Bobbejaan Schoepen was a Flemish pioneer in Belgian pop music, vaudeville, and European country music. Schoepen was a versatile entertainer, entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, guitarist, comedian, actor, and professional whistler, as well as the founder and former director of the amusement park Bobbejaanland. His musical career flourished from 1948 until the first half of the 1970s. He sold more than five million copies from his repertoire of 482 songs, which extended from Twang, cabaret, instrumental film music, chansons, country, to folk and vocal music. Born in Boom, Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium, he worked his way up from a working-class environment to become one of the 200 richest people in Belgium.
Belgium has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 63 times since making its debut as one of seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The only countries with more appearances are Germany (65), France (64) and the United Kingdom (64). Belgium have been absent only three times in total, in 1994, 1997 and 2001, due to low scores in the previous contests that relegated them from the contest. Belgium has won the contest once, in 1986.
The Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française is a public service broadcaster delivering radio and television services to the French-speaking Community of Belgium, in Wallonia and Brussels. Its counterpart in the Flemish Community is the Dutch-language VRT, and in the German-speaking Community it is BRF.
The VRT, is the national public-service broadcaster for the Flemish Community of Belgium.
Eén is a public Dutch-language TV station in Belgium, owned by the VRT, which also owns Ketnet, Canvas and several radio stations. Although the channel is commercial-free, short sponsorship messages are broadcast in between some programmes.
Studio Brussel is a Dutch-speaking radio station in Belgium, owned by the VRT. The music played is considered more alternative than the other big radio stations, and is aimed mainly at a youth audience. The channel is an initiative of the Flemish Government and is financed principally by taxes.
Belgium competed in every Junior Eurovision Song Contest before withdrawing 2013. The country's best result was in 2009, when Laura Omloop came 4th with "Zo verliefd". Belgium's worst result was in 2007, with Trust coming 15th with "Anders".
Ketnet is a Dutch-language public children's television channel in Belgium owned and operated by the VRT, Flemish public broadcaster. It broadcasts a mix of locally produced and imported productions on the VRT3 channel from 6am until 8pm.
Proximus TV, subsidiary of the Belgacom Group, provides Digital TV (IPTV) services over its own IPTV Platform in Belgium. It was launched in the summer of 2005.
Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "Sister" written by Dirk Paelinck and Marc Paelinck. The song was performed by the group Sergio and the Ladies. The Belgian entry for the 2002 contest in Tallinn, Estonia was selected through the national final Eurosong 2002, organised by the Flemish broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT). VRT returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after a one-year absence following their relegation from 2001 as one of the bottom six countries in the 2000 contest. The competition featured twenty-eight competing entries and consisted of five shows. In the final on 17 February 2002, "Sister" performed by Sergio @ the Ladies was selected as the winner via the votes of five voting groups. The group was renamed as Sergio and the Ladies for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Television in Belgium was introduced in 1953 and began with one channel each in Dutch and French. The country is heavily cabled, with 93% of households watching television through cable as of 2003.
Radio 1 is a Belgian radio channel operated by the Flemish public broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep (VRT).
Radio 2 is a Belgian radio channel operated by the Flemish public broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep (VRT).
The following is a list of the MTV Europe Music Award winners and nominees for Best Belgian Act.
The mass media in Belgium is characterized by its diversity due to the linguistic divide in the country.
Bent Van Looy is a Belgian-Flemish musician, singer and songwriter. He has been the frontman and singer for Das Pop, the Belgian band he founded in Ghent in 1994 together with schoolfriends Reinhard Vanbergen, Niek Meul and Lieven Moors. He was also the drummer of Soulwax, a project of the Dewaele brothers. Van Looy recorded solo albums, presented on TV and radio, and is a painter.
Phaedra is a CD label whose aim it is "to publish works written between 1830 and the present by Flemish composers, and to promote them world-wide". The label used to be a subdivision of "Klassieke Concerten vzw" and was therefore not a commercial undertaking: as it was a subdivision of a "vzw", an association without lucrative purpose, Belgian law forbade it to make a profit.
This article covers the radio landscape in Flanders and Brussels, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium known as the Flemish Community.
Vlaams-Brusselse Media, branded as BRUZZ is a media company which serves the Flemish Community in Brussels. Its counterpart to the French-speaking Community in Brussels is BX1. It is headquartered at Radio House in Ixelles.
Sofie Vanden Eynde is a Belgian lutenist and member of the music groups Imago Mundi and Murmuring Muses and Whispering Jinn.
