On The Voice Belgique she impressed with her unusual voice — so much so that Wallonian broadcaster RTBF selected her as its Eurovision 2017 singer.

And now, in a wide-ranging interview with Walloon web site Moustique, Blanche — real name Ellie Delvaux — is sharing a bit more of herself and her upcoming participation. Let there be light, y’all!

In the months leading up to April, she wowed the Belgian audience and Cats on Trees — her coaches on The Voice — with her performances on the fifth season of the series. Soft spoken Ellie became known for her emotional and fragile voice, but also for serving international star-power pop diva realness with her takes on songs from Beyoncé and Adele.

Afterwards Ellie — who left the show just two weeks before the final — decided to recast herself with the more memorable stage name Blanche.

Speaking to Moustique, Blanche made it clear her name has nothing to do with the beloved Golden Girls character, who was known for her promiscuity despite her advancing years.

As it turns out, Blanche is actually one of her real names!

“I really like my first name. But there already are a lot of famous singers out there called Ellie. So I decided to choose a more uncommon name for my work as a singer. Blanche is my third name. My career is about to start now, so page blanche (blank page) describes that very well.”

But that’s not all. Ellie doesn’t exactly sound French — think Ellie Goudling or Ellie Kemper, for instance — but Blanche does.

“Although I mainly sing in English, I still wanted to keep something typically French, ’cause I love this language and it’s just beautiful.”

Does that mean we’ll hear an English song from Belgium again?

You can interpret that as you will and speculate for days as to whether her French name fills her French quota and will free her to sing in English again. But what we do know is that composer Pierre Dumoulin contacted Blanche directly after The Voice and together they worked on new songs without considering any of them for Eurovision. After sending a proposal to RTBF, the entire selection committee chose her and her song unanimously.

She may have seemed somewhat reserved on The Voice, but she’s most definitely exuberant about the coming months. “I’m only seeing positive points and this adventure is a unique and enriching experience which I’m looking forward to.”

And guess who’s helping to boost her self-confidence? It’s our 2015 breakout star Loic Nottet, who recently topped the wiwibloggs Top Tracks of 2016 list.

“His presentation was technically and artistically impressive,” she says. “It was a big success and it shows that Eurovision is really something positive.” We love that she’s already feeling the Eurovision spirit!

For now you’ll have to wait to hear Ellie, errr Blanche’s, Eurovision 2017 song. But you can enjoy her stunning covers on her YouTube channel.

Do you think her entry will be similar to the songs she has already performed? Should she sing in English, French or a fictitious language à la Belgium 2003? Let us know your thoughts in the comments box below!

Read more Belgium Eurovision news

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Dorla
6 years ago

I’m very happy to read this. This is the type of manual that needs to be given and not the random misinformation that is at the other blogs. Appreciate your sharing this best doc.

KA
KA
6 years ago

@David: As far as I know is singing in French not the golden standard for sophisticaton. Loïc is doing very well in English thank you very much. His single ‘Million Eyes’ and his album ‘Selfocracy’ are a great success in the French -speaking areas Wallonia and France ! Greetings from Flanders 🙂

Tom
Tom
7 years ago

Sing in French!

Brecht
Brecht
7 years ago

Blanche <3

David
7 years ago

PLEASE, SING IN FRENCH, S’IL VOUS PLAÎT

I’VE NEVER ASKED FOR ANYTHING (this could actually be a really catchy line from a pop song). but yeah, hopefully they’ll craft something at least bilingual like «J’ai cherché». I’ve always wondered why Loïc can’t come up with something as francophone and as sophisticated like Yelle or Stromae…

Pollaski
Pollaski
7 years ago

LMAO @ “Delvaux” apparently not being French enough.

dutchie
dutchie
7 years ago

@ct_greece
Lol, look at the comment directly below your own…

ct_greece
ct_greece
7 years ago

You know, there is also the very famous character of Blanche Dubois immortalised by so many amazing actresses (including Vivian Leigh in the film version with Marlon Brando) in Tennesse Williams’ “A streetcar named Desire”.

But is seems Wiwi’s knowledge of culture (including gay culture) only goes as far as the Golden Girls, “realness”, “y’all” and a host of other ridiculous drag-show affectations…

dutchie
dutchie
7 years ago

Personally I think Ellie Delvaux is a more unique and recognizable name than Blanche… but I guess she doesn’t know the Golden Girls or A Streetcar Named Desire.

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
7 years ago

Great introductory article here, well done! (I didn’t know anything about Blanche before reading this and listening to the video links.)

beccaboo1212
7 years ago

That’s a tough one. Half of me would want her to stay known as Blanche, and my other half doesn’t know if she should switch back to her real name. This is really weird. 😮

James
James
7 years ago

@Racal, can “Walloon” be treated as an adjective like “Wallonian”?

Racal
Racal
7 years ago

It’s Walloon, not Wallonian (that word does not exist).

an esc fan
an esc fan
7 years ago

Maybe parents should not give their children so many names, it is confusing. Still it seems that the new name only represents the present stage of her career, so later she will not feel like a blank page anymore.

James
James
7 years ago

She could sing in German, if she is ever fluent, since the third national Belgian language have never been represented in the Eurovision stage.

That won’t happen though.