Axel Hirsoux wins the Belgian ticket to Copenhagen!

Axel Hirsoux, winner of Belgium's Eurosong 2014

About Axel Hirsoux

For Axel Hirsoux, taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest is a dream come true. This humble young man from Charleroi will soon take to the stage in Copenhagen to show the world what he has to offer musically with the song Mother.
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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:

1. Yass - Need You Tonight
2. SIL - What's The Time In Tokyo
3. Udo - Hero (In Flanders Fields)
4. Bandits - One
5. Eva Jacobs - Nothing Is Impossible
6. Axel Hirsoux - Mother

Belgium - Eurosong 2014 Final

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The voting

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:

1. Axel Hirsoux 74
2. Yass 58
3. Eva Jacobs 52
4. Bandits 42
5. Sil 32
6. 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:

1. Axel Hirsoux 160
2. Bandits 48
3. Eva Jacobs 37
4. Yass 19
5. Udo 10
6. Sil 6

Making the final score look like this:

1. Axel Hirsoux 234
2. Bandits 90
3. Eva Jacobs 89
4. Yass 77
5. Sil 38
6. 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:

Line-up complete in 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 ... Read more

Two further finalists found in 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. Read more

First two finalists found in 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.  Read more

Semi-Final line-up complete in 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.  Read more

Four more acts through in 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. Read more

Eurosong 2014 kicks off in Belgium

Tonight, the first 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.  Read more

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.

Did the right song win in Belgium?

Portugal: Suzy wins Festival da Canção!

Suzy will represent Portugal in Copenhagen.

About Suzy

Suzy was born in Figueira da Foz and has been active in showbizz since she was a kid as a member of the Children's band "Onda Choc" which had huge success. She performed on stage for the first time at the age of five and has gone on to have a successful career ever since!
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Lisbon, Portugal - It was late night in most of Europe when Portugal announced the name of the winner of their Festival Da Canção 2014. After a one year absence in the Eurovision Song Contest the country will be represented by Suzy with the song Quero Ser Tua.

The Portuguese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, Festival Da Canção 2014, comprised one semi-final and the final, both held at the Convento do Beato in Lisbon. Ten composers were invited by RTP and they chose the performers for their songs. In the end, the following five made it to tonight's final (click on the title to watch the semi-final performance of the song):

1. Rui Andrade - Ao Teu Encontro (Rui Andrade & Marc Paelinck)
2. Catarina Pereira - Mea Culpa (Andrej Babic & Carlos Coelho)
3. Zana - Nas Asas da Sorte (Paulo Abreu Lima e Jan Van Dijck)
4. Raquel Guerra - Sonhos Roubados (Nuno Marques da Silva & Nuno Feist)
5. Suzy - Quero Ser Tua (Como A Lua É Do Luar) (Emanuel)

Meet the finalists of Portugal

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After the round of televoting the results were announced in random order. First the top 3 songs were revealed:

• Catarina Pereira - Mea Culpa
• Suzy - Quero Ser Tua
• Rui Andrade - Ao Teu Encontro 3rd

So Rui was declared 3rd while Suzy and Catarina were still waiting for the final result. They were taken to the stage for the final announcement and the winner was finally revealed... Suzy with the song Quero Ser Tua, lyrics and music by Emanuel, just like in 2007 with Sabrina's Dança Comigo.
Suzy will represent Portugal in the First Semi-Final of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest on the 10th of May in Copenhagen, the same place where they made their first appearance in the contest 50 years ago.

Do you agree with the winner in Portugal? Tell us below!

Sweden: Sanna Nielsen wins Melodifestivalen!

Sanna Nielsen will represent Sweden in Copenhagen.

Stockholm, Sweden - It's been an outstanding Melodifestivalen tour around Sweden arriving to the capital, Stockholm, tonight for the final of the Swedish national selection of the Eurovision Song Contest. Ten acts gave their all to win the votes of the international juries and the people of Sweden, but the one that manage to get the highest number of points, and go to Copenhagen, is Sanna Nielsen with the song Undo.

