In the autumn of 2010 a web-based competition was held by AKA Music, a company that promotes artists and puts them in contact with producers. The competition stated that any act who managed to raise €20,000 would qualify to take part in the next phase of the national selection.
As a result, 30 acts qualified to this stage, showing a huge interest in the Eurovision Song Contest but it triggered a semi-final as well. It was broadcast as a three-hour show on the radio station VivaCité, with live performances from all 30 contestants.
In the end, it came down to 14 participants who are still in the running to become Belgium's next Eurovision Song Contest participant. See the lucky list below!
Chloé - Just One Chance
Alexandre Deschamps - Elle Merveille
Syla K. - Simple Love
Thayss N' Bau - Somewhere With You
The Blazing - Our Way
J Cool - Dans Ma Chanson
.fen - Yes I Know
Nelza - Be My Friend
Steve Linden - C'est La Musique
Clac et Les Portes - Claquer Les Portes
Sarina - Rien En Apparence
Kaptain Oats - Reset
Gautier Reyz - Addiction
Witloof Bay - With Love Baby
Who are the favourites?
Most of the participants of the national selection show, called Qui? A vous de choisir!, are newcomers in the eyes of the wider audience.
However, there are at least two exceptions to this - Gautier Reyz who finished third in the eight edition of the French Star Academy in 2008.
The second one is Chloé who was the runner-up of the Junior Eurosong, the Belgian national selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in the same year.
Besides them, the blind singer Sarina Cohn, who is just 16 years old, is one of the frontrunners in the contest too, according to local polls.
There is a special interest in Belgium about the Eurovision Song Contest this year as it was exactly 25 years ago when the country won Europe's favourite TV-show with Sandra Kim's J'aime La Vie.
Sandra Kim is also in the jury picking the Belgian entry in a joint vote with the viewers this year. Other members of the jury are Viktor Lazlo (hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 1987), Jean-Pierre Hautier (Eurovision Song Contest commentator) and Charles Gardier (artistic director of Francofolies de Spa).
Belgium enjoyed considerable success in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. Tom Dice performed Me And My Guitar and finished sixth in the Final with 143 points. He won the first Semi-Final, held four nights before.
