Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996

Eurovision Song Contest 1996
Country	Belgium
National selection
Selection process	De gouden zeemeermin
Selection date(s)	3, 10, 17 & 24 February 1996 9 March 1996
Selected entrant	Lisa del Bo
Selected song	"Liefde is een kaartspel"
Finals performance
Final result	16th, 22 points
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1995 • 1996 • 1998►

Belgium was represented by Lisa del Bo, with the song '"Liefde is een kaartspel", at the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Oslo on 18 May. 40 songs took part in the Belgian preselection, which consisted of four semi-finals in February, followed by the final on 9 March. All the shows took place at the Knokke Casino with hosts Michel Follet and Alexandra Potvin.

Semi-finals

Four semi-finals were held in February 1996 to select the 12 finalists for the Belgian final. 10 songs competed in each semi-final, with the top 3 songs, selected by a 7-member expert jury, progressing to the final. Each jury member awarded points on the Eurovision 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-10-12 scale to each song, although they could give any mark they wished to each song (i.e. they could award 12 points to more than one song if they chose).

Final

The national final was held on 9 March with 12 songs competing. This time voting was done by ranking the songs, and consisted of a mixture of a professional jury (50%), a press jury (25%) and five regional juries (5% each). Despite having finished second to Enzo in her semi-final, del Bo emerged the clear winner having been ranked first by all but the press jury. The top three songs had all come from the third semi-final.^[1]

At Eurovision

In 1996, for the only time in Eurovision history, an audio-only pre-qualifying round of the 29 songs entered (excluding hosts Norway who were exempt) was held in March in order for the seven lowest-scoring songs to be eliminated before the final. "Liefde is een kartspel" placed 12th, thus qualifying for the final.

On the night of the final del Bo performed 16th in the running order, following the Netherlands and preceding the eventual winner Ireland. At the close of the voting "Liefde is een kaartspel" placed 16th of the 23 entries, having received 22 points. Oddly, 17 of its points came from two of the first three countries to vote: the maximum 12 from Spain and 5 from the United Kingdom. The result was not good enough to prevent Belgium from being relegated from the 1997 contest on the cumulative countback rule. The Belgian jury awarded its 12 points to the United Kingdom.^[2]

"Liefde is een kaartspel" later became embroiled in controversy when it was alleged that it had been plagiarised by Sweden's 2001 Eurovision entry "Listen To Your Heartbeat". This was initially denied by the writers of the Swedish song, but Belgian songwriters' association SABAM threatened legal action, and a cash settlement was agreed to forestall this.^[3]

Voting

Points awarded to Belgium

Points Awarded by Belgium

12 points	United Kingdom
10 points	Sweden
8 points	Norway
7 points	France
6 points	Portugal
5 points	Turkey
4 points	Croatia
3 points	Ireland
2 points	Switzerland
1 point	Netherlands

See also

• Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Song Contest 1996

External links

• Belgian Preselection 1996

References

Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participation 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Artists 1950s Fud Leclerc Mony Marc Bobbejaan Schoepen Fud Leclerc Bob Benny 1960s Fud Leclerc Bob Benny Fud Leclerc Jacques Raymond Robert Cogoi Lize Marke Tonia Louis Neefs Claude Lombard Louis Neefs 1970s Jean Vallée Lily Castel & Jacques Raymond Serge & Christine Ghisoland Nicole & Hugo Jacques Hustin Ann Christy Pierre Rapsat Dream Express Jean Vallée Micha Marah 1980s Telex Emly Starr Stella Pas de Deux Jacques Zegers Linda Lepomme Sandra Kim Liliane Saint-Pierre Reynaert Ingeborg 1990s Philippe Lafontaine Clouseau Morgane Barbara Dex 1994 Frédéric Etherlinck Lisa del Bo 1997 Mélanie Cohl Vanessa Chinitor 2000s Nathalie Sorce 2001 Sergio & The Ladies Urban Trad Xandee Nuno Resende Kate Ryan The KMG's Ishtar Patrick Ouchène 2010s Tom Dice Witloof Bay Iris Roberto Bellarosa Axel Hirsoux Loïc Nottet Laura Tesoro Blanche
Songs 1950s "Messieurs les noyés de la Seine" "Le plus beau jour de ma vie" "Straatdeuntje" "Ma petite chatte" "Hou toch van mij" 1960s "Mon amour pour toi" "September, gouden roos" "Ton nom" "Waarom?" "Près de ma rivière" "Als het weer lente is" "Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel" "Ik heb zorgen" "Quand tu reviendras" "Jennifer Jennings" 1970s "Viens l'oublier" "Goeiemorgen, morgen" "À la folie ou pas du tout" "Baby, Baby" "Fleur de liberté" "Gelukkig zijn" "Judy et Cie" "A Million in One, Two, Three" "L'amour ça fait chanter la vie" "Hey Nana" 1980s "Euro-Vision" "Samson" "Si tu aimes ma musique" "Rendez-vous" "Avanti la vie" "Laat me nu gaan" "J'aime la vie" "Soldiers of Love" "Laissez briller le soleil" "Door de wind" 1990s "Macédomienne" "Geef het op" "Nous, on veut des violons" "Iemand als jij" 1994 "La voix est libre" "Liefde is een kaartspel" 1997 "Dis oui" "Like The Wind" 2000s "Envie de vivre" 2001 "Sister" "Sanomi" "1 Life" "Le grand soir" "Je t'adore" "Love Power" "O Julissi" "Copycat" 2010s "Me and My Guitar" "With Love Baby" "Would You?" "Love Kills" "Mother" "Rhythm Inside" "What's the Pressure"
(Note: Entries scored out are when Belgium did not compete)