Axel Hirsoux wins the Belgian ticket to Copenhagen!
Axel Hirsoux, winner of Belgium's Eurosong 2014
Antwerp, Belgium - Tonight, in an impressive production from VRT, Belgium chose Axel Hirsoux with the song Mother written by Rafael Artesero and Ashley Hicklin as its representative for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen.
Tonight, at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp, the Grand Final of the Belgian national selection, Eurosong 2014, took place where 6 acts competed for the right to represent Belgium at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen in May.
There could, however, only be one winner and this was Axel Hirsoux with the song Mother after impressing the viewers and juries with a great performance.
Each of the acts went through a long and exciting journey to get to tonight's show, starting will casting rounds and culminating in this spectacular Grand Final while listening to the valorations of the professional jury made up by 2004 Eurovision winner Ruslana from Ukraine and local experts Bart Peeters, Piet Goddaer and Jef Martens.
The Acts
These are the six acts that qualified for the final of Eurosong 2014, which tonight took place at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp:
Tonight the result was made up of votes split 50:50 between the televote and 7 international juries from Azerbaijan, Denmark, Ireland, F.Y.R. Macedonia, The Netherlands, Spain and Belarus. After they casted their votes this was the result:
Axel Hirsoux 74
Yass 58
Eva Jacobs 52
Bandits 42
Sil 32
Udo 22
The expert panel was present during tonight's show but only in an advisory capacity, unlike in previous shows, but they could mention their one favourite and they all agreed in naming Axel Hirsoux as their favourite.
The juries and public had the same total of 280 points each to give out. This is how the televote was spread:
Axel Hirsoux 160
Bandits 48
Eva Jacobs 37
Yass 19
Udo 10
Sil 6
Making the final score look like this:
Axel Hirsoux 234
Bandits 90
Eva Jacobs 89
Yass 77
Sil 38
Udo 32
Watch again
If you missed tonight's show or simply want to watch it again, you can visit our WebTV whenever you like to see Eurosong 2014 and many other shows on-demand.
Read more
We have been covering the Belgian selection, all the way from the first casting rounds until tonight's show. You can read all about it in our articles below:
Belgium will participate in the first Semi-Final of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place at the B&W-Hallerne on Refshaleøen in Copenhagen on the 6th of May.
Coaches: Bart Peeters, Piet Goddaer and Jef Martens.
Antwerp, Belgium - Tonight, the Belgian National Final, Eurosong 2014, will place at the Sportpalais in Antwerp. Here, six acts will compete for the right to represent Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen in May.
Tonight, in what promises to be a spectacular show from the Belgian city of Antwerp, six acts will compete for the right to represent their country at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen in May.
Broadcaster, VRT, has thrown a lot into this year's selection with televised casting rounds and three live Semi-Finals.
The Acts
The casting rounds and Semi-Finals culminated with the following six acts qualifying for the Grand Final, which tonight takes place at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp:
Tonight the result will be made up of votes split 50:50 between the televote and 7 international juries from Azerbaijan, Denmark, Ireland, F.Y.R. Macedonia, The Netherlands, Spain and Belarus. The juries and public will have a total of 280 points each to give out.
The expert panel made up of Bart Peeters, Piet Goddaer, Jef Martens and Ruslana will be present during tonight's show but will only be there in an advisory capacity, unlike in previous shows.
Where to watch
The Grand Final of Eurosong 2014 can be watched LIVE from 20:00 CET right here at Eurovision.tv on our WebTV. Will you #JoinUs?
Belgium will participate in the first Semi-Final of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place at the B&W-Hallerne on Refshaleøen in Copenhagen on the 6th of May.
Vilvoorde, Belgium - Tonight, the Belgian national selection Eurosong 2014 continued with the third and final Semi-Final where four further acts competed for the final two places in the Final. The lucky winners are Axel Hirsoux and Bandits.
