Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004

Belgium was represented by Xandee and the song "1 Life". VRT's (Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep, the Flemish broadcaster) organized the Belgian National Final 'Eurosong 2004', which took place on February 15, 2004.

Eurovision Song Contest 2004
Country	Belgium
National selection
Selection process	Eurosong '04
Selection date(s)	Semifinals 18 January 2004 25 January 2004 1 February 2004 8 February 2004 Final 15 February 2004
Selected entrant	Xandee
Selected song	"1 Life"
Finals performance
Final result	22nd, 7 points
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2003 • 2004 • 2005►

Before Eurovision

Eurosong '04

Eurosong '04 was the Belgian national final for choosing the Belgian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004.

Format

The selection process involved the staging of five shows; the final on 15 February 2002, plus four semi-finals held during January and early February 2004. All shows were hosted by Bart Peeters at VRT TV Studios in Schelle. The winning song from each semi-final qualified for the final along with the 3 highest scoring runners-up.

In all shows, the results were based on the votes from an "expert" jury, Radio 2 jury, Radio Donna jury, an international jury from the participating countries in ESC 2004 and televoting. The televote counted for 1/3 of the overall vote, with the other 4 juries counting for 1/6.

Competing entries

Artists and songwriters were able to submit their song entries from until 24 November 2003. From a record number of 360 songs submitted to VRT, 28 songs were selected for the national final. The selected entries were announced on 10 December 2003.[1]

Artist	Song	Composer(s)
Amaryllis Temmerman	"God in alle eenvoud"	Amaryllis Temmerman, David Poltrock
Astrid	"Don't Stop the Music"	Dirk Paelinck, Marc Paelinck
Barbara Dex & Alides Hidding	"One Life"	Alides Hidding, Barbara Dex
Biba Binoche	"Je chante pour toi"	Marianne Velvekens, Marc Requile, Frank Jordens
Chris D. Morton	"Every Dead Soldier"	Chris D. Morton, Dick B. Morton, Alain Croisy
CLIC	"Vieze ouwe venten"	Alain Vande Putte, Tracy Atkins
De Egels	"Maria Maria Maria"	Thomas Selis
Elsie Moraïs	"Amorè loco"	Piet van den Heuvel, Roel de Ruijter
Eva	"Angels"	Dirk Paelinck, Marc Paelinck
Garry Hagger	"I Will Choose You"	John Terra, Daniel Gijbels, Guy Balbaert
Katia Berlingieri	"Don't Be Scared"	Katia Berlingieri, Wim Claes
Kurt	"My Heart"	Kurt Lotgiers
Marjolein	"Say Love"	Dirk Paelinck, Marc Paelinck
Natalia	"Higher Than the Sun"	Yurek Onzia, Vincent Pierens
Nicole & Hugo	"Love Is All Around"	Miguel Wiels, Alain Vande Putte, Peter Gillis
Peter Elkins	"Cry Love"	Peter Elkins, Sebastiaan Bouckaert
Quatro	"Never Say Goodbye"	Gregory Bilsen, Marc Paelinck
Raf van Brussel	"Chemistry"	Raf van Brussel
Raffaele	"Freakin' Destiny"	Raffaele Vertrugno, Fred Bekky
Roxane	"Television Game"	Danny van Wauwe, Edmond’s Jegers
Sodapop	"Time To Party"	Lex De Groot, Piet Van Den Heuvel, Roel De Ruijter
Sofie Van Moll	"Kerosene"	Piet Van Den Heuvel
Spring	"Jan zonder vrees"	Danny Verbiest, Hans Bourlon, Gert Verhulst
Storm	"Jij (hoort bij mij)"	Niels Megens, M. Flamman
The Acrolls	"The Happy Song"	Marino Van Ysacker
X-Elementz	"Innocent"	Nima Farbod, Nary Farbod
Xandee	"1 Life"	Dirk Paelinck, Marc Paelinck
Yanah	"Yes Or No"	Eric Geurts, Nathalie Vangronsvelt

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final was held on 18 January 2004.