After four semi-finals, a second chance round and tonight's final, Melodifestivalen 2014 is over. For the past 6 weeks 32 acts have been fighting for the honour of representing Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest.

 

But it was all down to the votes of the 11 international jury groups, which accounted for 50% of the total result, and the telephone votes of the Swedish audience, accounting for the remaining 50%. In the end they decided that Sanna Nielsen will represent Sweden in Copenhagen with the song Undo.

The finalists

This is the order of appearance in which the artists participated tonight:

1. Anton Ewald - Natural (John Lundvik)
2. Ellen Benediktson - Songbird (Sharon Vaughn, Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson, Tobias Lundgren)
3. Alcazar - Blame It On The Disco (Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger, Hamed "K-One” Pirouzpanah)
4. Oscar Zia - Yes We Can (Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger, Hamed "K-One” Pirouzpanah)
5. Linus Svenning - Bröder (Fredrik Kempe)
6. Helena Paparizou - Survivor (Bobby Ljunggren, Henrik Wikström, Karl-Ola Kjellholm, Sharon Vaughn)
7. YOHIO - To The End (Andreas Johnson, Johan Lyander, Peter Kvint, YOHIO)
8. Sanna Nielsen - Undo (Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger, Hamed "K-One" Pirouzpanah)
9. Panetoz - Efter Solsken (Johan Hirvi, Mats Lie Skåre, Nebeyu Baheru, Njol Badjie, Pa Modou Badjie)
10. Ace Wilder - Busy Doin' Nothing (Ace Wilder, Joy Deb, Linnéa Deb)

The Swedish broadcaster SVT offered yet another top entertainment show which, besides the contestants, offered other guest performances from Swedish Eurovision Song Contest singers, like that the 1999 Eurovision winner Charlotte (Nilsson) Perrelli and an interval act dedicated to another Eurovision winner from Sweden: Waterloo by ABBA that won the contest 40 years ago.
After the international juries gave their points the top 3 looked like this:

1. Ace Wilder - Busy Doin' Nothing 97 points
2. Sanna Nielsen - Undo 90 points
3. Alcazar - Blame It On The Disco 62 points

Then the Swedish public gave their results

1. Sanna Nielsen - Undo 122 points (Total 212 points)
2. Ace Wilder - Busy Doin' Nothing 113 points (Total 210 points)
3. Alcazar - Blame It On The Disco 48 points (Total 110 points)

Which means Sanna Nielsen is the winner by just 2 points.
The winner of Melodifestivalen 2014 Sanna Nielsen will go on to represent Sweden at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the first Semi-Final on the 6th of May with Undo.

Do you agree with the results of the Swedish Melodifestivalen?

It's Moustache for France!

Twin Twin will represent France in Copenhagen.

Paris, France - Five weeks ago the French broadcaster premièred the three songs in contention to represent France at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in the weekly show Les Chanson D'Abord. Today it was time to announce the results in the same show and the winner is... Twin Twin with the song Moustache!

In today's broadcast of Les Chansons D'Abord, the presenter Natasha St.Pier made the announcement of the song that will represent France at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Denmark.
Click on the song title to listen to the three candidates (winner in bold):

• Destan - Sans Toi (Without You)
• Joanna - Ma Liberté (My Freedom)
• Twin Twin - Moustache

Meet the French candidates

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The songs have been voted on by the viewers from last January 26th to the 23rd of February 2014. A jury of professionals has also given their votes, with both accounting for 50% of the result. Recap programmes of the songs were broadcast daily on France 3 and on france3.fr and approximately 28 million people have watched one of the recaps, that represents 47% of the French population.
It was announced that the winners of the competition are Twin Twin with their song Moustache.

