26 February 1983
DrawArtistSongPlace
1Gene Summer"Verliefd op twee"Eliminated
2 Bart Kaëll "Stop"Eliminated
3 Wim De Craene "Gisteren"Eliminated
4Gene Summer"Vlaanderen"Eliminated
5Gene Summer"Zonder wikken en wegen"Advanced
6Bart Kaëll"Symfonie"Advanced
7Bart Kaëll"Primaballerina"Eliminated
8Wim De Craene"Kristien"Advanced
9Wim De Craene"Het exuberante leven van Leentje De Vries"Eliminated
Semi-final 3 – Eurosong Groepen – 5 March 1983
DrawArtistSongPlace
1Venus"Addio, addio"Eliminated
2Espresso"Rij je mee"Eliminated
3 Pas de Deux "Hartedief (Cardiocleptomanie)"Eliminated
4Venus"Bye, Bye, Scoubidou"Advanced
5Venus"Boemerang"Eliminated
6Espresso"Het regent"Eliminated
7Espresso"Love"Advanced
8Pas de Deux"Rendez-vous"Advanced
9Pas de Deux"Cello"Eliminated

Final

The national final was held on 19 March 1983 with nine songs competing. Voting was done by an 8-member jury of people from BRT, who each ranked their top four songs and awarded them 10, 7, 5 and 1 point(s). The jury was chaired by Tania Humblet and consisted of: Rita Goossens, Claude Blondeel, Paul De Wijngaart, Jan Schoukens, Johannes Thuy, Roel Van Bambost, Mike Verdrengh, and Zaki. Pas de Deux were the runaway winners, being placed first by six of the eight jury members. [1] [3]

Final – 19 March 1983
DrawArtistSongPointsPlace
1Venus"Bye, Bye, Scoubidou"17=
2Gene Summer"Zonder wikken en wegen"26
3Yvette Ravel"Als je droomt van liefde"65
4Espresso"Love"17=
5Marina Marcia"Tic tac"17=
6 Bart Kaëll "Symfonie"324
7 Pas de Deux "Rendez-vous"671
8Sofie"Nummer één"402
9 Wim De Craene "Kristien"343

Controversy

Before the jury had even started voting, they were disappointed by the quality of the songs and had even considered refusing to pick a winner. It is rumoured that they purposefully voted for "Rendez-vous", a very minimalistic song, in protest. When the votes were starting to be announced, the audience in the theatre appeared to be rooting for a Bart Kaëll win, and as it became obvious midway through the voting that Pas de Deux were heading for a clear victory, pandemonium ensued, with each voting announcement being greeted with jeers, whistles and catcalls. Many walked out in disgust before the end of the transmission and Pas de Deux (who seemed to find the audience reaction amusing rather than upsetting) reprised their winning song to a half-empty house, having to compete against a chorus of jeers and booing. The jury members retreated to the bar in the Amerikaans Theater to hide from any aggressive Bart Kaëll fans. [1] [4]

The results of the national final also caused some uproar across Flanders. Several readers' letters appear in newspapers and magazines, along with their own articles, complain about the results of the national final. Some say that the jury are 'deaf' or 'left-wing alternatives', or that Pas De Deux are 'fake Flemish who speak French at home'. The singer Sofie was also upset by the results of Eurosong 1983 as she was tipped to win and was upset that the jury would choose to vote for a song out of protest when she really wanted to go to the Eurovision Song Contest. The BRT 2 radio channel also boycotts Pas De Deux. [1]

The issue even got brought up in the Flemish Parliament. Jan Caudron, a member of the People's Union party, questioned the minister of culture, Karel Poma, on why Flanders is being represented by a band with a French name and a song with a French title. Poma responds by saying that 'Pas De Deux' is a technical term in choreography, and that 'Rendez-vous' is a loanword used in Dutch and several other languages. [1]

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Pas de Deux performed 19th in the running order, following Austria and preceding the eventual winner Luxembourg. At the close of the voting "Rendez-vous" had received only 13 votes (8 from Spain, 4 from the United Kingdom and 1 from Portugal), placing Belgium 18th of the 20 entries, ahead only of the nul-points Spanish and Turkish entries. The Belgian jury awarded its 12 points to Yugoslavia. [5]

Voting

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pas de Deux (band)</span> Belgian band

Pas de Deux were a Belgian band, best known for their participation in the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest, and the controversy surrounding their selection as that year's Belgian representatives. The band was formed by Verdin in Leuven in 1982.

Belgium was represented by Ingeborg, with the song "Door de wind", at the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Lausanne, Switzerland on 6 May. Ingeborg was the winner of the Belgian national final for the contest, held in Brussels on 18 March.

Belgium was represented by Liliane Saint-Pierre, with the song "Soldiers of Love", at the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 9 may in Brussels, following Sandra Kim's victory for Belgium the previous year. Saint-Pierre was the winner of the Belgian national final for the contest, held on 14 March.

