Maureen Louys and Jean-Louis Lahaye have been confirmed as the RTBF commentators for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.
Maureen and Jean-Louis will commentate on Eurovision together for French-speaking viewers in Belgium for the first time since 2019. Maureen is a television presenter and has hosted every season of The Voice Belgique since the beginning in 2011. Maureen also hosted the Junior Eurovision 2005 alongside Marcel Vanthilt when it was held in the Belgian city of Hasselt. She has also been the Belgian spokesperson on three occasions (2007, 2009 and 2011) and has been one of the RTBF Eurovision commentators since 2013. She was supposed to commentate on last year’s contest but had to be replaced by Fanny Jandrain as she tested positive for Covid-19.
Jean-Louis Lahaye has been present on both television and radio since the 1990’s. In 2004 and 2005, he hosted the Belgian Junior Eurovision selection and was the RTBF commentator for Junior Eurovision in the same years. Since 2007, he has commentated on Eurovision for RTBF.
Eurovision 2022 will be broadcast live in the French-speaking regions of Belgium on television (La Une), radio (Vivacité) and online (Auvio).
Who is Jérémie Makiese?
Jérémie Makiese was born on June 15 2000 to Congolese parents in Antwerp in northern Belgium. At the age of six, he moved with his family to several places around Belgium, before settling in Uccle in the Brussels Capital Region. Because of his upbringing, Jérémie is fluent in both Dutch and French.
In 2021, Jérémie took part in the ninth season of The Voice Belgique. After getting all four coaches to turn for him during his blind audition, Jérémie progressed to the live shows and was eventually chosen as the winner in April 2021. After winning, he put his geology studies on hold to focus on music.
Image Source: Ciné Télé Revue | Source: RTBF
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
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.