The winners Twin Twin

This is a trio of creative effervescence with electro, rock, rap, funk and chanson influences and consists of Lorent Idir and François Djemel, the twins after which the group is named; the third member being Patrick Biyik. With their spring-mounted melodies, their taste for mash-ups and striking conjugations, their use of gimmick and vibrant lyrics dealing with reality, Twin Twin looks like a great cure for the gloomy atmosphere. Their motto? Vive la vie ... Oh yeah!

France with Twin Twin and Moustache will perform at the Final of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen on the 10th of May. Natasha St-Pier will also be this year's French commentator alongside Cyril Feraud on the night.

Do you agree with the French winner?

Ruth Lorenzo wins in Spain!

Ruth Lorenzo will represent Spain in Copenhagen.

Barcelona, Spain - It was a very exciting show tonight in Barcelona with a nail biting ending between the two favourites, Brequette and Ruth Lorenzo, which ended in a tie between the two. The televoting winner prevailed making Ruth the Spanish representative in Copenhagen at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest with Dancing In The Rain.

The entry of Spain at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest has just been chosen in a televised final held in Barcelona tonight. The show called Mira Quién Va A Eurovisión was conducted by Anne Igartiburu.
These were the five hopefuls in the order of appearance of the show (click on the titles to listen to the songs):

1. Brequette - Más (Run) (Thomas G:son / Tony Sanchez)
2. Dama - Estrella Fugaz (Shooting Star) (Melendi)
3. Ruth Lorenzo - Dancing In The Rain (Ruth Lorenzo / Jim Irvin / Julian Emery)
4. Jorge González - Aunque Se Acabe El Mundo (Even If The World Ends) (Kiko Rodríguez / Bruno Nicolás / Leticia Fuentes / María José Fernández)
5. Raúl - Seguir Sin Ti (Go On Without You) (William Duque & Domingo Sánchez)

The winner was chosen in a a 50% televote and 50% expert jury voting. The jury consisted of three of Spain's top music stars: Mónica Naranjo, David Bustamante and Merche.

The results

The three members of the expert jury gave the same set of points:

• DAMA 6 + 6 + 6 = 18
• RAÚL 7 + 7 + 7 = 21
• JORGE 8 + 8 + 8 = 24
• RUTH 10 + 10 + 10 = 30
• BREQUETTE 12 + 12 + 12 = 36

Then a notary brought the televoting results which were as follows:

• DAMA 18
• RAÚL 21
• JORGE 24
• BREQUETTE 30
• RUTH 36

Spain's finalists for Copenhagen

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Making the final ranking look like this. In the event of a tie the televoting results prevailed so... the winner is Ruth Lorenzo:

1. RUTH LORENZO 66
2. BREQUETTE 66
3. JORGE GONZÁLEZ 48
4. RAÚL 42
5. DAMA 36

The winner

Ruth Lorenzo was heavily tipped to be the Spanish choice before the announcement of a public selection. Mostly unknown in Spain, she finished in the top 5 of the UK's X Factor in 2008 with Dannii Minogue as her mentor. After trying to break it in the difficult British market she came back home and has just signed with a new record company aiming to reach not only the Spanish market but the international one too.

Ruth Lorenzo, winner in Spain

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Ruth appeared on stage tonight wearing a mermaid like outfit which was referenced in the show with a little mermaid character, a tribute to Copenhagen's most popular sight, and also with a present for Ruth from her family: the original vinyl of The Little Mermaid soundtrack which she thought she had lost when moving to the US with her family as a child.
Earlier in the week Dancing In The Rain peaked at #1 in the Spanish iTunes singles chart. A first for a Eurovision Song Contest entry before being chosen. Her new adventure couldn't start better with this victory at the Spanish final.
Spain won the Eurovision Song Contest at London's Royal Albert Hall in 1968 followed by a home victory in 1969. Ruth Lorenzo will participate in the Final in Copenhagen on the 10th of May to make Dancing In The Rain the 54th Spanish entry.

Do you agree with the results in Spain tonight?