Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996
| Eurovision Song Contest 1996 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |
.svg.png){kind=small} Belgium | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | De gouden zeemeermin | |||
| Selection date(s) |
3, 10, 17 & 24 February 1996 9 March 1996 | |||
| Selected entrant | Lisa del Bo | |||
| Selected song | "Liefde is een kaartspel" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 16th, 22 points | |||
| Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Belgium was represented by Lisa del Bo, with the song '"Liefde is een kaartspel", at the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Oslo on 18 May. 40 songs took part in the Belgian preselection, which consisted of four semi-finals in February, followed by the final on 9 March. All the shows took place at the Knokke Casino with hosts Michel Follet and Alexandra Potvin.
Semi-finals
Four semi-finals were held in February 1996 to select the 12 finalists for the Belgian final. 10 songs competed in each semi-final, with the top 3 songs, selected by a 7-member expert jury, progressing to the final. Each jury member awarded points on the Eurovision 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-10-12 scale to each song, although they could give any mark they wished to each song (i.e. they could award 12 points to more than one song if they chose).
Semi-final 1
† The tie for third place was broken by each judge naming their preferred song, with 5 choosing Garry Hagger against 2 choosing Chris |
Semi-final 2
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Semi-final 3
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Semi-final 4
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Final
The national final was held on 9 March with 12 songs competing. This time voting was done by ranking the songs, and consisted of a mixture of a professional jury (50%), a press jury (25%) and five regional juries (5% each). Despite having finished second to Enzo in her semi-final, del Bo emerged the clear winner having been ranked first by all but the press jury. The top three songs had all come from the third semi-final.[1]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lisa del Bo | "Liefde is een kaartspel" | 216 | 1 |
| 2 | Patrick Alessi | "Een andere wereld" | 73 | 11 |
| 3 | Chelsy | "Kijk me aan" | 128 | 8 |
| 4 | William Reven | "Zo voel ik vandaag" | 119 | 9 |
| 5 | Nadia | "Morgen komt de lente" | 135 | 7 |
| 6 | Peter van Laet | "Er is iets" | 143 | 4 |
| 7 | Sabine Tiels | "Nooit meer alleen" | 139 | 6 |
| 8 | Doran | "Jij alleen" | 37 | 12 |
| 9 | Garry Hagger | "Dat ik van je hou" | 141 | 5 |
| 10 | Splinter | "Ik laat je nooit meer gaan" | 189 | 2 |
| 11 | Enzo | "Mooi" | 151 | 3 |
| 12 | Mario Caselli | "Mademoiselle" | 90 | 10 |
| Song | Antwerp | Limburg | East Flanders |
Flemish Brabant |
West Flanders |
Press jury |
Professional Jury |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liefde is een kaartspel | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 35 | 120 | 215 |
| Een andere wereld | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 40 | 20 | 73 |
| Kijk me aan | 8 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 90 | 128 |
| Zo voel ik vandaag | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 50 | 60 | 119 |
| Morgen komt de lente | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 25 | 80 | 135 |
| Er is iets | 10 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 55 | 40 | 143 |
| Nooit meer alleen | 4 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 100 | 139 |
| Jij alleen | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 37 |
| Dat ik van je hou | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 45 | 70 | 141 |
| Ik laat je nooit meer gaan | 11 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 30 | 110 | 189 |
| Mooi | 9 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 60 | 50 | 151 |
| Mademoiselle | 7 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 30 | 90 |
At Eurovision
In 1996, for the only time in Eurovision history, an audio-only pre-qualifying round of the 29 songs entered (excluding hosts Norway who were exempt) was held in March in order for the seven lowest-scoring songs to be eliminated before the final. "Liefde is een kartspel" placed 12th, thus qualifying for the final.
On the night of the final del Bo performed 16th in the running order, following the Netherlands and preceding the eventual winner Ireland. At the close of the voting "Liefde is een kaartspel" placed 16th of the 23 entries, having received 22 points. Oddly, 17 of its points came from two of the first three countries to vote: the maximum 12 from Spain and 5 from the United Kingdom. The result was not good enough to prevent Belgium from being relegated from the 1997 contest on the cumulative countback rule. The Belgian jury awarded its 12 points to the United Kingdom.[2]
"Liefde is een kaartspel" later became embroiled in controversy when it was alleged that it had been plagiarised by Sweden's 2001 Eurovision entry "Listen To Your Heartbeat". This was initially denied by the writers of the Swedish song, but Belgian songwriters' association SABAM threatened legal action, and a cash settlement was agreed to forestall this.[3]
Voting
Points awarded to Belgium
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
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Points Awarded by Belgium
| 12 points |  United Kingdom |
| 10 points |  Sweden |
| 8 points |  Norway |
| 7 points |  France |
| 6 points |  Portugal |
| 5 points |  Turkey |
| 4 points |  Croatia |
| 3 points |  Ireland |
| 2 points |  Switzerland |
| 1 point |  Netherlands |
See also
External links
References
- ↑ ESC National Finals database 1996
- ↑ ESC History - Belgium 1996
- ↑ "Sweden's entry 2001 now officially plagiarism" ESCToday.com, 9 August 2003