Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996

Eurovision Song Contest 1996
Eurovision Song Contest 1996
Participating broadcaster	Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep Nederlandstalige Uitzendingen (BRTN)
Country	Belgium
National selection
Selection process	De gouden zeemeermin
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals:; 3 February 1996; 10 February 1996; 17 February 1996; 24 February 1996; Final:; 9 March 1996
Selected artist(s)	Lisa del Bo
Selected song	"Liefde is een kaartspel"
Selected songwriter(s)	John Terra; Siirak Brogden; Daniël Ditmar;
Finals performance
Final result	16th, 22 points
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest

Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Liefde is een kaartspel", composed by John Terra and Siirak Brogden, with lyrics by Daniël Ditmar, and performed by Lisa del Bo. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Flemish Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep Nederlandstalige Uitzendingen (BRTN), selected its entry through a national final.

Before Eurovision

De Gouden Zeemeermin

De Gouden Zeemeermin (The Golden Mermaid) was the national final format developed by Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep Nederlandstalige Uitzendingen (BRTN) in order to select the Belgian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. 40 songs in total took part in the national final, which consisted of four semi-finals between 3 and 24 February 1996 and a final on 9 March 1996. All five shows took place at the Knokke Casino Studios in Knokke and were hosted by Michel Follet and Alexandra Potvin.^[1]

Competing Entries

Artists wishing to compete in De Gouden Zeemeermin had to submit a photograph, biography, and at least two recorded songs to BRTN. Out of 117 applications, 40 were chosen to compete and they had until 8 January 1996 to submit a song. Prior to 8 January 1996, two candidates withdrew their participation: Katja Vandl and Ann Swartenbroeckx. They were replaced by Kaye and Chrissy.^[1]

Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)
Angie C	"Ritme van een lach"	Bauwens, Anne Clicteur
Aperitivo	"Jij"	Unknown
Axel Lane	"Laat me"	Unknown
Beau Geste	"Overmoed"	Dirk De Groef
Chadia	"Hou van mij"	Unknown
Chalina	"Toon wat"	Unknown
Chelsy	"Kijk me aan"	Sander Van der Heide
Chris	"De toekomst"	Ernst Vranckx, M. Geyskens
Chrissy	"Ik wil so graag bij jou zijn"	Chrissy Degraef, J. Lake, U. Vaneylen
Cold Pizza	"Vertrouwen"	Bart Tsiobbel
Corina	"Wereld van muziek"	Peter Keereman
Dave & Steve	"Geen illusie"	Fred Beekmans
Davy Gilles	"Elke nacht"	Jean-Pierre Daghelet, Dennis Peirs
Doran	"Jij alleen"	Piet Triest, Vira Bontemps, Christel Devos
En Zo	"Mooi"	Koen De Beir, Adriaan Larson, Filip D'haeze
Fair Play	"Laat haar niet alleen"	Carl Coenen, Marc Roefs, Ivo Roefs
Frank Valentino	"Hey Mister Lennon"	Sidro, Dennis Peirs
Garry Hagger	"Dat ik van je hou"	Fred Beekmans
Gunther Levi	"Vandaag"	Gunther Levi
Hans van den Stock	"Blijf steeds bij mij"	Unknown
Kaye	"Het nieuwe begint"	Unknown
Lisa del Bo	"Liefde is een kaartspel"	John Terra, Daniël Ditmar
Marijn De Valck	"Hou me in je hart"	Marc Malyster, Marijn De Valck
Mario Caselli	"Mademoiselle"	Chrystoff Wybouw, Patrick Hamilton
Marleen	"De kleine dingen"	Alides Hiding
Mieke	"Op dit moment"	Edwin Schimscheimer
Nadia	"Morgen komt de lente"	Lou Roman, Paul Vermeulen, Dieter Troubleyn
Onah	"Neem de biezen"	Verhelst
P.C. Brown	"Dans met mij"	Jan Pieter Liedmann
Patrick Alessi	"Een andere wereld"	Patrick Alessi
Peter Van Laet	"Er is iets"	Marc Van Hie, Walter Mannaerts, Peter Van Laet
Phil Kevin	"Als ik er niet meer ben"	Unknown
Pino	"Onbereikbaar maar dichtbij"	Bongiovanni, Alexandre
Rindu Rindu	"Golven van verlangen"	Fernande
Rudy Meyns	"Ik hou van jou"	Raymond Felix, Jacques Verburgt
Sabien Tiels	"Nooit meer alleen"	Sabien Tiels
Scharnier	"Oorlog"	Unknown
Splinter	"Ik laat je nooit meer gaan"	Guido Sergooris, Hedwig Desmesmaeker
Tempo	"M'n liefste"	Yves Segers
William Reven	"Zo voel ik vandaag"	Constant Verfaillie, Rodrigo Salgado, William Reven, Dennis Peirs

