It leaked yesterday. But in the early hours of Thursday morning, Belgium’s entry for Eurovision 2019 got its official release. “Wake Up” by Eliot is now available to listen on all major music streaming and download sites.
Eliot “Wake Up” Belgium Eurovision 2019 (Official Music Video)
Just as we thought (and hoped) from Monday’s snippet, Belgium is once more going for a modern sound. This may not be as avant-garde as Loïc Nottet or as dark as Blanche. But it sits nicely in between them to deliver something that promises to be as memorable. And it’s all bathed in warm and somehow uplifting hues.
Eliot “Wake Up” Belgium Eurovision 2019 (Official Audio)
Broadcaster RTBF will stage a press conference in Brussels this afternoon.
Pierre Dumoulin meets Eliot Vassamillet
“Wake Up” was written by Pierre Dumoulin, who also wrote “City Lights” for Blanche. Eliot was internally selected by RTBF to represent Belgium in Tel Aviv.
Pierre is the frontman/singer of Belgian band Roscoe, a five-person band from Liège, Wallonia. His music is best described as ‘melancholic soft rock’. He also sits on the board of directors of SABAM the Belgian Association of Authors, Composers and Publishers. He composted Belgium’s 2017 entry ‘“City Lights” and he also made music for Bulgarian Eurovision contestant Kristian Kostov.
Pierre first heard of Eliot during season seven of The Voice Belgique, on the first live show. He was enthusiastic and contacted Eliot to meet up. He played a demo version of “Wake Up” and Eliot was immediately hooked.
The Voice is fast becoming Belgium’s lucky charm. Roberto Bellarosa, Loïc Nottet, Blanche and Laura Tesoro are all graduates of franchise. Importantly, they all qualified for the final.
The pressure is on for young Eliot. Belgium sent three qualifiers in a row, but last year Sennek missed out.
What do you think? Does “Wake Up” have what it takes? Can Eliot blow it away on stage in Tel Aviv? Let us know in the comments below.
I don’t think there’s a good transition between the verses and the chorus, it’s a little weird. However, I believe this is a grower and it will look much better on stage.
I played the song for the first time and I thought… “What a masterpiece”… Then I heard the chorus…
The transitions of this song from verse to chorus are so off and it just looses me after they repeat the chorus. It feels like certain pop songs stitched together but I wouldn’t write this off. So far it’s a borderline qualifier if they make the staging interesting for all 3 minutes.
I agree, that it is a grower.
Even though it feels slightly smothered by its glossy production values, I’m quite intrigued by this song. It’s kind of oblique, as in I have no clue what it’s about, and I like the verses more than the slightly jarring chorus, but it’s interesting, as I told you before. What will it be like live I wonder….
Its a slow grower u really like it.
nice song, dont think its a winner but good song. good luck from israel
Definitely a decent entry for sure. The problem for me is Belgium consistently have songs that have the potential for a top 10 finish but I never get winner vibes from them. It’s a shame really, I think Belgium deserve a victory for their countless quality entries the past number of years. Hopefully ye find a winner soon.
It’s actually pretty easy to count them: 2.
I have a feeling that when it comes to scoring, it will do a Sennek and not qualify.
it will easily qualify in this weak year
The intro reminds me a lot of Stranger Things theme.
The verses are great but the chorus is dissapointing, sounds like it belongs to a completely different song
Hmm, nice song, beautiful singer, but there is nothing really to grip me in, to make it memorable
This has winner vibes to me …. love it and it is very cool
Yas, finally someone that agrees with me
I like the song, feels very fresh and current. However, I was waiting for the big finish and it never came. By the end, I kinda felt “is that it?”
They had a very good song last year and killed it with poor staging. If they can do amazing staging with this, it should make final but it’s not a winner
good but not great
Belgium will win eurovision. Its so good and already underrated.
‘Good’ is not enough to win Eurovision. Belgium is in semi1, which is shaping up to pretty great if Conan and Hatari join us on Saturday. Add there some Cyprus too, and Slovenia, which is way edgier than Belgium is trying to be, and then things get pretty tough. Not bad to be optimistic, but some reality check wouldn’t hurt 😉
Conan’s song is interesting but i think its overrated by the fans. That song is too weird (on first listening) in order to do well. I cant see Europe falling in love with it. Same applies for Hatari. Their outfits will put a lot of people off, quite sure about that. Slovenia, yes, its great but they often dont know how to sell their songs and it can be easily forgotten being in the first half of the semi. Cyprus will deliver a great performance, im sure about that, but the snippet sounds kinda meh.