Semi-final 1 – 18 January 2004
Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Radio	Televote	Total	Place
1	Yanah	"Yes Or No"	5	8	4	17	5
2	Chris D. Morton	"Every Dead Soldier"	10	8	10	28	3
3	De Egels	"Maria Maria Maria"	2	5	6	13	7
4	Katia Berlingieri	"Don't Be Scared"	10	7	8	25	4
5	Xandee	"1 Life"	18	18	18	54	1
6	Storm	"Jij (hoort bij mij)"	6	8	2	16	6
7	Nicole & Hugo	"Love Is All Around"	11	8	14	33	2

Detailed Jury Votes Draw Song Expert Jury International Jury Total 1 "Yes Or No" 2 3 5 2 "Every Dead Soldier" 5 5 10 3 "Maria Maria Maria" 1 1 2 4 "Don't Be Scared" 3 7 10 5 "1 Life" 9 9 18 6 "Jij (hoort bij mij)" 4 2 6 7 "Love Is All Around" 7 4 11

Detailed Radio Votes Draw Song Radio 2 Radio Donna Total 1 "Yes Or No" 4 4 8 2 "Every Dead Soldier" 3 5 8 3 "Maria Maria Maria" 2 3 5 4 "Don't Be Scared" 5 2 7 5 "1 Life" 9 9 18 6 "Jij (hoort bij mij)" 1 7 8 7 "Love Is All Around" 7 1 8

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final was held on 25 January 2004.

Semi-final 2 – 25 January 2004
Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Radio	Televote	Total	Place
1	Quatro	"Never Say Goodbye"	8	10	8	26	4
2	Kurt	"My Heart"	5	2	2	9	7
3	Sofie Van Moll	"Kerosene"	8	18	10	36	3
4	Raf van Brussel	"Chemistry"	14	4	14	42	2
5	CLIC	"Vieze ouwe venten"	3	5	4	12	6
6	Biba Binoche	"Je chante pour toi"	6	6	6	18	5
7	Elsie Moraïs	"Amorè loco"	18	7	18	43	1

Detailed Jury Votes Draw Song Expert Jury International Jury Total 1 "Never Say Goodbye" 4 4 8 2 "My Heart" 2 3 5 3 "Kerosene" 3 5 8 4 "Chemistry" 7 7 14 5 "Vieze ouwe venten" 1 2 3 6 "Je chante pour toi" 5 1 6 7 "Amorè loco" 9 9 18

Detailed Radio Votes Draw Song Radio 2 Radio Donna Total 1 "Never Say Goodbye" 5 5 10 2 "My Heart" 1 1 2 3 "Kerosene" 9 9 18 4 "Chemistry" 7 7 4 5 "Vieze ouwe venten" 3 2 5 6 "Je chante pour toi" 2 4 6 7 "Amorè loco" 4 3 7

Semi-final 3

The third semi-final was held on 1 February 2004.

Semi-final 3 – 1 February 2004
Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Radio	Televote	Total	Place
1	Astrid	"Don't Stop the Music"	14	14	10	38	2
2	Raffaele	"Freakin' Destiny"	5	5	2	12	7
3	The Acrolls	"The Happy Song"	4	8	8	20	5
4	Roxane	"Television Game"	18	13	18	49	1
5	Garry Hagger	"I Will Choose You"	7	2	4	13	6
6	Marjolein	"Say Love"	9	6	6	21	4
7	Spring	"Jan zonder vrees"	5	14	14	33	3

Detailed Jury Votes Draw Song Expert Jury International Jury Total 1 "Don't Stop the Music" 7 7 14 2 "Freakin' Destiny" 1 4 5 3 "The Happy Song" 3 1 4 4 "Television Game" 9 9 18 5 "I Will Choose You" 5 2 7 6 "Say Love" 4 5 9 7 "Jan zonder vrees" 2 3 5

Detailed Radio Votes Draw Song Radio 2 Radio Donna Total 1 "Don't Stop the Music" 9 5 14 2 "Freakin' Destiny" 3 2 5 3 "The Happy Song" 5 3 8 4 "Television Game" 4 9 13 5 "I Will Choose You" 1 1 2 6 "Say Love" 2 4 6 7 "Jan zonder vrees" 7 7 14

Semi-final 4

The fourth semi-final was held on 8 February 2004.

