Just under 1 million viewers tuned in on Tuesday night in Belgium, as the nation failed to progress to the Grand Final.
996,807 viewers tuned in to Semi-Final One of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Belgium. RTBF saw a total of 230,945 viewers watch the contest, while VRT saw a total of 765,862 viewers tune in. The overall number of viewers for the first semi-final is down 100,000 viewers over the same show in 2018.
Eliot represented Belgium in the first Semi-Final of Eurovision 2019. The singer performed “Wake Up” on stage, however failed to qualify for the Grand Final. This is the second year running that Belgium has failed to qualify for the final.
Last night also ended RTBF, the Walloon broadcasters, run of qualification which first started in 2013 and saw Belgium’s results in the Eurovision Song Contest dramatically improve.
Source: Telepro
Belgium was one of the original seven nations to participate in the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. To date, the country has won the contest only once in 1986. Sandra Kim won the contest with the song “J’aime la vie”, her victory was not without controversy when it emerged that Sandra was just 13 years old, two years younger than the age restriction at the time. In the late 00s, Belgium struggled in the contest failing to reach the final annually from 2005 until 2010, when Tom Dice finished 6th in the final with 143 points. Belgium has finished last at the contest six times, including two sets of nul points.