If you ever wonder what the darkest depths of Eurovision suffering look like, just turn to the BeNeLux (or more recently just the BeNe) countries. Thankfully, after years of having absolutely nothing to show for, Belgium and the Netherlands have both upped their game in recent years. 2015 continues the trend: neither country has reason to be ashamed this year. Let us say, YAY!
We suspect that — despite their history of friendship — a bit of brotherly rivalry is spurring the countries on. Honestly, who wants their neighbour to beat them? With that in mind, we want to know: Do you prefer Belgium’s Loïc Nottet with “Rhythm Inside” or Trijntje Oosterhuis with “Walk Along”? Which act do you think has a better shot at climbing the scoreboard and challenging for the win?
Netherlands: Trijntje Oosterhuis (Traincha) with ‘Walk Along’
Belgium: Loic Nottet with ‘Rythm Inside’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV2b3L1K6_c
[polldaddy poll=8756703]
Vote for good singing by XTRAIN Trijntje x
Belgium, easily.
Why Trijntje picked Anouk’s sole mediocre song void of any substance is beyond me – she must have had a ton of better options to choose from.
To my dear neighbours to the South, good luck, bonne chance, veel succes.
This is one cute guy :3 Loic all the way :*
I’m actually coming from the Netherlands, but i’m not a fan of our entry this year. The words are too much repeating and after a few times it gets annyoing.
Belgium on the other hand, i have no words do describe this song. Well maybe one. Perfect. Everything just fits perfectly. I’m rooting for them this year! 🙂
Belgium all the way. The Netherlands’ song makes me cringe :/
Belgium’s gonna “rap-bap-bop” to the top #sorrynotsorry
@P4ESC: I’m sorry but, was there something great about the Netherlands’ staging last year? It was overly simple, 2 guitars, no movement, and the camera going round around the singers. Of course it fitted the song very well, but there’s no guarantee that it’ll be the same for the more upbeat song of Trijntje this year, same director or not.
Honestly they are both very different from each other. They will have points on both sides.
It all depends on the act and the live performance. The Dutch will have the same director as last year.. so be prepared for something great, Netherlands isn’t lost just yet. As for Belgium, I cannot say what to expect. I don’t know if there are much fans for this kind of music. But the act might help him! I believe they will both be in the final.
this is hard! both are really very good– but Loic is SO impressive, he has so much emotion when he sings, and he is so young!… so I give him the edge
I prefer Belgium but I like the Netherlands too, so catchy! Such totally different songs though. I reckon Belgium will do better, and there is a fair amount of doubt about whether the netherlands will pass the semi – I hope they do 🙂
Both songs arent that great, i prefer Trijntje tho cus i hate the voice of that guy..
Loïc, of course! he has a great voice and the song is different!
No contest, Belgium wins. Netherlands shouldn’t even make the final with that annoying crap.
They’re both good songs but due to the large Soviet and Baltic/Scandinavian blocks, they won’t get much love and I can see only one of them getting through.
loic!
Comparing 2 songs that are so different… Of course i support my own country and voted for Trijntje. I think we both deserve to qualify, but the diaspora for the other countries are a lot higher… Belgium will qualify, unfortantely Trijntje will be tight, very very tight to qualify(I reall hope it’s enough)
Both! 🙂
But between the two, Belgium.
@ Sander
Thanks for responding. I don’t remember Estonia being such a hot favourite last year. And I think the running order was the least of their problems. I don’t think anybody forgot their performance – in fact I think most viewers problably remebered painfully well how bad it was. I personally couldn’t wait for these agonising three minutes to pass.
Belgium’s definitely my favorite. It’s refreshing and appealing in contrast to the corny and worn out song the Dutch send in this year. However, if this is in Belgium’s advantage on Eurovision remains to be seen. The looks of the Belgian contender on the other hand are in Belgium’s advantage. Age wouldn’t be the only contributor to that supremacy. Holland seems to have a tendency of not caring about the contestant’s looks. This year’s squinting competitor makes that once more very obvious.
