Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975


Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 with the song "Gelukkig zijn", written by, and performed by Ann Christy. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Flemish Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep, selected its entry through a national final. Ann Christy had previously taken part in the and. Future Belgian representatives Micha Marah and Dream Express also took part in the national final.

Before Eurovision

''Eurosong''

Eurosong was the national final format developed by Flemish broadcaster Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep which determined the song that would represent Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 1975. This was the first edition of Eurosong, which would become the name of every BRT and VRT national final after 1975, and would become synonymous with the Eurovision Song Contest itself in Belgium. This was also the first ever national final called Eurosong in the history of Eurovision Song Contest national finals, a name that would be adopted by several other countries for their national finals, such as:, the,,, and.

Format

The first stage of the selection process consisted of seven semi-finals at the Amerikaans Theater in Brussels, taking part between 17 November 1974 and 16 February 1975, hosted by Staf Van Berendoncks. The format was similar to the former Belgian national final Canzonissima, where each semi-final had ten artists and the top three songs would be reused by their artists in the next semi-final while the other seven artists would select new songs. Songs that got top three in two consecutive semi-finals qualified to the final.

Competing entries

BRT shortlisted eight singers and two groups for Eurosong 1975: Ann Christy, Rita Deneve, Ingriani, Micha Marah, Ann Michel,,,, The Lollipops, and. A rule in Eurosong 1975 allowed artists to also participate with bands, causing Dream Express, Jeremiah, Road, and The Pebbles to participate as well. A total of 58 songs competed in Eurosong 1975.

Shows

Semi-finals
Voting in the semi-finals was done by five provincial juries, each consisting of ten members of the public, five men and five women. After every show, all fifty were replaced. Since songs introduced in semi-final 9 could not get top three in two semi-finals and qualify to the final, the rules to qualify for the final were changed for semi-final 9. Songs had to receive at least 377 points, the average number of points that every song that qualified to the final got in their last semi-final.
The first four semi-finals were recorded on a Saturday and broadcast on the Sunday. The fifth semi-final was never recorded and broadcast due to a strike at BRT, but it still took place behind closed doors. The sixth and seventh semi-finals were broadcast live on a Saturday.
DrawArtistSongPointsPlace
1Micha Marah"Kom bij mij"3653
2Ingriani"Hey capitano"3364
3"Het land van friet en pils"2508
4The Lollipops"Shalala"2199
5"Ik ben funny"3315
6"De wereld zingt een nieuw refrein"2757
7"Kom geef mij je kleine hand"2866
8Rita Deneve"Ben je vergeten dat ik van je hou"3771
9Ann Michel"Mijn gentleman"3402

Ann Christy was absent from semi-final 1 as she was abroad at the time.
DrawArtistSongPointsPlace
1Ann Michel"Mijn gentleman"4011
2Micha Marah"Kom bij mij"3832
3Ingriani"Zo zacht"3166
4"Alleen je lichaam"1899
5The Lollipops"Kansas City Joe"14210
6"Ook dat nog"2317
7Ann Christy"Als je eenzaam bent"3763
8"Sla je handen in elkaar"3215
9"Alleen"2268
10Rita Deneve"Ben je vergeten dat ik van je hou"3724

Rita Deneve would have participated with the song "Maar toch blijf je de eerste" but was absent due to the birth of her son.
DrawArtistSongPointsPlace
1"Alles wat ik heb"2699
2Rita Deneve"Vogelvrij"3146
3Ann Michel"Alleen voortaan"3593
4Micha Marah"Weet je waarom"3564
5Ingriani"Dan zal ik dansen"3751
6"Zonder geld, zonder vrouw, zonder baan"18610
7The Lollipops"Valentijn"2968
8"Come On Baby"3185
9Ann Christy"Gelukkig zijn"3722
10"Zo was er niemand"3057

The fifth semi-final was not broadcast due to a strike at BRT, but it still took place.
DrawArtistSongPointsPlace
1Ann Christy and Dream Express"Hartenbreker"3194
2 and Jeremiah"Het is zo goed weer thuis te zijn"3253
3"Laat een jongenshart nooit alleen"2339
4Rita Deneve"Ciao adieu, aufwiedersehn"3175
5Ann Michel"Droomland aan zee"2727
6Micha Marah"Ik weet"3811
7Ingriani"Hey hey dandy"3782
8"Een kind van nog geen zeven"19210
9The Lollipops"Love, Love, Love"2816
10"Fils à papa"2628

After Semi-final 6, Micha Marah withdrew "Ik weet" as she wanted to participate with a different song in semi-final 7.
DrawArtistSongPointsPlace
1"Vraag niet waarom"3295
2Ann Christy"Oh mon amour"3513
3"De wereld"3414
4 and Road"Ik wil terug naar mijn moeder"20910
5Rita Deneve"Dance Dance Mama"3941
6Ann Michel"Als de lente komt"2867
7Micha Marah and the Pebbles"t Is over"3842
8Ingriani"Lady"3295
9"Wat over Frits en zin familie wordt verteld"2428
10The Lollipops"t Was een mooie tijd"2359
Final
The final, consisting of ten songs, took place on 1 March 1975 also at the Amerikaans Theater, hosted by Staf Van Berendoncks. Six singers were involved, with four performing two songs apiece. Voting was by five regional juries, each consisting of 20 members of the public, and "Gelukkig zijn" emerged the winner by a margin of almost 60 points.
DrawArtistSongPointsPlace
1Ann Christy"Als je eenzaam bent"7653
2Ann Michel"Mijn gentleman"59810
3 and Jeremiah"Het is zo goed weer thuis te zijn"6009
4Ingriani"Dan zal ik dansen"7444
5Micha Marah"Kom bij mij"6957
6Rita Deneve"Dance Dance Mama"7276
7Ann Michel"Alleen voortaan"6268
8Ingriani"Hey hey dandy"7672
9Ann Christy"Gelukkig zijn"8251
10Micha Marah and the Pebbles"t Is over"7355

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Christy performed 11th in the running order, following and preceding. Under the free-language rule in operation at the time, Christy performed the first half of the song in Dutch, before switching to English. At the close of the voting "Gelukkig zijn" had received 17 points, placing Belgium 15th of the 19 participating countries.

Voting

ScoreCountry
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point

ScoreCountry
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point