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Belgium in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

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Belgium in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Belgium
Participating broadcaster
Participation summary
Appearances10
First appearance2003
Last appearance2012
Highest placement4th: 2009
Host2005
Participation history
External links
Belgium's page at JuniorEurovision.tv Edit this at Wikidata
For the most recent participation see
Belgium in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2012

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".

History

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Belgium are one of the sixteen countries to have made their debut at the inaugural 2003 contest, which took place on 15 November 2003 at the Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark.[1]

National selection

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Two broadcasters were once responsible for the Belgium entry at Junior Eurovision - as for the Eurovision Song Contest, both Flemish broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep (VRT) and Walloon broadcaster Radio télévision belge de la communauté française (RTBF) were responsible for organising the Belgian entry for Junior Eurovision. The two broadcasters shared responsibility, with VRT organising one year, and RTBF organising the following year. In 2003 VRT organised the Belgian entry, sending X!NK to Copenhagen with "De vriendschapsband", while in 2004, RTBF organised the Belgian entry, sending the Free Spirits to the contest in Lillehammer with "Accroche-toi".

2005 marked a change to the format, with both broadcasters organising one national final due to the 2005 contest being held in the Belgian city of Hasselt. Each broadcaster chose six songs to compete in one national final, with the final winner representing Belgium at the contest.[2] The winner was Lindsay Daenen with "Mes rêves". 2006 returned to the previous format, with VRT organising the entry. Following this RTBF decided to withdraw from Junior Eurovision due to a lack of interest for the contest in Wallonia and in RTBF.[3] This gave VRT total control of Belgium's Junior Eurovision entry.

Although VRT is a Dutch broadcaster, they have been known to include some French songs in their national finals, for example, in 2008. However, since 2006 all Belgian entries have been in Dutch. In 2010, Belgium sent a duo for the first time since their debut. Belgium was also the first country who confirmed to participate in Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2011 and 2012.[4]

Withdrawal

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On 26 March 2013, VRT announced that Belgium will withdraw from the contest in 2013 in order to launch a new show for young performs in Belgium.[5] However, they held a national final called Wie wordt Junior? [nl], which was won by then 14-year-old Pieter Vreys. On 20 December 2013, Belgium's Flemish TV channel Ketnet announced that they are no longer interested in Junior Eurovision and decided not to make a comeback. On 31 December 2023, VRT stated that it had not yet made a decision as to a return to the contest in 2024, but that it would consider the possibility in the following months.[6] However, Belgium eventually opted against participation in the 2024 contest.[7]

Participation overview

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Year Artist Song Language Place Points
2003 X!NK "De vriendschapsband" Dutch 6 83
2004 Free Spirits "Accroche-toi" French 10 37
2005 Lindsay "Mes rêves" French 10 63
2006 Thor! "Een tocht door het donker" Dutch 7 71
2007 Trust "Anders" Dutch 15 19
2008 Oliver "Shut Up" Dutch[a] 11 45
2009 Laura "Zo verliefd (Yodelo)" Dutch 4 113
2010 Jill and Lauren "Get Up!" Dutch, English 7 61
2011 Femke "Een kusje meer" Dutch[b] 7 64
2012 Fabian [nl] "Abracadabra" Dutch 5 72

Commentators and spokespersons

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The contests are broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website junioreurovision.tv and YouTube. In 2015, the online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov.[8] The Belgian broadcasters, VRT and RTBF, send their own commentator to each contest in order to provide commentary in Dutch and French. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Belgium. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2003.

Year Flemish commentator Walloon commentator Spokesperson Ref.
2003 Ilse Van Hoecke [nl] and Bart Peeters Corinne Boulangier [fr] Judith Bussé
2004 Ilse Van Hoecke and Marcel Vanthilt Jean-Louis Lahaye [fr] Alexander Schönfelder
2005 Ilse Van Hoecke and André Vermeulen Max Colombie
2006 Ilse Van Hoecke and Jelle Cleymans [nl] No broadcast Sander Cliquet
2007 Kristien Maes [nl] and Ben Roelants [nl] Bab Buelens
2008 Chloé Ditlefsen
2009 Oliver Symons
2010 Kristien Maes and Tom De Cock Laura Omloop
2011 Jill & Lauren
2012 Astrid Demeure [nl] and Tom De Cock Femke Verschueren
20132024 No broadcast Did not participate

Hostings

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Year Location Venue Presenters
2005 Hasselt Ethias Arena Maureen Louys and Marcel Vanthilt
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See also

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Notes and references

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Notes

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  1. ^ Even though the song is in Dutch, the title is in English.
  2. ^ Contains one phrase in French

References

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  1. ^ García, Belén (7 September 2015). "#BestOfJESC – Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003". esc-plus.com. ESC+Plus. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  2. ^ Philips, Roel (2004-11-22). "Junior 2005: 6 Flemish and 6 French songs in Belgian finals". ESCToday. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  3. ^ West-Soley, Richard (2006-10-03). "VRT take over Belgian JESC". ESCToday. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  4. ^ "Schrijf je in voor Junior Eurosong 2011 | Ketnet". Archived from the original on 2010-11-22. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  5. ^ Clark, Liam (27 March 2013). "Belgium: Belgium withdraw from Junior Eurovision". escXtra. Archived from the original on 29 March 2013.
  6. ^ "Bélgica: VRT podría participar en Eurovisión Junior 2024" [Belgium: VRT could participate in Junior Eurovision 2024]. Eurofestivales (in European Spanish). 2023-12-31. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  7. ^ Mancheño, José Miguel (2024-05-18). "La VRT belga descarta participar en Eurovisión Junior 2024" [Belgian VRT rules out participation in Junior Eurovision 2024]. ESCplus España (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-18.
  8. ^ Fisher, Luke James (21 November 2015). "Tonight: Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015!". Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Bulgaria 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.