Semi-finals

Ten songs competed in each semi-final with the top three from each qualifying for the final. The results for the semi-finals were determined exclusively by a seven-member professional jury, who each awarded 12, 10, or 8–1 points to each song (i.e. they could award 12 points to more than one song if they chose). The professional jury consisted of: Guy De Pré, Leen Demaré, Marc Brillouet, Sabine De Vos, Marc De Schuyter, Nora Nys, and Ro Burms. Former Belgian Eurovision representative, Jacques Raymond, acted as a non-voting chairman of the jury.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Semi-final 1 – 3 February 1996
Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Dave & Steve	"Geen illusie"	57	6
2	Chris	"De toekomst"	60	4^[a]
3	Garry Hagger	"Dat ik van je hou"	60	3^[a]
4	Chalina	"Toon wat"	37	9
5	Scharnier	"Oorlog"	44	8
6	Patrick Alessi	"Een andere wereld"	71	1
7	Marleen	"De kleine dingen"	50	7
8	Frank Valentino	"Hey Mister Lennon"	58	5
9	Mario Caselli	"Mademoiselle"	67	2
10	Rindu Rindu	"Golven van verlangen"	30	10

Semi-final 1 – Detailed Jury Votes
Draw	Song	G. De Pré	L. Demaré	M. Brillouet	S. De Vos	M. De Schuyter	N. Nys	R. Burms	Total
1	"Geen illusie"	10	5	12	8	8	7	7	57
2	"De toekomst"	8	12	7	10	8	8	7	60
3	"Dat ik van je hou"	8	5	10	12	10	5	10	60
4	"Toon wat"	6	4	8	4	6	4	5	37
5	"Oorlog"	5	10	7	4	7	5	6	44
6	"Een andere wereld"	10	12	10	10	12	10	7	71
7	"De kleine dingen"	6	7	8	6	8	7	8	50
8	"Hey Mister Lennon"	8	7	8	8	10	7	8	58
9	"Mademoiselle"	10	12	12	7	12	8	6	67
10	"Golven van verlangen"	5	3	4	4	6	3	5	30

Semi-final 2 – 10 February 1996
Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Beau Geste	"Overmoed"	50	7
2	Axel Lane	"Laat me"	45	10
3	Chelsy	"Kijk me aan"	66	2
4	Gunther Levi	"Vandaag"	63	4
5	Angie C	"Ritme van een lach"	47	9
6	William Reven	"Zo voel ik vandaag"	64	3
7	Davy Gilles	"Elke nacht"	48	8
8	Mieke	"Op dit moment"	63	4
9	Fair Play	"Laat haar niet alleen"	51	6
10	Sabien Tiels	"Nooit meer alleen"	70	1

Semi-final 2 – Detailed Jury Votes
Draw	Song	G. De Pré	L. Demaré	M. Brillouet	S. De Vos	M. De Schuyter	N. Nys	R. Burms	Total
1	"Overmoed"	6	7	10	7	7	6	7	50
2	"Laat me"	5	5	7	7	7	6	8	45
3	"Kijk me aan"	6	12	8	12	10	10	8	66
4	"Vandaag"	10	10	8	6	10	7	12	63
5	"Ritme van een lach"	8	5	7	5	7	5	10	47
6	"Zo voel ik vandaag"	10	8	8	10	8	10	10	64
7	"Elke nacht"	8	5	7	6	8	7	7	48
8	"Op dit moment"	8	10	10	8	7	10	10	63
9	"Laat haar niet alleen"	7	7	8	7	8	7	7	51
10	"Nooit meer alleen"	10	10	12	8	10	10	10	70

