The 13th artist in our Who Is series for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 is Essyla from Belgium.
Alice Van Eesbeeck, better known as Essyla, was born on March 27, 1997 in Perwez in the Walloon Brabant region of central Belgium. She grew up in a musical environment, split between Perwez and Flanders, where her father lives. She studied at the Royal Superior Institute of Music and Pedagogy in Namur. Her stage name Essyla is a derivative of her birth name, Alysse, but spelled backwards.
In 2020, Esslya, still performing under her birth name, participated in the ninth season of The Voice Belgique. She placed second in the final to Jérémie Makiese, who later went on to represent Belgium in Eurovision 2022.
After her appearance on The Voice Belgique, Elyssa began her career by working as a backing vocalist for several artists, including Typh Barrow, who was Elyssa’s coach on The Voice Belgique and who participated in the Belgian selection for Eurovision 2005. In 2023, Elyssa released her first single under her current stage name “Let You Go”. This was followed by her debut EP “I’ll Be Okay” later in the same year.
Elyssa has previous connections to Eurovision. In 2019, she represented Belgium at Eurovision Choir 2019 as part of Almakalia. In 2024, she was a member of the Belgian jury for Eurovision 2024.
Elyssa was internally selected to represent Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.
The song that Elyssa will perform in Vienna is called “Dancing On the Ice”. It was written and composed by Barbara Petitjean, Emil Stengele, Nicolas d’Avell and Elyssa herself.
Elyssa will compete in the second half of the first semi-final on May 12.
Belgium was one of the seven nations who participated 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 eight times, including two sets of nul points.
