Tonight Belgium will decide who will win the ticket to Stockholm when the final of Eurosong 2016 screens. But before then, let’s take a look at the favourites, according to the Wiwi Poll and the Wiwi Jury.
Back in November Flemmish broadcaster VRT introduced the five candidates for Eurosong 2016: Adil, Amaryllis, Astrid, Laura and Tom. The five were put through a bootcamp, working on their performance skills. The first live show of Eurosong saw the group showcase their singing ability, then last week they debuted their potential Eurovision entries.
Tonight the decision will finally be made. The show starts at 20:25 CET and can be watched live on Eurovision.TV.
Poll results: Who should win Belgium Eurosong 2016?
We’ve been running a Wiwi Poll asking you who you think should win Eurosong. The results were clear, with Tom in first place getting 38.24% of the vote. Laura came in second with 22.42% of the vote, followed by Adil with 16.09%, Astrid with 15.12%, and Amaryllis in last place with 8.13% of the vote.
- Tom Frantzis — “I’m Not Lost” 38.24% (592 votes)
- Laura Tesoro — “What’s the Pressure” 22.42% (347 votes)
- Adil Aarab — “In Our Nature” 16.09% (249 votes)
- Astrid Destuyver — “Everybody Aches” 15.12% (234 votes)
- Amaryllis Uitterlinden — Kick the Habit 8.13% (126 votes)
Wiwi Jury results
Over the past week, the Wiwi Jury has been reviewing and rating the five entries in Eurosong. Our jury for this edition consisted of 18 jurors who came from Australia, Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Each juror assessed each song independently, and awarded each song a score from 0 to 10.
1. Tom Frantzis “I’m Not Lost”
The best: (Edd, 9/10) “This is a seriously good song. Judging by the success of artists like Hozier and Sheppard, I would even say this could win Eurovision. However, he desperately needs to swap the preppy Oscar Zia look for an authentic indie-folk look – swap the mechanic for organic. A bit of banjo wouldn’t go unnoticed either. If this doesn’t win, Belgium is making a massive mistake…”
The worst: (Antranig, 5/10) “‘I’m Not Lost’ does absolutely nothing for me lyrically – it’s playing it way too safe and it’s very predictable. However, the chorus is extraordinarily catchy and this is certainly a contender to win the ticket to Stockholm. Even though it is catchy, I don’t think the song showcases the best of Tom’s vocals the way that his take on “Rhythm Inside” did.”
Score: 7.53/10
2. Laura Tesoro “What’s the Pressure”
The best: (Josh, 8.5/10) “Sassy. Edgy. Fun. Laura Tesoro is bringing all three of these things in spades, darling! I’m loving the throwback to the disco era in “What’s the Pressure”. It’s got a danceable beat, a memorable chorus and it’s nice to see the saxophone getting a workout since it went on long-service leave in 1996. Contagiously fun. Love it!”
The worst: (William, 4/10) “Laura is a gorgeous performer with lots of attitude and plenty of spunk. I just wish she had a better song. This feels very 1977, replete with the disco habit of looping lackluster melodies and overemphasizing the tambourine. There is no pressure, Laura: This ain’t gonna win.”
Score: 6.13/10
3. Adil Aarab “In Our Nature”
The best: (Renske, 7.5/10) “From all performances, Adil’s one was the most eye-catching (or the least toe-curling). Next to that, he has a really special voice. Although, I loved both the performances of “Believe” and “Rhythm Inside” at Eurovision, I rather want him to have an original performance. Because of all the things happening in his performance, the important message of his song was put in the background, which is sad.”
The worst: (Edd, 3/10) “The first minute is the most blatant rip-off of Loïc Nottet’s Vienna performance that you will ever see. Unfortunately for Adil, his voice, although pleasant, isn’t half as striking as Loïc’s – and neither is his song. The dull production in the chorus makes that song feel like a never-ending verse, and fails to evoke any sort of emotion in me (other than boredom, that is).”