Semi-final 3 – 17 February 1996
Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	En Zo	"Mooi"	74	1
2	Hans van den Stock	"Blijf steeds bij mij"	42	7
3	Chadia	"Hou van mij"	40	8
4	Phil Kevin	"Als ik er niet meer ben"	33	10
5	Kaye	"Het nieuwe begint"	34	9
6	Rudy Meyns	"Ik hou van jou"	49	6
7	Corina	"Wereld van muziek"	53	5
8	Marijn De Valck	"Hou me in je hart"	57	4
9	Splinter	"Ik laat je nooit meer gaan"	67	3
10	Lisa del Bo	"Liefde is een kaartspel"	72	2

Semi-final 3 – Detailed Jury Votes
Draw	Song	G. De Pré	L. Demaré	M. Brillouet	S. De Vos	M. De Schuyter	N. Nys	R. Burms	Total
1	"Mooi"	10	12	12	12	12	6	10	74
2	"Blijf steeds bij mij"	6	6	6	6	7	5	6	42
3	"Hou van mij"	4	3	6	6	8	6	6	40
4	"Als ik er niet meer ben"	6	5	6	2	6	4	5	33
5	"Het nieuwe begint"	5	4	6	2	7	4	6	34
6	"Ik hou van jou"	6	5	8	8	8	7	7	49
7	"Wereld van muziek"	10	8	7	5	10	6	7	53
8	"Hou me in je hart"	8	7	8	6	10	8	10	57
9	"Ik laat je nooit meer gaan"	12	12	10	10	10	6	7	67
10	"Liefde is een kaartspel"	12	10	10	10	10	8	12	72

Semi-final 4 – 24 February 1996
Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Cold Pizza	"Vertrouwen"	55	4
2	Peter Van Laet	"Er is iets"	62	3
3	Onah	"Neem de biezen"	43	7
4	P.C. Brown	"Dans met mij"	40	9
5	Nadia	"Morgen komt de lente"	66	1
6	Tempo	"M'n liefste"	54	5
7	Pino	"Onbereikbaar maar dichtbij"	43	7
8	Aperitivo	"Jij"	28	10
9	Doran	"Jij alleen"	64	2
10	Chrissy	"Ik wil so graag bij jou zijn"	47	6

Semi-final 4 – Detailed Jury Votes
Draw	Song	G. De Pré	L. Demaré	M. Brillouet	S. De Vos	M. De Schuyter	N. Nys	R. Burms	Total
1	"Vertrouwen"	10	8	8	7	8	7	7	55
2	"Er is iets"	7	12	8	8	12	7	8	62
3	"Neem de biezen"	6	6	6	5	8	6	6	43
4	"Dans met mij"	6	3	8	5	6	4	8	40
5	"Morgen komt de lente"	8	8	8	10	10	10	12	66
6	"M'n liefste"	10	6	10	7	7	7	7	54
7	"Onbereikbaar maar dichtbij"	7	4	8	3	8	5	8	43
8	"Jij"	3	3	5	4	5	3	5	28
9	"Jij alleen"	10	7	12	7	8	10	10	64
10	"Ik wil so graag bij jou zijn"	7	6	8	6	8	6	6	47

Final

The final took place on 9 March 1996 and the twelve entries that advanced from the preceding four semi-finals competed. The winner was selected by a combination of votes from five regional juries in Belgium (25%), a press jury (25%) and a professional jury (50%). The professional jury consisted of the same seven members as in the semi-finals. "Liefde is een kaartspel" performed by Lisa del Bo was selected as the winner, having been ranked first by all but the press jury.^[1]^[7]^[8]

Final – 9 March 1996
Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Lisa del Bo	"Liefde is een kaartspel"	215	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	En Zo	"Mooi"	151	3
12	Mario Caselli	"Mademoiselle"	90	10