Belgium was represented by Lisa del Bo with the song "Liefde is een kaartspel" at the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest.

Belgium was represented by the band Clouseau, with the song "Geef het op", at the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Rome on 4 May.

Belgium was represented by Nicole and Hugo, with the song "Baby, Baby", at the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Luxembourg City on 7 April. "Baby, Baby" was the winner of the Belgian national final for the contest, held at the Amerikaans Theater in Brussels on 25 February. Nicole and Hugo had won the 1971 Belgian preselection with the song "Goeiemorgen, morgen", but days before the contest Nicole had fallen ill and was unable to travel to host city Dublin, so Jacques Raymond and Lily Castel had been drafted in as last-minute replacements.

Belgium was represented by Dream Express, with the song "A Million in One, Two, Three", at the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in London on 7 May.

Belgium was represented by Ann Christy, with the song "Gelukkig zijn", at the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 22 March in Stockholm. Christy was the winner of the Belgian national final for the contest, held on 1 March; she had previously taken part in the Belgian preselections of 1970, 1971 and 1973. Future Belgian representatives Micha Marah (1979) and Dream Express (1977) also took part.

Belgium was represented by the song "Hey Nana", performed by Micha Marah at the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Jerusalem on 31 March.

Belgium was represented by Emly Starr, with the song "Samson", at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Dublin on 4 April.

Belgium was represented by Jacques Raymond and Lily Castel, with the song "Goeiemorgen, morgen", at the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 April in Dublin. Raymond and Castel had not taken part in the original Belgian final, which was won with Nicole and Hugo performing the song.

Belgium was represented by Louis Neefs, with the song "Jennifer Jennings", at the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 29 March in Madrid. Neefs was chosen internally to be the Belgian representative, and the song was chosen in the national final on 22 February. Neefs had previously represented Belgium in the 1967 contest in Vienna.

Belgium was represented by Jacques Raymond, with the song "Waarom?", at the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 23 March in London. The song was chosen in the national final on 16 February. Raymond had previously finished second in the Belgian final in 1961, and would later represent the country in a duet with Lily Castel in 1971.

Belgium was represented by Lize Marke, with the song "Als het weer lente is", at the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 20 March in Naples. Marke was chosen internally to be the Belgian representative, and the song was chosen in the national final on 13 February. Marke had previously finished second in the Belgian preselection in 1963.

Belgium was represented by Louis Neefs, with the song "Ik heb zorgen", at the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 8 April in Vienna. "Ik heb zorgen" was chosen at the Belgian national final on 25 February. Neefs would represent Belgium again in 1969.

Belgium was represented by Bob Benny, with the song "September, gouden roos", at the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 18 March in Cannes, France. The song was chosen in the national final on 29 February. Benny had previously represented Belgium in the 1959 contest. Future Belgian entrant Jacques Raymond finished runner-up in the final.

Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "With Love Baby" written by RoxorLoops and Benoît Giaux. The song was performed by the group Witloof Bay. The Belgian entry for the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany was selected through the national final Eurovision 2011: Qui? A vous de choisir!, organised by the Walloon broadcaster Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF). The competition featured thirty competing entries and consisted of two shows. In the final on 30 January 2011, "With Love Baby" performed by Witloof Bay was selected as the winner via the votes of a four-member jury panel and a public televote.

Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Mother" written by Ashley Hicklin and Rafael Artesero. The song was performed by Axel Hirsoux. The Belgian entry for the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark was selected through the national final Eurosong 2014, organised by the Flemish broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT). The competition featured thirty competing acts and consisted of seven shows. In the final on 16 March 2014, "Mother" performed by Axel Hirsoux was selected as the winner via the votes of seven international jury groups and a public televote.

This is a list of Belgian television related events from 1983.

Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with the song "Because of You" performed by Gustaph. The Belgian entry for the 2023 contest was selected through the national final Eurosong 2023, organised by the Flemish broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT). The competition featured seven competing acts and consisted of five songclub shows and a final. In the final on 14 January 2023, "Because of You" performed by Gustaph was selected as the winner via the votes of a fifteen-member jury panel and a public vote.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Vermeulen, André (2021). Van Canzonissima tot Eurosong. 65 jaar Belgische preselecties voor het Eurovisiesongfestival. Leuven: Kritak. ISBN   978-94-014-7609-6. OCLC   1240241113.
  2. ESC National Finals database - Belgium 1983 semi-finals
  3. ESC National Finals database - Belgium 1983 final
  4. Mister eurovisionfan (18 January 2023). euroSong 1983 (Belgian Eurovision-final 1983) . Retrieved 29 July 2024 via YouTube.
  5. ESC History - Belgium 1983
  6. 1 2 "Results of the Final of Munich 1983". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.