Why Belgium could not again register for the Eurovision Song Contest: “It really starts with the title:” The wrong place “sounds so negative

Hooverphonic received 71 professional jury points in Europe and Australia, but the public didn’t follow up yesterday evening. Two points from Lithuania and one point from Ukraine, and Jake, Alex and Raymond couldn’t count on more. Thus our country ends in nineteenth place. Not bad out of 39 total, but not good enough for you to finally be able to win again. With the exception of a few outliers – Blanche in 2017 and Luke Notet in 2015 – our country rarely makes it to the top five, and certainly Flemish requests are often not convincing enough.

Insufficient personality

“The Eurovision Song Contest has become more and more an idol competition in recent years,” says Jens Geerts, who has been following the competition on OUTtv for years. “Your entry doesn’t have to be very solid, but it is. Plus, you also have to have character and your PR machine has to run at full speed. You have to be sufficiently visible in the Eurovision Song Contest. It doesn’t really matter whether the people are Just like you, but you have to put yourself in the spotlight. Italy understood that up front. Måneskin has a star attraction, and I saw it yesterday too. The fact that everyone is already wondering whether or not singer Damiano inhaled cola … something like that It works, whatever you think of it. To me, Måneskin is the prime example of what a new generation of Eurovision winners look like. Their personality shines bright, and this might be something Belgium was missing out on. There was nothing criticizing the hov phonics at the technical level. Jake sang well. It’s over, nice play, … but that – on a stage like the Eurovision Song Contest – isn’t enough.

“Watch out: in the semi-finals I think austerity was an asset,” continues Gens. “But in the Grand Final it wasn’t memorable enough. There you expect people who do more than” just “perform a song. You also have to radiate the ideals there, and Italy has done it. Purely personal: I don’t like rock, but I “I was in the mood for the story that Manskin brought up. They are for gender flexibility, for standing up for equal rights for all, … something like that works for the Eurovision Song Contest.”

Missing extra

Jasper Van Biesen, one of the driving forces behind songfestival.be and author of “65 Years Belgium at the Songfestival”, is tougher. “I didn’t think The Wrong Place was a contest song and the title of the song was very negative in my view. Which ultimately also translates into the rating: Professional juries could have enjoyed it, and the audience couldn’t. In my opinion, VRT should first and before It’s all about thinking carefully about exactly what they’re involved in. Without wanting to sound irreverent: not because something fits the hearings at Radio 1 also remains intact in the Eurovision Song Contest. Of course you can go in an alternate direction, as was the case with Salvador Sobral Or Duncan Lawrence, but then it has to be excellent. As much as I hate to say this, it wasn’t the case. So the substitute voter points went to Portugal, Finland, Lithuania and Italy. ”

Van Biesen assures Hooverphonic has brought quality. “But that extra thing was really missing for distinction in the Eurovision Song Contest,” he continues. “Weren’t they picking a different number? I listened to their new album, Hidden Stories and I think they made the best choice with The Wrong Place. Anyway: This song was a very good fit for pots breaking. Our post this year is a disappointment for me. Certainly because there is … Several experts who have been saying for years that hophophone should be involved, “because then we can finish high.” You cannot say that is the case. This could have been much more. It is not necessarily a guarantee of success. ”

According to André Vermeulen, who has supplied the Eurovision Song Contest with commentary for VRT for years, Hooverphonic’s meager score is more due to song selection. “It really starts with the title,” he explains. “The Wrong Place” sounds very negative and songs like this rarely come across in the end in the game. Beware, Geike perfectly conveyed atmospheres and emotions, but a sad song limited her potential. ”

Alex Callier often mentioned in interviews with the song “Amar Pelos Dois”, the winning song of Salvador Sobral in 2017. It is understood that this did not make you happy either. But his message was very hopeful. “Even though my lover doesn’t want me, I will love her for two years,” he sings. You cannot completely describe the “wrong place” with hope right now. The topic – a one-night stand it did go wrong – was not universal enough in my opinion. The other songs were about “empowering women” or being yourself and something like that works better. The Italians also sang, “Everyone can be as he or she is.”

If we pay more attention to the song, it may succeed in the future, according to Vermeolin. “Hofphonics was professionalism at its best, and you can’t doubt that. Maybe we scored better with a different number. So I suggest there should be better consultation on this in the future. Maybe we should dare to take more risks every now and then. In recent years, they haven’t.” Flemish submissions are noticed. If you then compare that with the Wallon participants – Blanche, Luke Note, and Urban Trade for example – you will see that playing is less safe. I think that’s because, ironically, the festival means less on the other side of the language boundaries. Thus, Artists have more freedom to do whatever they want. ”

Play it safe

“It’s always easy to talk after that, of course, but I never had the illusion that” The Wrong Place “could really break through the Eurovision Song Contest,” adds Jill Prince, Eurovision connoisseur and head of entertainment at this newspaper. She has a bit of critique for that. We can say ‘quality’, but I heard a lot of the better songs on Saturday. We lost in the crowd. It’s that simple, right? Kallier chose a song from the latest hofferphonic recordings. Slightly sharp: This opens the bar. Scroll over and see what you have left. A logical step from their point of view, but forget about it to win the Eurovision Song Contest this way in 2021. You can still hire Lady Gaga fashion designer as much as you want. ”

“You might not be with that genre, but the truth is Italy has a very powerful song that you can take with you on the first listen,” continues Prince. “See also France or Ukraine: songs completely different, but top of the line. The Wrong Place wasn’t very strong, and it was not immediately recognizable. We will.” middle of the road, As we are accustomed to from our Eurovision entries in Flanders. You know you’ll never fall into disgrace with a hophophone, and that never happened. We are ranked 19th out of 39 countries, right in the middle. VRT team has played this game safely again. We are lacking in courage. As long as that doesn’t change, we’ll never break the pots. ”

Our northern neighbors also found the hofferphonic song too unclear for the Eurovision Song Contest. “The song was good and solid, but also on the show it was very sober,” says Alexander Van Inenam, who follows the song contest for the Dutch newspaper AD. “That was still appreciated by the professional jury, but to a lesser extent than the audience. In short: Seven is like the Eurovision Song Contest. And you won’t end up high with that. Songs with high endings are all in common being frank and show courage in a certain way. It can be.” It also happens wrongly (see Netherlands), but in my opinion, Belgium was playing very safely, so it just didn’t shine enough. ” This was also confirmed by Alina Bugaeva, who, as the Eurovision reporter, followed the competition for Ukrainian TV news. “The song was fun, but something was missing in the sound.”