Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010


Belgium participated at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, with Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep having selected the 52nd Belgian entry for Eurovision. Tom Dice was selected by VRT to represent Belgium at the Contest, held in Oslo, Norway in May 2010, performed the song "Me and My Guitar". It ended 1st in the Semi-final 1, and brought Belgium's first ever qualification since the introduction of semi-finals. The song placed 6th in the grand final, marking the first top 10 result for Belgium in the 2000s, and also become the most successful entry brought by VRT since the introduction of semi-finals.

Background

Belgium debuted at the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 and since has participated a total of fifty-one times. The country was only absent three times in its history: 1994, 1997, and 2001, when low scores in the previous year's contest prevented re-entry. Belgium won the contest once, in 1986 in Bergen, Norway with the song "J'aime la vie" sung by Sandra Kim. The country achieved second place in 1978 and 2003, however has finished in last place a total of eight times. Since 2005 Belgium has failed to appear in any final of the Contest.
Belgium is represented by two broadcasters at the contest and Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep ), each taking turns sending entries to the contest; RTBF is French-speaking, while VRT is Dutch-speaking. All entries prior to 1999 except for 1977, where sung in either French or Dutch, but Belgium has never sent a representative singing in German, its third official language. While VRT usually organizes a long-lasting national final, RTBF has a history of internal selections with varying levels of success, from a second place for Urban Trad in 2003 to a bottom 5 place in the semi-final for The KMG's in 2007.
The 2010 Belgian entry was organised by the Flemish broadcaster VRT. While in previous years VRT has held a national final to select the Belgian entries – Eurosong – VRT decided to use a new format for the 2010 Contest, despite huge interest in Flanders for Eurosong, after years of bad placings.

Before Eurovision

Selection method

VRT announced immediately after the 2009 Contest that it would be taking part at Eurovision 2010, in Oslo, Norway. The broadcaster stated that it would consider new possibilities related to an adjustment of the format of Eurosong. In August, with no announcement having been made by VRT concerning Eurosong 2010, the Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws reported that VRT might choose to hold a partially internal selection for 2010, with two possible options: the broadcaster would either internally select one artist to represent Belgium in Oslo, with a series of televised shows being held to select the song by public vote; or one song would be chosen by VRT and a number of artists would take part in a televised final, with a public vote selecting who would go to Oslo. A number of artists were rumoured to be candidates for selection, including Eurosong '04 runner-up Natalia, Milk Inc. and Eurovision 2003 runner-up for Belgium Urban Trad.
VRT revealed in September that Eurosong in its previous format would not be held in 2010 – the broadcaster instead contacting several representatives in the Flemish music industry to find new selection formats. Het Laatste Nieuws published a list of seven criteria, made by VRT, that the Belgian entry should follow for 2010.
On 25 November VRT announced that it had selected Tom Dice, runner-up of the Belgian version of The X Factor in 2008, internally to represent Belgium at the contest in May. It has been announced that Dice would compose a number of possible entries on his own or in collaboration with other songwriters.
Dice's song, "Me and My Guitar", written by Tom, Jeroen Swinnen and Ashley Hickin, was presented on 7 March on an hour-long presentation show, Eurosong 2010: een song voor Tom Dice!, hosted by Bart Peeters from the Eén TV studios. Dice performed a number of other songs during the show, including a covers of Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love", Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody", and Madonna's "Like a Virgin". A number of guests gave Dice suggestions and tips for his performance at Eurovision, including Marcel Vanthilt, Siska Schoeters, André Vermeulen, Peter Van de Veire and Belgium's 2002 entry Sergio.
Eurosong 2010: een song voor Tom Dice! received high viewing figures on één, with more than 35% of the market share watching the presentation of "Me and My Guitar", with a drop in viewing figures from previous years due to a change in the format of the show.

Chart performance

The week after the song presentation, "Me and My Guitar" charted in the official Belgian charts in both Flanders and Wallonia,
Ultratop. In the Flemish charts, the song entered at number 2, beaten only by Natalia & Gabriel Ríos' cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", in aid for relief after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. In the Walloon charts "Me and My Guitar" entered at number 24. "Me and My Guitar" also entered into the Dutch Top 100 at number 85.
The following week, "Me and My Guitar" went to number one in Flanders and number 18 in Wallonia.

Promotion

Tom Dice filmed an official music video for "Me and My Guitar" in the United States, which was released in April.
Tom Dice promoted his entry for Eurovision in Europe, attending and performing at the Eurovision in Concert preview event in Zaanstad, the Netherlands on 24 April, alongside acts from 17 other countries in Eurovision.
Belgium was also the host of a Eurovision party, held in Antwerp on 30 April, with entries from Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Ireland, Malta and Serbia joining Tom Dice in the line-up. Almost all the participants also appeared on regional TV channel TV Limburg.

At Eurovision

Belgium competed in the first semi-final of the contest on 25 May, and performed 10th on stage, after Poland's Marcin Mroziński and before Malta's Thea Garrett. It ended 1st.
Belgium then competed in the final of the contest on 29 May, performing 7th on stage, after Bosnia and Herzegovina and before Serbia. It ended 6th.

Split results

Semi-final 1

Final

12 points10 points8 points7 points6 points

  • 5 points4 points3 points2 points1 point
  • 12 points10 points8 points7 points6 points

  • 5 points4 points3 points2 points1 point