Pas de Deux (Walter Verdin, Dett Peyskens and Hilde van Roy) 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.
Pas de Deux were one of nine acts chosen for the Belgian Eurovision selections in 1983. Initially, each act performed three songs and the best from each was chosen by a jury to go forward to the final. [1] The final took place on 19 March, when Pas de Deux's song "Rendez-vous" was chosen from the nine entrants as Belgium's representative for the 28th Eurovision Song Contest. "Rendez-vous" consisted of just one line of quasi-nonsensical lyric ("Rendez-vous, maar de maat is vol en m'n kop is toe") repeated over a quirky, rhythmic instrumental track while Peyskens and van Roy danced barefoot, and seemed to baffle the conservative audience, a large proportion of which was supporting more mainstream singers Bart Kaëll and Wim de Craene. When it became apparent during the voting that "Rendez-vous" would be the clear winner with the jury, audience bewilderment turned to anger. There were jeers, whistles and catcalls, and many walked out in disgust before "Rendez-vous" was reprised. Pas de Deux themselves appeared untroubled by the reaction, seeming to be quite amused by the furore. [2] [3]
The contest itself was held on 23 April in Munich, and "Rendez-vous" proved unsuccessful, finishing in 18th place of the 20 entries, having received points from only the UK, Spain and Portugal. [4] Despite the poor result however, "Rendez-vous" has come to be highly regarded in Eurovision circles, being seen as a prime example of a song which in terms of style and performance was too contemporary and risky to succeed with the then somewhat conservative Eurovision juries.
"Rendez-vous" reached the Belgian top 30, but a follow-up single, "Manimeme", went unnoticed and the group soon disbanded. Verdin went on to become a video artist and van Roy a television journalist, while Peyskens continued singing and acting. [5] [6]
Singles
Mini album
Corinne Hermès is a French singer. She represented Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest 1983 where she won with "Si la vie est cadeau", which brought the Grand Duchy its fifth and hitherto final victory.
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest was a television programme organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to commemorate the Eurovision Song Contest's fiftieth anniversary and to determine the contest's most popular entrant of its fifty years. Hosted by Katrina Leskanich and Renārs Kaupers, the event took place at Forum, in Copenhagen on 22 October 2005. The host was Danish broadcaster DR. Fourteen songs from the contest's first half-century, chosen through an internet poll and by a jury, contested the event.
"Si la vie est cadeau" by Jean-Pierre Millers (music) and Alain Garcia (lyrics) was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, performed in French by French singer Corinne Hermès for Luxembourg.
Tonia is a Belgian singer, best known for her participation in the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest.
Lize Marke is a Belgian singer, best known for her participation in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest.
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.
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 synthpop band Telex, with the song "Euro-Vision", at the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 19 April in The Hague. Synthpop had never previously been tried in a Eurovision final, and the choice of song and group caused much comment, particularly regarding the implied sarcasm directed towards Eurovision in the song's deliberately banal lyrics.
Belgium was represented by Tonia, with the song "Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel", at the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 5 March in Luxembourg City. Tonia was chosen internally to be the Belgian representative, and the song was chosen in the national final on 25 January.
Belgium was represented by Claude Lombard, with the song "Quand tu reviendras", at the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 6 April in London. The song was chosen at the Belgian preselection, held on 13 February. Former Belgian representative Tonia (1966) and future participant Nicole Josy also took part.
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 Bob Benny, with the song "Hou toch van mij", at the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 11 March in Cannes, France. The song was chosen at the Belgian national final on 15 February. Benny would represent Belgium again in the 1961 contest.
Belgium was represented by Fud Leclerc, with the song "Mon amour pour toi", at the 1960 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 19 March in London. The song was chosen in the Belgian national final on 24 January. This was the third of Leclerc's four appearances for Belgium at Eurovision.
France was represented by Joël Prévost, with the song "Il y aura toujours des violons", at the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 22 April in Paris following Marie Myriam's victory for France the previous year.
Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Hunter of Stars" written and performed by Sebalter, which is the artistic name of singer Sebastiano Paù-Lessi. The Swiss entry for the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark was selected through the national final Die grosse Entscheidungs Show 2014, organised by the Swiss German speaking broadcaster Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) in collaboration with the other broadcasters part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Artists that were interested in entering the Swiss national final had the opportunity to apply to one of three open selections with defined submission periods organised by SRF together with the Swiss-Romansh broadcaster Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (RTR), the Swiss-French broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) and/or the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI). A total of 18 entries were selected to advance to an "Expert Check" round; nine entries were selected from the SRF/RTR selection, six entries were selected from the RTS selection and three entries were selected from the RSI selection. The "Expert Check" was held on 30 November 2013 and involved three/four experts evaluating the live performances of the 18 entries and selecting six entries to advance to the televised national final—three artists and songs from the SRF/RTR candidates, two from the RTS candidates and one from the RSI candidates. The six finalists performed during the national final on 1 February 2014 where a combination of jury voting and public voting ultimately selected "Hunter of Stars" performed by Sebalter as the winner.
This is a list of Belgian television related events from 1983.
France participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Mercy" written by Émilie Satt and Jean-Karl Lucas. The song is performed by the French duo Madame Monsieur. The French entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal was selected through the national selection Destination Eurovision, organised by the French broadcaster France Télévisions in collaboration with the television channel France 2. The selection consisted of two semi-finals and a final. Madame Monsieur became the winner, placing third with the international juries but winning a landslide share of the vote from the French public, amassing enough points to win the competition. This was the first time France used a national final since 2014.
Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "The Wrong Place" written by Alex Callier and Charlotte Foret. The song was performed by the band Hooverphonic, which was internally selected by the Belgian broadcasters Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) and Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF) in March 2020 to represent the nation at the 2021 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands, after they were due to compete in the 2020 contest with "Release Me" before the 2020 event's cancellation. The song, "The Wrong Place", was presented to the public on 4 March 2021.
"Voilà" is a song by French singer Barbara Pravi, who co-wrote the song with Igit and Lili Poe. It was released for digital download and to streaming platforms on 6 November 2020. The song represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, placing second, after winning the pre-selection competition Eurovision France, c'est vous qui décidez! The single was certified Platinum (Global) in August 2021 and Gold (France) in April 2022. The song tells a personal story of Pravi's about self-acceptance.
France participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with "Fulenn" performed by Alvan and Ahez. The French broadcaster France Télévisions organised the national final Eurovision France, c'est vous qui décidez ! in order to select the French entry for the 2022 contest. Twelve songs competed in the national final on 5 March 2022, where the winner was selected over two rounds of voting.
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