Score: 5.88/10
4. Amaryllis Uitterlinden “Kick the Habit”
The best: (Deban, 7.5/10) “Channeling Purity Ring but without synthpop, Amaryllis oozes vintage confidence. Slightly repetitive, yet positively memorable, “Kick the Habit” slams the beat into your second nature. You’re singing along before the song is over! Belgium has been historically toxic with its low Eurovision placings in recent years. Loic Nottet was the exception. Amaryllis could be the second exception.”
The worst: (Antranig, 3/10) “Amaryllis is obviously a very captivating performer – I love watching her on stage. Unfortunately “Kick the Habit” is the definition of mediocre. The song is ridiculously repetitive and not in a good way. I like the fact that the song powers up in the last minute but it’s not enough to save it from being the weakest entry in the Belgian field. I’m going to kick the habit of listening to this song.”
Score: 5.56/10
5. Astrid Destuyver “Everybody Aches”
The best: Josh (7.5/10) “This is pretty good! Astrid is super cool and edgy and this performance is fierce! The start of the song is seriously giving me Aminata Savadogo vibes, but “Everybody Aches” doesn’t quite build like “Love Injected” did, though I don’t mind that. I don’t know how well suited to Eurovision this song is — I picture it more being played in a funky bar in Melbourne whilst sipping on an Aperol Spritz. Nevertheless, still a great effort from Astrid.”
The worst: (William, 3/10): “It’s like a prankster tampered with her metronome: at times she seems to be singing in slow motion, and at other times she’s been put on fast-forward. Regardless of the tempo, she’s never really in control. Easy-listening R&B just isn’t for her. I detest the dub-step-esque section from 0:57. It’s very Vilija Mataciunaite, and we know how that turned out…”
@Alinedekalle Who are you? Why don’t you speak English so everyone can understand you? Why are you using my name and why do you call me stupid? It’s just an opinion and you are also free to give yours but please respect mine… Thank you
@Alinedekalle, Girl you need to learn some manners but i guess you’ll never get that far.
@ Alinedekalle: your comment is rude and not called for. It shows just how immature you really are. You must be one of those immature teenage fangirls who voted for the girl and not for the best song. Well, you have your wish, don’t come whining when we don’t reach the final yet AGAIN.
I just read that “I’m not lost” by Tom has reached the Belgium’s Top 100 in ITunes. Do we have a winner??
I’m so looking forward to this
I was leaning towards Astrid in the snippet period, Adil in the live performance, and now Laura after listening to all of them over and over again
Then there’s also a chance that Tom wins
Going to be a very interesting NF
To be honest, none of them stand a chance of reaching the final so it kind of doesn’t matter, but Tom really reminds me of Anti Social Media – uninteresting song and an inability to connect with the audience.
Alleen domme wijven zoals Aline Van Rossem stemmen op Tom.
Dat kind is oerdom, en denkt dat ze het is!
Kan iemand haar het zwijgen opleggen?
1. I’m not lost
2. What’s the pressure
3. In our nature
4. Kick the habit
5. Everybody aches
@dutchie. “They have some excellent musicians, but they wouldn’t touch Eurovision with a ten foot pole”, ahahahah! 😀 Sad, but true…
Still, with Loïc’s good placing last year, I was hoping they had understood that a good song and a talented singer can go a long way. I was hoping for a momentum or something, apparently not…
I get “Another One Bites the Dust” vibes from Laura, but it works and I love it!! I hope it wins, I doubt there will be a song like it in the Contest, so it has a chance to stand out.
Please don’t pick Tom though, we don’t need a boring Tom Dice wannabe again.
@racal
Most Western European countries don’t exactly send their best quality artists to Eurovision, and Belgium is no exception. Of course among these 10 million people they have some excellent musicians, but they wouldn’t touch Eurovision with a ten foot pole.