Belgium’s song needs like 3-4 listenings to finally become memorable. That chorus just isn’t enough. They need to step up their game tremendously during the staging, otherwise they won’t stand out. Maybe Conan or Hatari’s songs aren’t for anywone, but their performances are very memorable. Thank Ukraine for withdrawing, otherwise it would be a true bloodbath. And Slovenia has one of the most captivating stagings. Belgium should learn from them.
Hmm, sorry but the chorus of Wake up got stuck in my head when i listened it for the first time. I do agree that both Conan and Hatari have memorable and interesting staging. Ukraine was my number 1. She would have eaten up that stage!!! Cyprus is lucky, Ukraine would piss all over 😉
So you’ve seen the staging of Slovenia yet? Or do you mean that lifeless performance during their preselections?
Quick note: that trophy is going to have the belgian flag on it next year
I like it. It’s definitely one of the better ones in this sad year so far.
Wake Up is a song by itself that could grow stronger towards the end, by Eliot or with the chorus. Something is missing for now
The verses get an A+ but what a letdown that chorus was. Ruins the song from what could’ve been a 10/10 to like… a 6 or 7…
maybe they can tweak. The sound of silence sounded a bit bland when we first heard it but Dami tweaked it and it came alive. Im getting Cold play vibes from the song
It’s just a nice song and I think that might be the problem here. It’s well produced, it flows by smoothly but I don’t think it’s captivating in any way. It’s not deeply emotional but at the same time, it’s not light-hearted or entertaining or whatever. This is kind of an autotelic Eurovision entry, it pushes many buttons just for the sake of putting them but somehow loses its heart and soul underway.
Unsurprisingly this song is very good and also unsurprisingly if one compares it with City Lights, one gets underwhelmed. Indeed the build up to the chorus is great but the chorus itself doesn’t level up to the same intensity. His voice is good, but also not special enough which would give the song the depth its needs. But all in all an excellent addition to 2019, which is turning out quite promising for my ears.
I’m rather mixed on this song. The music composition is great, but I struggle to remember the lyrics. I listened to this song last night and hummed the lyrics, but when I woke up (heh) I completely forgot it! It’s not as strong as last year’s song and certainly pales in comparison governments City Lights, which I believe is the composer’s previous song.
That’s amazing! I absolutely love it. Great job Belgium. Possible winner.
It’s very Troye Sivan, and I am here for it!
I like it much more now, it’s a grower. However, being a grower is not a good thing when at Eurovision you need to be instant to score any points.
As a flaming homosexual who’s favs are always the divas i’m kind of shocked i really enjoy this :0 It’s quite addicting! Probably the best male vocal song i have liked in a looong time, prob since Salvador Sobral.
If you’re looking for songs better than Salvador’s you don’t need to look very hard!
It sounds like a really good song, that someone just toned down to the point, where I loose my interest in the middle of it.
Yeah!I’ve heard that it is something really unique!!
I know this story is about Belgium, but…what’s up with Ireland??? They are M.I.A….we havent heard anything about them, and the clock is ticking…
I have no answer for you unfortunately, and yes the clock is ticking. Here in Ireland there is absolutely no word of anything, whether on the late late show or otherwise. I don’t think there’s reason to worry however. As pessimistic as it sounds, RTE are probably just too disinterested to build any actual hype.
Do you think RTE is having trouble finding artists willing to represent Ireland at Eurovision because of Israel’s hosting? It would suck if Ireland had to withdraw like Ukraine because they can’t find an act, because I rely on the RTE iPlayer to watch Eurovision in America.
Or they could be waiting for the right moment to announce. It is pretty quiet.
Hey one american to another: download Opera! Opera is an internet brower that comes with a free VPN
I downloaded Opera and tried to watch videos from last year’s eurovision. Didn’t work. Still blocked.
The RTE iplayer does play in America. That’s why I use it to watch eurovision
Did you make sure to enable the VPN on opera? It doesn’t just start working automatically. You need to enable it in settings and then turn it on. I’m able to watch otherwise region blocked videos on Eurovsion’s youtube channel this way.
Sweden’s broadcast of the semis and the final are available to watch in the US without VPN too. You just have to deal with Swedish commentary.
