Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983

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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
◄1982 •1983• 1984►

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

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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.
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