Tonight at the Videohouse in Vilvoorde, the Belgian national selection, Eurosong 2014, continued in earnest with four acts competing for the two final places in the Grand Final, which will take place at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp on the 16th of March.
The result was decided by both the televote and the professional jury.
The qualifiers
Tonight the following two acts qualified to the Grand Final:
Axel Hirsoux - Mother
Bandits - One
The participants
Four acts took part in tonight's extravaganza from Vilvoorde. These were (qualifiers in bold):
Nelson - Wild Side
Axel Hirsoux - Mother - 1st Place
Tisha Cyrus - Kitty Cat
Bandits - One - 2nd Place
The interval act featured the band Clouseau, who represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1991 with the song Geef het op, tonight singing a new song.
The final line-up
Now that we have found our final two qualifiers for the Grand Final of Eurosong 2014, we now have six songs ready and eager for the final next Saturday. The running order for the Grand Final has not yet been determined by VRT. These are:
Eva Jacobs - Nothing Is Impossible
Udo - Hero (In Flanders Fields)
Yass - Need You Tonight
SIL - What's The Time In Tokyo
Axel Hirsoux - Mother
Bandits - One
Belgium will take part in the first Semi-Final of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place at the B&W-Hallerne on Refshaleøen in Copenhagen on the 6th of May.
Vilvoorde, Belgium - Tonight, the Belgian national selection Eurosong 2014 continued with the second Semi-Final where four furhter acts competed for just two places in the Final. The lucky winners are Sil and Yass.
Tonight at the Videohouse in Vilvoorde, the Belgian national selection, Eurosong 2014, continued in earnest with four acts competing for two further places in the Grand Final, which will take place at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp on the 16th of March.
The result was decided by both the televote and the professional jury.
The qualifiers
Tonight the following two acts qualified to the Grand Final:
Sil - What's The Time In Tokyo
Yass - Need You Tonight (pictured below)
The participants
Six acts took part in tonight's extravaganza from Vilvoorde. These were (qualifiers in bold):
Axeela - Chasing Rainbows (4th, pictured above)
Yass - Need You Tonight
2 Fabiola feat. Loredana - She's After My Piano (3rd, pictured below)
SIL - What's The Time In Tokyo
The interval act featured one of the most popular Belgian acts who represented them at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, Kate Ryan (pictured below), who performed her Eurovision entry Je t'adore.
The line-up so far
Last week the first Semi-Final took place where Eva Jacobs and Udo secured spots in the final. You can read all about it here:
Now Yass and Sil will join Eva and Udo in the final. Belgium will take part in the first Semi-Final of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place at the B&W-Hallerne on Refshaleøen in Copenhagen on the 6th of May.
Vilvoorde, Belgium - Tonight, the Belgian national selection Eurosong 2014 continued with the first Semi-Final where four acts competed for just two places in the Final.
Tonight at the Videohouse in Vilvoorde, the Belgian national selection, Eurosong 2014, continued in earnest with four acts competing for two places in the Grand Final, which will take place at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp on the 16th of March.
The result was decided by both the televote and the professional jury.
The qualifiers
Tonight the following two acts qualified to the Grand Final:
Eva Jacobs - Nothing Is Impossible
Udo - Hero (In Flanders Fields)
The participants
Six acts took part in tonight's extravaganza from Vilvoorde. These were (qualifiers in bold):
Tonight was special for many reasons, but there were two things that stuck out. The winner of the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, Ruslana, sat on the jury together with Bart Peeters, Piet Goddaer and Jef Martens. In Istanbul, she won with the song Wild Dances, which has become iconic all over Europe.
Another unique element to tonight's competition was the band Day One, made up of masked musicians of whom no one knows their identities. There has been much speculation in the Flemish press about who these people may be, with many people suggesting 2006 Belgian representative, Kate Ryan is the lead singer.
Belgium will take part in the first Semi-Final of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place at the B&W-Hallerne on Refshaleøen in Copenhagen on the 6th of May.
The Bandits made it through the Callback round tonight.