Lots of people here highlight the poor qualities of Belgian entries, however I’d like to mention Urban Trad in 2003 who came second by only 3 points (and were, in my opinion, better than Turkey), Tom Dice who won his semi-final and placed 6th in 2010, and Roberto Bellarosa who did a pretty good job in 2013. If you look more into the past, Jean Vallée was amazing in 1978 with “L’amour ça fait chanter la vie” (placed second behind Israël, but deserved to win in my opinion), Kate Ryan in 2006 was amazing as well (even though she got… Read more »
@ Ct Thanks for your comment. I agree with you that you can’t compare Estonia 2014 with Belgium 2015 when comparing the songs. But I compare the running order and the hype that is around the songs. Estonia was very popular last year and Belgium seems to be popular too. Even though Estonia had jury support, the televote killed the song. I think running order had a lot to do with it. Also it sounded a lot like Euphoria and standard Eurovision songs. Belgium on the other hand sounds more original and has more quality. But it has a dreadful… Read more »
Trijntje is definitely more experienced and a far better singer, period. Loic has a far more interesting song (its in my bottom 5 though, hate it). The Dutch entry is, imo, more catchy, more uplifting. It gives me a good feeling 🙂 The visuals? We dont know yet, but im expecting them both, especially NL to surprise. Belgium will do better (also thanks to a lot of girls who will only vote for the singer lol), and could be a winner, but i hope im wrong.
I never got the hype for Trijntje, still not a fan.
Belgium is very good though.
Netherlands and Belgium are my two favourite entries this year! Walk Along is 1st by a small margin but I know Rhythm Inside has a much better chance.
@Eugene ESC UK
”Netherland’s is inspired by pre “Birds” 2013 Netherlands entries, a backward step for Netherlands.”
haha jup! ”Walk Along” is indeed inspired by ”birds-Anouk” the song ”walk along” is originally written by Anouk herself :p Trijntje went to Anouk and picked out this song, they made a few chanches in the lyrics (maybe they added ”why-y-y-y”) and she was ready for eurovision.
Anouk will help Trijntje with her rehearsel in Austria and thats promissing for the Netherlands.
Belgium has the best song, while the Netherlands will give us a better performance
From…
2013: Belgium and Netherlands were both great
2014: Netherlands were much better
2015: Belgium were much better.
All the other years weren’t great for them.
@ Sander What does Belgium 2015 has to do with Estonia 2014? Absolutely nothing. You compare an interesting, modern composition with a very competent singer to something completely amateurish. Personally I was 100% certain that Estonia wouldn’t make it to the final last year. I think there is a chance they will both make it to the final – I have a feeling both semis will be wildly unpredictable this year. However I don’t think Trintje will benefit from appearing straight after Loic. It will probably make her entry sound more conventional and dated. It would be more beneficial for… Read more »
(dutchy) Our country does not exctually compete against our best friend Belgium. If belgium ends up higher than the Netherlands (Belgium will get a better result for sure) we don’t care :p Here in the Netherlands we only care about qualifying to the final. After 8 years of not reaching the final we’re doing alot better now. If people only watch eurovision live and will hear the song for the first time both countries do great. ”Walk along” is very catchy, while Loic has a special voice. Both Belgium and The Netherlands should reach the final, however i think ”walk… Read more »
Loïc Nottet for sure in my opinion.
The “Why-yay-yay-yay-yay” part of Walk Alone drives me crazy every time >_<
I think both of the countries have a good chance of qualifying but this year is really open: There are a lot of ex-USSR and ex-Yugoslavia countries but we saw in 2013 that the most of the ex-Yugoslavian countries were in the same semi and non of them qualified. Besides that too much ex-USSR countries made that a fan fave like Estonia didn’t qualify last year. So basically everything could happen! This year Belgium got more positive reactions than The Netherlands when they released their songs (the reaction for the Dutch songs were still okay) and since the biggest part… Read more »
Belgium is much better.