Logo has also been broadcasting the final to the US the last couple years. Idk if it’s doing it this year or not tho.
I guess that explains it. I didn’t turn the VPN on, but won’t that affect my ability to watch things domestically?
Somewhat boring, not Top-5. Sorry.
I like it a lot. It sounds fresh and modern. Good job!
Well, ….maybe this will grow on me eventually? As of now, this just sounds like any other song I’d hear on the radio these days. Pretty standard fare. I think I prefer Sennek’s song last year a lot more. That one immediately wowed me, even if her performance ended up being subpar. This song…not so much. So far this year, not a single confirmed song has impressed me from first listen…which isn’t really a good sign. Usually there’s at least a handful of entries each year that do. Normally, there would have been a couple songs I’d fall in love… Read more »
One thing is sure: it is better than last year’s Belgian entry
absolutely, that one was so depressing. Im glad it flopped
Well, it’s just a matter of ti… I mean taste.
Boring…
The intro and the verse are great. Just great. And then, the chorus arrives… it’s almost frustrating how they managed to f.ck up a great song with such a weird We Will Rock You-type of beat on the chorus. Please do a remix and you have a hit single.
I don’t have the urge to listen to it a second time… a shame, I expected more…. 🙁
It’s a good one, but In my opinion is missing something, it need a climax and then a boom…
Right now he is my 7th!
I like it and I trust it’s a grower. But I agree that it never takes off. I guess it’s because the chorus would work better as a pre-chorus. I don’t think it’s a bad hook, it got stucked in my mind after listening to it only 3 times. But it builds up and… back to the verses. Very well produced, clever changes of pace, good voice. His enunciation may be a problem though. I feel Belgium decided to keep things simpler, after Blanche and Sennek struggled a bit to translate their songs into live performances. Let’s hope they also… Read more »
good song we have to whit and see, about His position relative to the other songs
I like it! It’s my second place at the moment, but that says more about the level of this years songs than about this one. If I had to rank this in 2018 it would be between place 10 and 20 I’d say.
Mark my words guys:6th of MARCH THE GREEK SONG IS GOING TO BE RELEASED-an epic song that you will all love,don’t forget about Greece,big surprise is coming,something really unique!Wait and see!
we hope
Sure it will be a very pleasant surprise,really unique
Yaaas my high hopes for this year are from Portugal, Austria, Russia and Greece (weirdly enough), I was taken by surprise with Belgium but I’m hoping for good things
haha why weirdly enough?
Greeks are starting hyping their entry again. We know what has happend for the past three years.
Yes they do,this year’s effort is really nice and it is going to be sth not expected,full of surprises!
Not related to this article, please find your way out. Also, for all we know, Greece’s song could be a total flop, unless you are part of their musical team, of course.
You really make me laugh,stop talking 🙂
Hope you understand that nobody will appreciate your info or enthousiasm, when posted on an article about another entry
Dialogue and information can be discussed anywhere-if you don’t have democracy in your country then leave this post,everybody is free to express their enthusiasm,if you get annoyed then don’t read it,got it?
Honestly, I drifted out whilst listening to it, which is weird. He has a good voice, the song has a good instrumental and the lyrics are fine. For some reason, it just doesn’t grab me. A strong stage show might help…
It’s not bad, it might be a grower.
I wonder if there would be any surprise release tomorrow, 1 March.
According to Eurovision calendar there will be no release tomorrow nor there will be NF. Unless Russia or Azerbaijan surprise as since the date of release is still unknown.
boring. i dont like it.
Verses: 10/10, Chorus: 8/10
Still a very good song and, taking in to account that it is being a really weak ESC edition this year, it landed directly in my top 3
YAAAAAAAAAAAASSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
Sounds a bit like Bastille but I like it!
The more I listen to it the more it sounds good to me 🙂 sure it would have been better with a good contrast between the beginning and the end but it’s actually really good. My top 18 so far (19 if I keep Maruv’s song, I just can’t skip it).
(1- Ukraine… sad)
1- Italy
2-Belgium
3- Estonia
4- Slovenia
5- Germany
6- Romania
7- Australia
8- Denmark
9- U-K
10- Spain
11- Lithuania
12- France
13- Czech Republic
14- Albania
15- Hungary
16- Latvia
17- Croatia
18- Montenegro