Hello everyone and welcome back to The Blogging DJ. Today I will be continuing to look in detail at the forty-one entries in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest by travelling to Brussels, to look at the Belgian entry, Eliot and “Wake Up”.
Selection Process
In past years, Belgium have alternated their broadcaster between the Flemish VRT and the Walloon RTBF, who have internally selected their entry this year. Eliot, a former contestant on The Voice Belgique, was confirmed as the artist in January, with his song being released to the public on the 28th of February.
Music Video
The Blogging DJ’s Review
In recent years, Belgium have really delivered with modern and impactful entries, and this is no different. This was written by the same person who created the lauded “City Lights” in 2017 but I think this exceeds it for its mainstream appeal, whilst staying true to those dark modern roots. The lyrics are meaningful, the composition is interesting and the pop-drop at the highest point of the song feels justified. Whilst it is a high quality song that will definitely appeal to the jury vote, I worry how they can make an interesting stage show with this tempo. It lacks the “WOW” factor to win but I think this is another very respectable entry by the Belgians. 8
Live Performance Video
This song has not yet been performed live, but Eliot has been confirmed to perform at this year’s Eurovision in Concert, on the 6th of April, so the video of that will be up following the show.
Odds
According to Oddschecker, you can currently get odds of between 40/1 and 80/1 for Belgium winning this year’s Eurovision. This means betters see Belgium as a very likely qualifier but one that will not challenge the top in the Grand Final.
Record at Eurovision
Belgium have competed in Eurovision a massive sixty times after being one of the countries at the first ever edition of the contest, back in 1956, being in the Grand Final on fifty-one of those occasions. Despite this, they have only won once, when a thirteen-year-old Sandra Kim triumphed in 1986 with “J’aime la Vie”. Last year, Sennek missed out on the Grand Final by two places with her James Bond-esque “A Matter of Time”.
So what are your thoughts on Belgium’s entry? Does it “Wake Up” the contest or leave you feeling sleepy? You can let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Join me next time when I will be reviewing Croatia’s entry for Eurovision 2019. Have a great day and I’ll see you guys then!
The Blogging DJ 
I’m permanently in two minds about this. Unimpressed when it starts, then really like the chorus and appreciate it. Not as good as it could be and may not stand out enough. Will be very interesting to see how it does.
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