Belgium: On 16 November Eurosong 2016 candidates will be announced

VRT, the Belgian national broadcaster has confirmed that it will be revealing the names of the 5 Eurosong 2016 candidates on Monday 16 November.

The names of the 5 hopefuls will be revealed next Monday during the Peter Van de Veire Show aired on Belgian Radio MNM at around 8:00 am in the morning. A press conference will follow at 11.00 where the 5 acts will be officially presented to the Belgian press.

VRT will be organizing a national selection for Eurovision 2016 in order to select its Eurovision entry and act for Stockholm. A total of 5 acts will battle for the golden ticket to Sweden.

Belgium has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 57 times since making its debut as one of the seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The only countries with more appearances are Germany (59), France (58) and the United Kingdom (58). Belgium have been absent only three times in total, in 1994, 1997 and 2001, due to low scores in the previous contests that relegated them from the contest. Belgium has won the contest once, in 1986.

In the first 20 years of the contest, Belgium’s best result was Tonia’s fourth place in 1966. In 1978, Jean Vallée achieved Belgium’s first top three placement, when he was second. In 1986, Sandra Kim became the first and to date only winner for Belgium, when she performed the song J’aime la Vie, to win as a 13-year-old in Bergen. Belgium’s only other top three result came in 2003, when the group Urban Trad finished second in Riga, losing out by only two points. Belgium have finished last in the contest eight times, most recently in 2000 and have twice received “nul points”; in 1962 and 1965. Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Belgium have struggled to make an impact and have failed to reach the final of eight of the last eleven contests (2005–15), most notably in 2006 with Kate Ryan, who was one of the pre-contest favourites. In 2010, Tom Dice finished sixth. In 2015, Belgium finished in fourth place with Loïc Nottet and his entry Rhythm inside.