Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, Greece. The Belgian entry was selected through a national selection, Eurosong '06, organised by the Belgian broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie. Kate Ryan represented Belgium with the song "Je t'adore", which failed to qualify from the competition's semi-final, placing 12th and scoring 69 points. "Je t'adore" - with a French title but English lyrics - was written by Kate herself and three Swedish composers; Niklas Bergwall, Niclas Kings and Lisa Greene.
Before Eurovision
Eurosong '06
Eurosong '06 was the Belgian national final for choosing the Belgian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006.
Format
The selection process involved the staging of seven shows; the final on 19 February, plus fourquarter finals and two semi finals held during January and early February 2006. All shows were hosted by Bart Peeters at VRT TV Studios in Schelle. Each qualifying heat contained seven songs and the top three from each heat proceeded to one of the two semi-finals. After the quarter finals, the jury chose two wildcards - one for each of the semi-finals - bringing the total number of songs in each semi-final to seven. The top three of each semi final proceeded to the final and the jury selected one wildcard to bring the total in the final to seven. In the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, the juries accounted for 66% of the votes while the televote accounted for 33%. In the final, the juries accounted for 40% of the vote, the international juries accounted for 30% of the vote and the televote accounted for the remaining 30%. The songs were judged by an expert jury, Radio 2, Radio Donna, Press Jury and televoters. Three European juries were implemented in the final. All shows took place at the VRT TV Studios in Schelle, hosted by Bart Peeters.
Sonny O'Brien was later chosen as one of the two wild cards for the semi-finals by the professional jury.
Quarter-final 2
Els de Schepper was later chosen as one of the two wild cards for the semi-finals by the professional jury.
Quarter-final 3
Quarter-final 4
Semi-final 1
Semi-final 2
The day after the last semi-final, Brahim was chosen to be the professional jury wildcard in the final.
Final
The final was held on 19 February 2006 at the VRT TV Studios in Schelle, hosted by Bart Peeters. The winner was chosen by the expert jury, Radio 2 jury, Radio Donna jury, a press jury, three international juries from Germany, Israel and Poland, and televoting. The juries accounted for 40% of the vote, the international juries accounted for 30% of the vote and the televote accounted for the remaining 30%. The decision for VRT to choose these three countries to represent the European audience was based on a study they asked two independent professors in statistics to do, on which countries gave the points most close to the actual results in the last few Eurovision Song Contests. Each international jury consisted of eight members: four random viewers and four music experts. They will watch the show from their native countries where it will be streamed live for them. Kate Ryan won the final after being a top three favourite with all eight juries, and being the top favourite amongst the televoters and two of the international juries.
Promotion
Flemish Minister of CultureBert Anciaux gave a subsidy of 60,000 euros in order to promote Kate Ryan and her song in the other participating countries of the year's contest. The money was used to pay for a promotional tour throughout these countries. The subsidy itself has been harshly criticized in the Flemish press.
At Eurovision
Because country failed to qualify in 2005 Belgium competed in the semi-final of the 2006 Contest on 18 May 2006 performing 7th, following Albania and preceding Ireland. Despite being one of the pre-contest favourites, Belgium failed to qualify to the final, placing 12th in the semi-final and scoring 69 points. Therefore, Belgium will have to compete in the semi-final again in ESC 2007. The Belgian voting spokesperson, Yasmine, held up a placard with the words "We Love Kate Ryan" during the final.
