2023 is the turn of the broadcaster VRT to select Belgium’s song for Eurovision. VRT represent the Flemish speaking side of all things Belgium and have sent past artists like Tom Dice, Laura Tesoro, Sennek and Hooverphonic.
VRT surprised many when they announced the return of Eurosong, a national selection process last used seven years ago when Laura Tesoro won through in 2016. The surprises kept coming with VRT changing the Eurosong format to have the 7 artists perform not one, but two potential Eurovision entries. The artists and their potential songs were as follows:
Ameerah – “The Carnival” / “Armageddon”
Chérine – “Ca m’ennuie pas” / “Mon étoile”
gala dragot – “emotion ollie” / “t’inquiète”
Gustaph – “Because of You” / “The Nail”
Hunter Falls – “Home” / “Ooh La La”
Loredana – “I Dream in Colours” / “You Lift Me Up”
The Starlings – “Oceanside” / “Rollercoaster”
Snippets of these songs can be found by clicking here!
The final was held 14 January, however during the week before VRT showed 5 episodes that involved the artists giving advice to each other about their two songs and then ultimately ending with each one selecting the song that they would take to the final.
The final was held at Palais 12 in Brussels and was hosted by Peter Van de Veire and included a performance by Duncan Laurence.
For the final, an equal amount of jury and public votes were combined to select the winner. Included in the jury were NikkieTutorials, Laura Tesoro, Jérémie Makiese and Alexander Rybak.
The Eurosong 2023 final results were as follows (jury / public):
Gustaph - “Because of You” 278 points (121 / 157)
The Starlings - “Rollercoaster" 277 points (94 / 183)
Gala Dragot - “T’inquiète” 271 points (146 / 125)
Chérine - “Ca m’ennuie pas” 268 points (145 / 123)
Ameerah - “The Carnival” 171 points (107 / 64)
Loredana – 'You Lift Me Up' 167 points (83 / 84)
Hunter Falls - 'Ooh La La' 128 points (84 / 44)
So it was Gustaph ,with his self-written song “Because of You”, who was the surprise winner, coming 3rd with the jury and 2nd with the public. It’s a fun, camp dance song that will bring some entertainment to the Eurovision stage.
A little about Gustaph: he is a 42 year old Belgian singer-songwriter, producer and vocal coach. He has been a backing vocalist for Sennek (2018) and for Hooverphonic (2021) and will now get his chance to take to the main stage in Liverpool for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.