Semi-final 4 – 8 February 2004
Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Radio	Televote	Total	Place
1	Eva	"Angels"	7	7	6	20	4
2	Sodapop	"Time To Party"	2	6	4	12	6
3	Amaryllis Temmerman	"God in alle eenvoud"	5	5	2	12	6
4	Peter Elkins	"Cry Love"	10	8	8	26	3
5	Natalia	"Higher Than the Sun"	14	18	18	50	1
6	X-Elementz	"Innocent"	6	4	10	20	4
7	Barbara Dex & Alides Hidding	"One Life"	18	14	14	46	2

Detailed Jury Votes Draw Song Expert Jury International Jury Total 1 "Angels" 4 3 7 2 "Time To Party" 1 1 2 3 "God in alle eenvoud" 3 2 5 4 "Cry Love" 5 5 10 5 "Higher Than the Sun" 7 7 14 6 "Innocent" 2 4 6 7 "One Life" 9 9 18

Detailed Radio Votes Draw Song Radio 2 Radio Donna Total 1 "Angels" 3 4 7 2 "Time To Party" 1 5 6 3 "God in alle eenvoud" 4 1 5 4 "Cry Love" 5 3 8 5 "Higher Than the Sun" 9 9 18 6 "Innocent" 2 2 4 7 "One Life" 7 7 14

Final

The final was held on 15 February 2004.

Final – 15 February 2004
Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Radio	Televote	Total	Place
1	Roxane	"Television Game"	6	8	6	20	5
2	Barbara Dex & Alides Hidding	"One Life"	9	11	10	30	3
3	Elsie Moraïs	"Amorè loco"	12	6	8	26	4
4	Astrid	"Don't Stop the Music"	2	4	2	8	7
5	Xandee	"1 Life"	18	14	18	50	1
6	Raf van Brussel	"Chemistry"	5	5	4	14	6
7	Natalia	"Higher Than the Sun"	10	14	14	38	2

Detailed Jury Votes Draw Song Expert Jury International Jury Total 1 "Television Game" 4 2 6 2 "One Life" 5 4 9 3 "Amorè loco" 7 5 12 4 "Don't Stop the Music" 1 1 2 5 "1 Life" 9 9 18 6 "Chemistry" 2 3 5 7 "Higher Than the Sun" 3 7 10

Detailed Radio Votes Draw Song Radio 2 Radio Donna Total 1 "Television Game" 1 7 8 2 "One Life" 7 4 11 3 "Amorè loco" 4 2 6 4 "Don't Stop the Music" 3 1 4 5 "1 Life" 9 5 14 6 "Chemistry" 2 3 5 7 "Higher Than the Sun" 5 9 14

At Eurovision

For the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, a semi-final round was introduced in order to accommodate the influx of nations that wanted to compete in the contest. Since Belgium placed 2nd in the previous contest year, Belgium automatically qualified to compete in the final. Before ESC, Belgium was considered the favourite to win the whole competition and received a good amount of pre-contest promotion. Xandee even sang the song in a Turkish version for a visit to Istanbul. She performed 13th, following Bosnia and Herzegovina and preceding the Russia However, the performance was considered by many as poor and flat, which may have led to a complete fail during the voting procedure Xandee reproduced her Eurosong performance with a few minor changes, but it did not seem to help as she only managed 22nd place with 7 points. As Belgium failed to reach the top 12 in the final, the country was forced to compete in the semi-final of the 2005 contest.

Points awarded by Belgium[2]

Semi-final 12 points  Netherlands 10 points  Greece 8 points  Ukraine 7 points  Serbia and Montenegro 6 points  Cyprus 5 points  Albania 4 points  Portugal 3 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 points  Israel 1 point  Finland

Final 12 points  Turkey 10 points  France 8 points  Greece 7 points  Spain 6 points  Netherlands 5 points  Ukraine 4 points  Cyprus 3 points  Serbia and Montenegro 2 points  Sweden 1 point  Albania

Points awarded to Belgium (final)

12 points	10 points	8 points	7 points	6 points
5 points	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
Netherlands				Andorra  Cyprus

References

1. "Eurosong 2003". Songfestival.be.
2. Eurovision Song Contest 2004

External links

• Belgian National Final page