The pros & cons of every entry… (‘Sander’ oh you got me here as you did it first.. 😛 *Walk Along* by Trisha Oosterhuis 4 Holland Pro ~ Really cool song….Way much better than Belgium’s.. ~ Trisha is great performer and i expect by her a truly fine live performance on May.. Con ~ Holland performs in not good running order on the semifinal and this factor will work against Trisha.. ~ Her videoclip 4 *Walk Along* is not that good if we exclude the hot semi naked babe.. 😉 ~ Trisha is too old compared with the young hunk… Read more »
I really like both, Belgium is 4th in my Top 40 and the Netherlands is 3rd! Belgiums song has a good rhythm, amazing singer and the Netherlands has an amazing, catchy song and I really like her amazing voice! Both are very modern too! But I think that both won’t qualify because they start from 3rd (Belgium) and 4th (The Netherlands). There are also countries which have a better chance to qualify because they’re qualify every year and have a lot of neighbours to get votes from! Russia, Romania, Estonia, Georgia, Armenia, Greece, Albania, Moldova, Belarus and FYR Macedonia will… Read more »
I am Dutch. I love the Belgian entry. The more I listen to walk along, the more I find it annoying. Loïc’s song, however, makes me want to dance every single time. I love it. One of my favourites in the whole contest.
I think these are the pros and cons of these two entries: Belgium: cute and good looking singer with a radio friendly song that sounds original. Bad running order position…. 3rd? I think the televote will forget it just like Estonia last year and the jury vote won’t be that high I think as there are a lot of good ballads and ‘popular’ countries in the semi top 7 (Russia, Greece, Romania etc). So on average I think Belgium won’t qualify. It also feels a bit like a fanwank to me. Netherlands: Okay running order draw when looking at past… Read more »
Last year the Netherlands (Common Linnets) were the dark horse of the competition, This year they will be the dark horse again…. mark my words.
Belgium: Will not qualify because they will ruin it with the performance like they always do..
Netherlands: Will qualify because their performance will be outstanding and memorable and the song is catchy as hell!
Can’t see either qualifying really. Both songs are a bit naff.
For me there is no comparison between Belgium and Netherlands. Belgium is way higher in my ratings.
@Eugene ESC UK: I like your postings and agree around 70% with what you say. Nevertheless there are 50 days left until the contest and these guys (wiwibloggs) have to have some interesting articles other than debating only who will win. I have the impression you become a bit dictatorial in the last time. Relax 🙂
Belgium – no final
Netherlands – uncertain
I’m loving Belgium’s entry more and more. It’ll be a true scandal if he doesn’t qualify! Trijntje is not bad either, but it’s more commonplace and a bit boring… She deserves to qualify too, but to me she’s several levels under Loic!
In 2013: Belgium = Netherlands
In 2014: Netherlands > Belgium
In 2015: Belgium > Netherlands
I believe that Belgium has more chances to qualify than Trisha of Holland though..
Both of them are not sure qualifiers but i’m afraid that Trisha will be eliminated eventually & Loic will progress to the final instead..
One of the best songs this year (Belgium) vs one of the weakest (The Netherlands). This one is a no-brainer, Belgium all the way!
Trijntje will blown everybody away with her performance at may 19 (first semi-final) A qualifier for sure..
I’m not sure about Belgium, i have a feeling it will not pass the semi-final, but i hope it will.
Its actually a really tough one as both countries deserve to be in the final this year. Really happy that Belgium upped their game after last years mess 😛 Thought they turned a corner in 2013 with “Love Kills” but 2014 was an utter disaster. The Netherlands has seen somewhat of a Renaissance in recent years and they will get their next victory soon I think, but it wont be this year, although “Walk Along” is catchy and upbeat, in a year full of ballads, it was released way too soon and the novelty has long wore off. The BeNe… Read more »
*Walk Along* of Trisha all the way 4 me! <3
Its my 8th most liked among the 40 / 5th most liked from the 16 of the 1st semifinal..
*Rhythm Inside* of Loic is my 35th from the 40 / 13th from the 16 of the 1st semifinal..
The Netherlands is very catchy and will be very exciting on stage, but Belgium is unique and will definitely stand out. Go Loic! <3
Trijntje is overrated, the song is repetitive and loud. Loic has a much better song and voice.
@Giann Lorde doesn’t own a monopoly on a certain type of movement and voice style.