Detailed Jury Votes
Draw	Song	Regional Juries					Press Jury	Expert Jury	Total
Draw	Song	Antwerp	Limburg	East Flanders	Flemish Brabant	West Flanders	Press Jury	Expert Jury	Total
1	"Liefde is een kaartspel"	12	12	12	12	12	35	120	215
2	"Een andere wereld"	2	2	5	3	1	40	20	73
3	"Kijk me aan"	8	5	6	8	6	5	90	128
4	"Zo voel ik vandaag"	1	1	3	2	2	50	60	119
5	"Morgen komt de lente"	5	6	7	7	5	25	80	135
6	"Er is iets"	10	9	9	11	9	55	40	143
7	"Nooit meer alleen"	4	11	1	5	3	15	100	139
8	"Jij alleen"	3	4	2	1	7	10	10	37
9	"Dat ik van je hou"	6	8	4	4	4	45	70	141
10	"Ik laat je nooit meer gaan"	11	10	8	10	10	30	110	189
11	"Mooi"	9	7	11	6	8	60	50	151
12	"Mademoiselle"	7	3	10	9	11	20	30	90

At Eurovision

In 1996, for the only time in Eurovision history, an audio-only 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.^[9] As of 2022, this is the last time that Belgium had sung its entry in Dutch.

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.^[10] 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.^[11]

"Liefde is een kaartspel" later became embroiled in controversy when it was alleged that it had been plagiarised by the Swedish 2001 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.^[12]

Voting

Qualifying round

Points awarded to Belgium (qualifying round)^[13]
Score	Country
12 points
10 points
8 points	Spain
7 points	United Kingdom
6 points	Israel Portugal
5 points
4 points	Finland Ireland Poland
3 points
2 points	Norway Romania Turkey
1 point

Points awarded by Belgium (qualifying round)^[13]
Score	Country
12 points	Sweden
10 points	Malta
8 points	Ireland
7 points	United Kingdom
6 points	Portugal
5 points	Estonia
4 points	Netherlands
3 points	Switzerland
2 points	Slovenia
1 point	Austria

Final

Points awarded to Belgium (final)^[14]
Score	Country
12 points	Spain
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points	United Kingdom
4 points
3 points
2 points	Croatia Netherlands
1 point	Estonia

Points awarded by Belgium (final)^[14]
Score	Country
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

Notes

^ ^a ^b As there was a tie between third and fourth placed songs in the first semi-final, the tie for third place was broken by each judge naming their preferred song, with 5 choosing Garry Hagger against 2 choosing Chris.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Vermeulen, André (2021). Van Canzonissima tot Eurosong. 65 jaar Belgische preselecties voor het Eurovisiesongfestival. Leuven: Kritak. ISBN 978-94-014-7609-6. OCLC 1240241113.
^ "BELGIAN SEMI-FINALS 1996". natfinals.50webs.com. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
^ Van Den Abeele, Chris. "The Belgian Preselection 1996: First Selection". Archived from the original on 22 April 2012.
^ Van Den Abeele, Chris. "The Belgian Preselection 1996: Second Selection". Archived from the original on 22 April 2012.
^ Van Den Abeele, Chris. "The Belgian Preselection 1996: Third Selection". Archived from the original on 22 April 2012.
^ Van Den Abeele, Chris. "The Belgian Preselection 1996: Fourth Selection". Archived from the original on 22 April 2012.
^ "BELGIAN NATIONAL FINAL 1996". natfinals.50webs.com. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
^ Van Den Abeele, Chris. "The Belgian Preselection 1996". Archived from the original on 6 October 2011.
^ Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 255–261. ISBN 978-1-84583-163-9.
^ "Final of Oslo 1996". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
^ ESC History - Eurovision - Belgium 1996
^ "Sweden's entry 2001 now officially plagiarism" ESCToday.com, 9 August 2003
^ ^a ^b Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. p. 259. ISBN 978-1-84583-163-9.
^ ^a ^b "Results of the Final of Oslo 1996". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.

[tie-7] As there was a tie between third and fourth placed songs in the first semi-final, the tie for third place was broken by each judge naming their preferred song, with 5 choosing Garry Hagger against 2 choosing Chris.

