Belgium has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 65 times since making its debut as one of seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The only countries with more appearances are Germany (67), France (66) and the United Kingdom (66). 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, shortened to RTBF, is a public service broadcaster for the French-speaking Community of Belgium. Its counterpart in the Flemish Community is the Dutch-language VRT, and in the German-speaking Community it is BRF.
The Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie, shortened to VRT, is one of the national public service broadcasters for the Flemish Community of Belgium. Its counterpart in the French Community is the French-language RTBF, and in the German-speaking Community it is BRF.
VRT 1 is a public Dutch-language TV station in Belgium, owned by the VRT, which also owns Ketnet, VRT Canvas and several radio stations. Although the channel is commercial-free, short sponsorship messages are broadcast in between some programmes.
Channel 2 or TV 2 may refer to:
BVN, is a Dutch free-to-air television channel providing Dutch public television to viewers around the world. It is a service of the public broadcasting company of the Netherlands, Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO).
Belgium competed in every Junior Eurovision Song Contest before withdrawing in 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".
VRT Canvas is a Belgian television channel of the Flemish public broadcasting organisation Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT). Specialising in both original and adaptations from western Europe and North America, the channel offers: in-depth news and current affairs, non-mainstream entertainment, documentaries, arthouse films, other cultural programming, and most recently additional children's programming.
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 6 am until 8 pm.
Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "1 Life", composed by Marc Paelinck, with lyrics by Dirk Paelinck, and performed by Xandee. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Flemish Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT), selected its entry for the contest through the national final Eurosong '04. The competition featured twenty-eight competing entries and consisted of five shows. In the final on 15 February 2004, "1 Life" performed by Xandee was selected as the winner via the votes of five voting groups.
Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created in 1995 on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Two parallel sets of charts are concurrently produced and published; one is on behalf of Belgium's mainly Dutch-speaking Flanders region, and the other catering to the nation's mainly French-speaking region of Wallonia.
Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Love Power" written by Paul Curtiz and Wakas Ashiq. The song was performed by the band The KMG's, which was internally selected by the Walloon broadcaster Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF) in February 2007 to represent the nation at the 2007 contest in Helsinki, Finland. The song, "Love Power", was released on 23 February 2007 and officially presented to the public on 26 February 2007. This was the first time that a Walloon entry was performed in English at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 with the song "Like the Wind", written by Ilia Beyers, John Terra, Emma Philippa-Hjälmås and Wim Claes, and performed by Vanessa Chinitor. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Flemish Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT), selected its entry for the contest through the national final Eurosong '99. The competition featured twenty-five competing entries and consisted of three shows. In the final on 28 February 1999, "Like the Wind" performed by Vanessa Chinitor was selected as the winner via the votes of three televoting groups and two jury groups.
Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "Sanomi", written by Yves Barbieux, and performed by the group Urban Trad. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Walloon Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF), internally selected in December 2002 its entry for the contest. The song, "Sanomi", was presented to the public on 31 March 2003. This was the first-ever entry performed in a constructed language in 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.
Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Would You?" written by Nina Sampermans, Jean Bosco Safari and Walter Mannaerts. The song was performed by Iris, who was internally selected by the Flemish broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) in November 2011 to represent the nation at the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. The song was selected through the national final Eurosong 2012: Een song voor Iris, which was organised by VRT and featured two songs. In the final on 17 March 2012, "Would You?" was selected as the winning song after gaining 53% of the public televote.
Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "A Matter of Time" written by Laura Groeseneken, Alex Callier and Maxime Tribeche. The song was performed by Sennek, which is the artistic name of singer Laura Groeseneken who was internally selected by the Flemish broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) in September 2017 to represent the nation at the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. The song, "A Matter of Time", was presented to the public on 5 March 2018.
Belgium originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Release Me" written by Alex Callier and Luca Chiaravalli. The song was performed by the band Hooverphonic, which was internally selected by the Flemish broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) in October 2019 to represent the nation at the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The song, "Release Me", was presented to the public on 17 February 2020.
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 broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) 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.
Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song "Because of You", written by Stef Caers and Jaouad Alloul, and performed by Caers himself under his stage name Gustaph. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Flemish Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT), organised the national final Eurosong 2023 to select the Belgian entry for the contest. 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.
