VRT has confirmed that it will not be holding an open submissions process for ‘Eurosong 2023’ the Belgian selection for Eurovision.
The Belgian broadcaster VRT has opted to directly work with record labels to find participants for its Eurovision 2023 selection, instead of holding an open selection. Gerrit Kerremans, VRT music coordinator told Songfestival.be:
Due to the late decision to organize a pre-selection on Een. The A&R team has consulted a wide group of record labels and managers regarding the availability of potential candidates.
The Belgian selection is one of few national selections to be held in recent years where an open submissions window has not been used to find entries to compete in the selection. VRT has yet to release further details on the exact format, dates and venue of the 2023 selection.
Jérémie Makiese placed 19th in the final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest for Belgium. He received 64 points, 59 of which were awarded by the jury and 5 from the televote.
Image source: EBU / Nathan Reinds | Source: Songfestival.be
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.