[:0-1] Vermeulen, André (2021). Van Canzonissima tot Eurosong. 65 jaar Belgische preselecties voor het Eurovisiesongfestival. Leuven: Kritak. ISBN 978-94-014-7609-6. OCLC 1240241113.

[2] "BELGIAN SEMI-FINALS 1996". natfinals.50webs.com. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2024.

[3] Van Den Abeele, Chris. "The Belgian Preselection 1996: First Selection". Archived from the original on 22 April 2012.

[4] Van Den Abeele, Chris. "The Belgian Preselection 1996: Second Selection". Archived from the original on 22 April 2012.

[5] Van Den Abeele, Chris. "The Belgian Preselection 1996: Third Selection". Archived from the original on 22 April 2012.

[6] Van Den Abeele, Chris. "The Belgian Preselection 1996: Fourth Selection". Archived from the original on 22 April 2012.

[8] "BELGIAN NATIONAL FINAL 1996". natfinals.50webs.com. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2024.

[9] Van Den Abeele, Chris. "The Belgian Preselection 1996". Archived from the original on 6 October 2011.

[10] Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 255–261. ISBN 978-1-84583-163-9.

[11] "Final of Oslo 1996". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.

[12] ESC History - Eurovision - Belgium 1996

[13] "Sweden's entry 2001 now officially plagiarism" ESCToday.com, 9 August 2003

[1996qualifying-14] Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. p. 259. ISBN 978-1-84583-163-9.

[1996final-15] "Results of the Final of Oslo 1996". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.

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v t e Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participation	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 ~~2020~~ 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Artists	Roberto Bellarosa Bob Benny Blanche Lily Castel Vanessa Chinitor Ann Christy Clouseau Robert Cogoi Mélanie Cohl Copycat Lisa del Bo Barbara Dex Tom Dice Dream Express Eliot Frédéric Etherlinck Serge and Christine Ghisoland Gustaph Axel Hirsoux Hooverphonic Jacques Hustin Ingeborg Iris Ishtar Sandra Kim The KMG's Philippe Lafontaine Fud Leclerc Linda Lepomme Claude Lombard Jérémie Makiese Micha Marah Mony Marc Lize Marke Morgane Mustii Louis Neefs Nicole and Hugo Loïc Nottet Pas de Deux Pierre Rapsat Jacques Raymond Nuno Resende Reynaert Kate Ryan Liliane Saint-Pierre Bobbejaan Schoepen Sennek Sergio and the Ladies Nathalie Sorce Emly Starr Stella Telex Laura Tesoro Tonia Urban Trad Jean Vallée Witloof Bay Xandee Jacques Zegers
Songs	"1 Life" "À la folie ou pas du tout" "Als het weer lente is" "L'Amour ça fait chanter la vie" "Avanti la vie" "Baby, Baby" "Because of You" "Before the Party's Over" "City Lights" "Copycat" "Dis oui" "Door de wind" "Envie de vivre" "Euro-Vision" "Fleur de liberté" "Geef het op" "Gelukkig zijn" "Goeiemorgen, morgen" "Le Grand soir" "Hey Nana" "Hou toch van mij" "Iemand als jij" "Ik heb zorgen" "J'aime la vie" "Je t'adore" "Jennifer Jennings" "Judy et Cie" "Laat me nu gaan" "Laissez briller le soleil" "Liefde is een kaartspel" "Like the Wind" "Love Kills" "Love Power" "Ma petite chatte" "Macédomienne" "A Matter of Time" "Me and My Guitar" "Messieurs les noyés de la Seine" "A Million in One, Two, Three" "Miss You" "Mon amour pour toi" "Mother" "Nous, on veut des violons" "O Julissi" "Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel" "Le Plus beau jour de ma vie" "Près de ma rivière" "Quand tu reviendras" ~~"Release Me"~~ "Rendez-vous" "Rhythm Inside" "Samson" "Sanomi" "September, gouden roos" "Si tu aimes ma musique" "Sister" "Soldiers of Love" "Straatdeuntje" "Ton nom" "Viens l'oublier" "La Voix est libre" "Waarom?" "Wake Up" "What's the Pressure" "With Love Baby" "Would You?" "The Wrong Place"
Note: Entries scored out signify where Belgium did not compete