Brussels, Belgium - Tonight, the callback round of the Belgian national selection, Eurosong 2014, took place as the first live broadcast ahead of the Semi-Finals which begin next week.
Tonight, the eight acts that qualified to the Callback round of Eurosong 2014 competed in the first live broadcast for the four remaining places in the Semi-Finals, joining the eight acts that are already directly qualified.
Results
Tonight, the following four acts qualified to the Semi-Finals after both the professional jury and viewers at home casted their votes:
Bandits
Sil
Day One
2 Fabiola ft. Loredana
Semi-Final line-up
After tonight's show, we know the line-up for the Semi-Final stage of the competition, which starts next week. This is (in no particular order):
Udo
Nelson
Eva Jacobs
Axel Hirsoux
Petra
Yass
Tisha Cyrus
Axeela
Bandits
Sil
Day One
2 Fabiola ft. Loredana
Belgium will take part in the second half of the first Semi-Final of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, Denmark on the 6th of May. This year it is the turn of the Flemish broadcaster VRT to pick the Belgian entry.
Stay tuned for more news about Eurosong 2014!
Brussels, Belgium - Tonight, the second Casting round of the Belgian national selection, Eurosong 2014, took place where four acts qualified to the Semi-Final stage and four further acts got a second chance.
Tonight in Belgium, 15 candidates gave all they could to impress the judges and qualify to the Semi-Final stage of broadaster VRT's revamped national selection format, Eurovision 2014. Unlike in previous years, VRT is going all out to find its candidate with a series of castings, semi-finals and a grand final, in order to find its act for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen in May.
The results
Of the 15 candidates that performed for the judges tonight, the following four qualified directly to the Semi-Final stage:
Petra (93%)
Yass (89%)
Tisha Cyrus (86%)
Axeela (85%)
Four acts also received a ticket to the Callback stage of the competition, where they will have one more chance to reach the Semi-Finals:
Day One (85%)
Sil (84%)
Bandits (83%)
Mr. Jones (80%)
Last week
Take a look at the article below for information who qualified from the first Casting round last week:
Belgium will take part in the second half of the first Semi-Final of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, Denmark on the 6th of May. This year it is the turn of the Flemish broadcaster VRT to pick the Belgian entry.
Stay tuned for more news about Eurosong 2014!
Brussels, Belgium - Tom Dice rehearsing in Oslo in 2010.
Belgian broadcaster VRT has released more details of its national selection for 2014, promising a specactular series of shows with a Grand Final on the 16th of March.
In the spring of 2014, Één will launch a brand new, unique edition of Eurosong 2014, Belgium's national selection for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest. Piet Goddaer and Jef Martens, better known as Ozark Henry and Basto/Lazy Jay, are the first of four experts who will look for the best candidates and the best songs, but ultimately, the viewer has the final say.
After Één internally chose Tom Dice and Iris in 2010 and 2012 respectively, this spring the broadcaster will work with the viewers to find the act that will make Belgium shine on the stage at the biggest music festival in Europe. For the first time, Één will search for a song and a performer separately.
The Experts
To successfully tackle these two challenging assignments, Één has assembled a team of four experts with a lot of experience in the (inter)national music world. They will select artists who have it in them to render Europe speechless at the Eurovision Song Contest, and they will choose the very best songs. At the same time, they will also play matchmaker, pairing the chosen artists with the chosen songs.
About Piet Goddaer
Singer, arranger, and producer Piet Goddaer brings one of the top names in the Belgian pop- and rock scene to the Eurosong expert panel. As the founder and creative mind behind Ozark Henry, Goddaer has built himself an impressive reputation.
His breakthrough came with Birthmarks and The sailor not the sea, and secured his place at the top in Flanders with The soft machine. Goddaer writes, composes, and produces his own work and, additionally, produced and/or composed work by artists such as Arid, Lunascape, Novastar and DeLaVega.
