It’s more than a month since we woke up to “Wake Up”. However, it wasn’t until this week that we finally got to hear Belgium’s Eliot sing his Eurovision 2019 song live. In a case of famine to feast, the teenage star delivered three live in as many days.
Eliot “Wake Up” Live Performances
On Wednesday came a pared-back performance on RTBF’s Pure FM. It was an ok first attempt, but it lacked the power Eurovision fans were expecting. Social media was quick to respond, with fans taking particular aim at Eliot’s vocals. However, some pointed to similarly questionable pre-contest performances from Roberto Bellarosa in 2013. He, of course, went on to finish a very respectable 12th in Malmö.
Click HERE to watch see the performance (you will need to create a free RTBF account first).
Next, Eliot sought to impress Thursday morning commuters. At approximately 08.00, he stood with just a piano in the middle of a bustling Namur train station (the capital of Wallonia). And this was what we needed to hear! Eliot sings all his lines effortlessly and almost looks bored by how easy the job is for him. He sounds amazing from beginning to end.
Eliot, le candidat belge à l'Eurovision LIVE @ gare de Namur ! #PianoEnGare #WakeUpwithEliot
Posted by SNCB on Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Then, on Friday, Eliot called by the MNM radio studios. Even though Eliot looks a little nervous, it feels like he is getting to grips with performing “Wake Up”. He is certainly becoming increasingly confident. The ex-Voice contestant even tries to add a new dimension to the track by emphasising some lines, singing them louder than other parts of the song.
The Voice Belgique
Speaking of The Voice, Eliot returns to his old stomping grounds on Tuesday 16 April. The popular TV show made him famous when he participated in the 2018 season. Previous RTBF candidates Roberto Bellarosa, Loïc Nottet and Blanche followed a similar route to Eurovision.
What do you think? Is Eliot ready to perform live on the Eurovision stage? And which live performance did you enjoy the most? Let us know in the comments!
I feel a little bit of Blanche (he seems very insecure and don’t know what to do with his body) and a little bit of Sennek (struggle in a particular moment of the song). The thing is that normally the criticism is directed towards Belgium’s singers, when the delegation needs to be hold accountable for the fact that they pick talented but unexperienced performers without giving them the right preparation for the challenge. 3 times in 4 years can’t be a coincidence.
Not really sure what to expect from this. I still like the song, but I wish I wouldn’t have seen or heard this…
The thing is, and I’ve felt this for the past few years about Belgium: performances and vocals, especially from young singers, can be rehearsed and improved – the song cannot. And this year, for like the fourth time since 2015, I feel Belgium has a song that is in theory good enough to win the entire damn contest. So I have no worries. I absolutely love the song, its atmosphere, its build up, and Eliot himself will grow into performing it. He has more than six weeks before the contest to work on those high notes. Also – I think… Read more »
Genuinely wish him best of luck – but some vocal classes are desperately needed – vocal tecnique, vocal technique!
Well Eliot already looks more comfortable and confident here than Blanche ever did, including during her performance that won her 4th place in the Final.
Can be possible that he stay in semis?.
Everything is okey until he hits the “you” high note. I can’t tell if he is out of tune or he wants it like that. Anyway, those “you” sound a bit unpolished and not satisfying at all. Belgium is my 2nd though.
What exactly was that catastrophic with Sennek? She did the job and her live performance was more than decenr. The only thing is that it’s Eurovision so people were probably expecting her to jump off a spaceship il the middle of fireworks while spitting fire on stage.
I think he is incredible. And the song is amazing.
He looks like he doesn’t want to be there
He’s nervous and yes there are a few dodgy notes. But this feels really honest, not like a lot of super-polished performances which leave me cold. Go Eliot!
Wow. I love it. Emotionally available. I kind of get he is young but he is really working hard at this and o found it captivating. Can’t wait for his performance.
He seems to struggle with the high notes but I think he will rehearse a lot and improve. Plus this railway station is always horribly loud (I know it, I’m from Belgium and I go through it twice a week). It was a bad idea to go there.
Hopefully Eliot will improve and the staging will be nice.
who cares, this isn’t about the worldclass music perfection gods mahmood and duncan
just a nobody from belgium
WTF are you aiming at, you troll? Why don’t you stick your fingers in your a** and keep them there for a couple of weeks so you won’t be able to post more of your disgusting comments!
The correct subtitle of the article is “Three disasters in one week”
I love men who show emotions and vulnerability! Much better than all of the “I-am-so-strong-and-cool”-dudes. Eliot will go his way <3
Yes exactly. I see that aspect working well with the viewers’ vote, even if Eliot will struggle to get any jury points.
Very good performance! Why does it always have to be perfect vocally?
Anyway we don’t get an acoustic version in TA…
Because this isnt a karaoke competition
Isn’t it?
With backing singers, the instrumentals and the high-quality sound system at eurovision, he will do great. And his vulnerability only adds to the strength of the song.
lovely song, but this is giving me Blanche deer-caught-in-headlights vibes which can make the viewing public feel uneasy and nervous for him…they definitely need to get him out there in front of big audiences to make him more comfortable or the nervousness will come through in the voice
Yes I get that as well but remember she did finish fourth. Belgium would be very happy with that result
i can’t help but laugh when he sings
Since when is it wrong to sing a song in a different way…..this is stripped back so cannot be the same as the studio version. Stop giving him a hard time. Yes he looked nervous, but after several performances, that can improve greatly.Still one of my top entries.
Belgium have had three years in a row now where the song is better than the singer. Experience does count for something, Loic was really an exception.
wow second year in a row that Belgium picks a singer that is failing to impress live and ruining a good song.
Sennek had a great song but the staging was bad, boring and bland and she lacked charisma (she didn’t even know where to look). The camera cuts were messy too…
Eliot is inexperienced and he’s not delivering the notes. I am sure Belgium will fail to qualify once again, SF1 isn’t a weak semifinal and they don’t have Netherlands or Denmark to receive votes.
Can’t hit the high note.
yikes….. sennek her legacy lives on
He’s improving but he can’t seem to get the chorus right still , especially the ‘You’
Now I believe that even Georgia will do better on the jury vote. Such a contrast with Oto’s powerful and strong voice that will shine just after.
oto sounds like he’s hawkin n spittin. that ain’t a good voice that’s just roarin like a lion in heat. plus sul tsin iare is juss a bad song
I agree but don’t get your hopes high. Georgia has competition from Croatia. Also, Georgia had good singers last year but they miserably failed. It’s not always about the voice, if you have a bad song.
I don’t get the negative comments tho, I think everybody enjoys a good trainwreak alla Sennek’s. Doesn’t seem to be the case this year.
The song reaches me more than the singer does, but I believe this is how it was intended. There is a deliberate juxtaposition between the unti-now-unspoken man and the powerful statement: “I came to fight over you”.
Having Eliot sing this in a railway station was very risky PR, but easily demonstrates the power behind the song.
like his voice a lot
Such a nice voice. He seemed a bit shy in the station but it was a weird set up. keep up the good work!
the mnm.be one, the other one is bad quality
Oh wow I’m impressed, but why did I read a lot of negative comments?
All of them are good!