1-Everybody Aches
2-Whats the Pressure
3-Kick The Habit
4-Im not Lost
5-In Our Nature
The problem with Laura is not the song (which is “ok”) nor her stage performance (which I must say is really good). The problem is her vocals: she sounds horribly off key when she sings live, and that rarely ends well in Eurovision. Lena got away with it, but she had a way better song. Anyway, even though I think Tom is good, I must say I’m disappointed with the overall quality of their 5 contenders. Belgum has 10 million inhabitants (this is more than most countries in the ESC, except the big 5), and this is all they can… Read more »
@DenizNL, I bet we will have more solo male acts this year. Only to see that none of them has a chance. Last year’s winning formular can never be repeated. All those solo female acts standing still on stage or male/female duets didn’t go nowhere neither last year.
I don’t know if Tom is the best choice. I mean, we already have Ireland with the same kind of style. We have multiple boybands coming up singing in the same style. And Douwe Bob will probably do the same kind of thing too. If this goes on like this, we will have 20 of the same songs.
But if he wins I wouldn’t be mad. I like the rest too, but song wise he is probably the best.
Tom is clearly the best out of this lackluster bunch by a long mile. “I’m Not Lost” is the only song I see as having the potential to get Belgium out of the semi-final. Laura is a fun performer and all, however her song is not only a blatant rip-off of “Sax” by Fleur East but also really flat and uninteresting. Belgium always picks the most out-of-touch song when they get a choice, so I expect Laura to win but if they were smart they’d go with Tom.
I want Laura to win!
Greetz
Aline Van Rossem (die beter haar bek houdt)
How can the best score for Astrid be a 4.0 while she has an average of 5.16….
Actually I think none of the songs has a chance to qualify to the final. Neither good or bad songs, all quite forgettable. Sorry Belgium 🙁
Western Europe (except for Scandinavia I guess) is making the same mistakes again, judging by the line-ups and choices given by Iceland, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and Austria.
Decent is boring, not winning, in Eurovision!
Sweden, Norway and Denmark, as well as Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan will come up with big punches. Hungary already has a promising line-up too.
Tom would be the best choice, but he isn’t my favorite.
My top:
1. What’s the pressure
2. Everybody Aches
3. I’m not lost
4. In our Nature
5. Kick The Habitt
1. What’s the pressure
2. I’m not lost
3. In our nature
4. Everybody aches
5. Kick the habit
Although ‘I’m Not Lost’ is my favorite, I think it’s too average like ‘Sunlight’ but Tom isn’t a big name across Europe so I fear he’d get a similar treatment to Molly Sterling and Melanie René in his semi final.
Laura is the best performer out of the 5 and has the biggest potential to do well. If only they’d change her song.
How can people vote Toms song as number 1. It sounds just like the usual forgettable song that countries like Belgium and Switzerland etc sends… it will make no impact at Eurovision….
Whats the pressure seems to be the best choice.
@William Lee Adams, Swedish Melodifestivalen star Carina Jaarnek is dead at 53. She died yesterday. She has participated in Melodifestivalen in 1994 and 2002. Her sister almost won over Carola in Melodifestivalen 1991.
The only problem with what’s the pressure is that it should have been sung by someone else who could OWN the song. Very fleur east/uptown vibes
Tom doesn’t sound like an ESC winner to me. It is a very radio-friendly song that doesn’t bother you while ironing. His voice is not very strong neither. It’s still the best song, but I don’t think Belgium will catch up with last year’s success.
1 kick the habit
2 i’m not lost
3 what’s the pressure
4 everybody aches
5 in our nature
1. I’m Not Lost
2. Kick The Habit
3. What’s The Pressure
4. Everybody Aches
5. In Our Nature
Both Laura or Tom would make great reps for Belgium at ESC 2016. However, stating that Belgium could win with Tom is stretching it a bit…there will be better song/artists as national finals are completed in between now and March. Loic was far better and unique, imo.
1. Kick the habit 8.5/10
2. I’m not lost 6.5/10
3. What’s the pressure 6.0/10
4. In our nature 5.5/10
5. Everybody aches 5.0/10