Goddaer also has an excellent live reputation. Last summer, he clinched the Radio 2 Summer Hit Trophy with I’m your sacrifice, from his most recent album, Stay Gold. Over the years, he has collected gold and platinum records, Zamu Awards, and an MIA, and was recently nominated as Best Belgian Act for the MTV European Music Awards in November. He recently released the single, Plaudite amici comedia finita est.
About Jef Martens
The name Jef Martens (born 8th January 1980) may not immediately ring any bells, but Jef’s alter egos, Basto and Lazy Jay are well enough known in the music world.
Together with Peter Luts, he made all the Lasgo records for four years, after which he let himself be heard as Basto and Lazy Jay. Since 2010, he’s been reaping success all over Europe with several Basto singles. In France in 2012, Radio NRJ voted him the best new DJ, and in 2013 the same happened in Spain with Fun Radio.
He broke through as Lazy Jay in 2012, with Azealia Banks ft. Lazy Jay, and scored with Scream and shout by Will.I.Am ft. Birtney Spears – a number that he helped produce and write – a worldwide number one hit. Recently, just like Ozark Henry, he was nominated as Best Belgian Act for the MTV European Music Awards. Meanwhile, Martens is recording a new Natalia single, has new material ready with Will.I.Am, is writing numbers with Mika, and is collaborating with Natasha Bedingfield, Flo Rida and Carly Rae Jepsen.
The Process
Één viewers can join the search for the submission for the Eurovision Song Contest seven Sundays in a row:
Casting
2nd and 9th of February
An exciting competition for eight tickets straight to the semifinals
In the first two episodes, the castings, the candidates compete to win one of eight tickets straight to the semifinals. They do this by performing a number they have personally chosen from 58 years of Eurovision Song Contest history. Who has it in them to strike Europe speechless in Copenhagen? The experts will send eight candidates on to the semifinals.
Call Back
16th February (live)
The last chance for a ticket to the Semi-Finals
Eight candidates who did not receive tickets to the semifinals during the castings will be invited back for the third episode: The Call Back. It is a show in which they must prove their worth, live on television, to the experts and viewers alike. The stakes? The last four tickets to the semifinals.
Semi-Finals
23rd February, 2nd March and 9th March (live)
Each week, four artists reveal their new songs to the world.
In total, twelve artsists will make it through to the next round: the Semi-Finals. There are three Semi-Finals, in which four artists perform their new songs. Over the past few months, the artists have slaved away and fine-tuned their entries, entrusted to them by the experts. The experts and the viewers both decide who makes it through to the Grand Final.
Final
16th March (Live)
Six artists compete for the victory, the viewer decides.
Two acts from each Semi-Final will make it through to the Grand Final on the 16th of March. That day, six artists will compete for one honour: to represent Belgium at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen. The Flemish viewers will decide, together with a European jury, who will receive this honour. In this phase, the experts will only serve in an advisory role. In the final, the artists will perform their song with the full act as it would be seen at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Want to take part?
Performers
Candidates for Eurosong 2014 must send a film of themselves in which they perform a cover of a Eurovision Song Contest number. They must not, therefore, register with their own number. They may freely interpret the Eurovision Song Cotest number that they have chosen and “make it their own.” Whether it’s a rock version of Waterloo, a danceable Hard Rock Hallelujah, or a subdued Je t’adore; anything goes, no holds barred. For the choice of their number, candidates may look to 58 years of Eurovision Song Contest history.
Candidates can participate individually or in a group of up to six people. Registration and submission of a film is possible either online via the registration form on www.een.be, or by downloading a registration form from the website and sending it, together with the film, to the following address:
Registration must reach the Eurosong 2014 editors no later than midnight, Monday 14th October 2013.
Song Submissions
Lyricists and composers may submit numbers for Eurosong 2014 until the 28th October 2013 to eurosong@een.be
. Any submission must be an original number, at a maximum of 3 minutes long and that has not been released before. A more detailed song briefing may be requested via eurosong@een.be
.
Eurosong 2014 is a VRT Television production for Één.
