2020 was an interesting time for Hooverphonic. Their entry for the COVID-cancelled Eurovision, “Release Me” received lukewarm response, the group were criticised by Euro-fandom after they were the only 2020 act not to take part in “Eurovision: Europe Shine A Light” and they even replaced their leader singer, Luka Cruysberghs.
Traditionally both national broadcasters from Belgium VRT and RTBF take turns in selecting Belgium’s Eurovision representative however due to the special circumstances they reached an agreement with Hooverphonic for them to return to Rotterdam in 2021.
Hooverphonic have a career spanning some 25 years and their current line up is Alex Callier (bass guitar, keyboard) , Raymond Geerts (lead guitar) and Geike Arnaert (lead vocal). Geike had previously been with the band between 1997 and 2008.
The musical style of the current version of Hooverphonic leans towards ambient pop with a splash of electro. Looking through their discography, songs of note include Mad About You, 2Wicky, Eden and Looking for Stars.
On 4 March Hooverphonic released their song for Eurovision 2021 called “Wrong Place”. https://youtu.be/0EQyG1Yjlgw
I must say, this feels about right for them and their stye. It’s a song about having mis-givings “the morning after” and the music video captures the mood perfectly. It’s nicely paced and instantly recognisable.
There is certainly opportunity for some creative staging in Rotterdam with the band saying that the team behind The Netherlands’ “Calm After the Storm will be taking the lead.
With Belgium failing to qualify for the Eurovision final on the last two occasions the pressure will be on Hooverphonic to break the run of bad luck. I think this should do well for Belgium this time around and they won’t end up in the Wrong Place after the semi final.