Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996
Encyclopedia
Belgium was represented by Lisa del Bo
, with the song '"Liefde is een kaartspel
", at the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Oslo
on 18 May. 40 songs took part in the Belgian preselection, which consisted of four semi-finals in February, followed by the final on 9 March. All the shows took place at the Knokke-Heist
Casino with hosts Michel Follet and Alexandra Potvin.
† The tie for third place was broken by each judge naming their preferred song, with 5 choosing Garry Hagger against 2 choosing Chris
At Eurovision
In 1996, for the only time in Eurovision history, an audio-only pre-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.
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. Oddly, 17 of its points came from two of the first three countries to vote: the maximum 12 from Spain
and 5 from the United Kingdom
. 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.
"Liefde is een kaartspel" later became embroiled in controversy when it was alleged that it had been plagiarised
by Sweden
's 2001 Eurovision
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.
External links
Lisa del Bo
Lisa del Bo, was born Reinhilde Goossens on 9 June 1961 in Mopertingen, Belgium. She is a Belgian singer who is popular in her own country and also in Germany...
, with the song '"Liefde is een kaartspel
Liefde Is Een Kaartspel
"Liefde is een kaartspel" was the Belgian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, performed in Dutch by Lisa del Bo....
", at the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
on 18 May. 40 songs took part in the Belgian preselection, which consisted of four semi-finals in February, followed by the final on 9 March. All the shows took place at the Knokke-Heist
Knokke-Heist
Knokke-Heist is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Heist-aan-Zee, Knokke, Duinbergen, Ramskapelle and Westkapelle. On January 1, 2006 Knokke-Heist had a total population of 34,063. The total area is 56.44 km² which gives a...
Casino with hosts Michel Follet and Alexandra Potvin.
Semi-finals
Four semi-finals were held in February 1996 to select the 12 finalists for the Belgian final. 10 songs competed in each semi-final, with the top 3 songs, selected by a 7-member expert jury, progressing to the final. Each jury member awarded points on the Eurovision 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-10-12 scale to each song, although they could give any mark they wished to each song (i.e. they could award 12 points to more than one song if they chose).Semi-final 1
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dave & Steve | "Geen illusie" | 57 | 6 |
| 2 | Chris | "De toekomst" | 60 | 4 † |
| 3 | Garry Hagger | "Dat ik van je hou" | 60 | 3 † |
| 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 |
† The tie for third place was broken by each judge naming their preferred song, with 5 choosing Garry Hagger against 2 choosing Chris
Semi-final 2
| 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 3
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enzo | "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 Devalck | "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 4
| 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 |
Final
The national final was held on 9 March with 12 songs competing. This time voting was done by ranking the songs, and consisted of a mixture of a professional jury (50%), a press jury (25%) and five regional juries (5% each). Despite having finished second to Enzo in her semi-final, del Bo emerged the clear winner having been ranked first by all but the press jury. The top three songs had all come from the third semi-final.| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lisa del Bo | "Liefde is een kaartspel" | 216 | 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 | Enzo | "Mooi" | 151 | 3 |
| 12 | Mario Caselli | "Mademoiselle" | 90 | 10 |
| Song | Antwerp Antwerp (province) Antwerp is the northernmost province both of the Flemish Region, also called Flanders, and of Belgium. It borders on the Netherlands and the Belgian provinces of Limburg, Flemish Brabant and East Flanders. Its capital is Antwerp which comprises the Port of Antwerp... |
Limburg Limburg (Belgium) Limburg is the easternmost province of modern Flanders, which is one of the three main political and cultural sub-divisions of modern Belgium. It is located west of the river Meuse . It borders on the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and Limburg and the Belgian provinces of Liège, Flemish Brabant... |
East Flanders East Flanders East Flanders is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Netherlands and in Belgium on the provinces of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant , of Hainaut and of West Flanders... |
Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also completely surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region. Its capital is Leuven... |
West Flanders |
Press jury |
Professional Jury |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liefde is een kaartspel | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 35 | 120 | 215 |
| Een andere wereld | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 40 | 20 | 73 |
| Kijk me aan | 8 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 90 | 128 |
| Zo voel ik vandaag | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 50 | 60 | 119 |
| Morgen komt de lente | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 25 | 80 | 135 |
| Er is iets | 10 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 55 | 40 | 143 |
| Nooit meer alleen | 4 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 100 | 139 |
| Jij alleen | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 37 |
| Dat ik van je hou | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 45 | 70 | 141 |
| Ik laat je nooit meer gaan | 11 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 30 | 110 | 189 |
| Mooi | 9 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 60 | 50 | 151 |
| Mademoiselle | 7 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 30 | 90 |
At Eurovision
In 1996, for the only time in Eurovision history, an audio-only pre-qualifying round of the 29 songs entered (excluding hosts Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
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.
On the night of the final del Bo performed 16th in the running order, following the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and preceding the eventual winner Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. At the close of the voting "Liefde is een kaartspel" placed 16th of the 23 entries, having received 22 points. Oddly, 17 of its points came from two of the first three countries to vote: the maximum 12 from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and 5 from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The result was not good enough to prevent Belgium from being relegated from the 1997 contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1997
The Eurovision Song Contest 1997, was the 42nd Eurovision Song Contest and it was held at the Point Theatre Dublin, Ireland, on 3 May 1997. Boyzone member Ronan Keating and Carrie Crowley were the presenters of the show....
on the cumulative countback rule. The Belgian jury awarded its 12 points to the United Kingdom.
"Liefde is een kaartspel" later became embroiled in controversy when it was alleged that it had been plagiarised
Musical plagiarism
Music plagiarism is the use or close imitation of another author's music while representing it as one's own original work. Plagiarism in music now occurs in two contexts – with a musical idea or sampling...
by Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
's 2001 Eurovision
Eurovision Song Contest 2001
The Eurovision Song Contest 2001 was the 46th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 12 May 2001 in the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was the first time in 36 years that Denmark hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, thanks to the Olsen Brothers' win the previous year in Stockholm...
entry "Listen To Your Heartbeat". This was initially denied by the writers of the Swedish song, but Belgian songwriters' association SABAM
SABAM
SABAM is the Belgian association of authors, composers and publishers. The acronym stands for "Société d’Auteurs Belge – Belgische Auteurs Maatschappij"....
threatened legal action, and a cash settlement was agreed to forestall this.
Points Awarded by Belgium
| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point | |
External links