Hooverphonic were due to represent Belgium at Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam with their song “Release Me”. But as we all know, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the 65th edition of the contest was cancelled…and their song never had the chance to come to life with staging in Rotterdam.
Belgium was quick to decide that the popular group would get another shot to shine on the Eurovision stage in Ahoy. And the group was keen to say they’d go for a more feel-good, potentially upbeat number.
Belgium at Eurovision 2021
Hooverphonic’s band members Alex, Raymond and Luka earlier revealed how enthusiastic they are to represent Belgium at Eurovision 2021: “It is great that we have received the confirmation that we can go to the Eurovision Song Contest next year this fast. We are still very much looking forward to it. We are now going to take the time to see how we are preparing for May next year.”
Speaking to Belgian web site Songfestival.be, Alex – Hooverphonic’s frontman – said he is happy to send a new song to Eurovision. He says that “Release Me” will be considered “old news”.
Hooverphonic’s Eurovision 2021 entry
Alex has now revealed to HLN that Hooverphonic made great use of their time during this bizarre summer.
“I think I already have material for three new albums. We are now selecting: choice stress!’’
Alex goes on to explain that Hooverphonic has a wide and diverse repertoire and that their Eurovision 2021 song might be considered a big surprise.
About Hooverphonic
The Flemish Eurovision selection committee has opted for the band Hooverphonic, a group that has been active since 1995.
The band consists of Alex Callier, Raymond Geerts and singer Luka Cruysberghs. Nineteen-year-old Cruysberghs has been the band’s singer since 2018 after she won the Belgian edition of The Voice.
The band is popular in Belgium but also beyond its borders. The group has been successfully touring Europe for years.
Are you curious about Hooverphonic’s song for 2021? What genre do you expect? Let us know in the comment section down below!
Release me was tired when it was first revealed. I really hope they do something more like the rest of their discography.
They said the same about Release Me and it wasnt that special. I still struggle to remember it. So I be careful to hype it. But I do hope the song will be different from Release Me, maybe an uptempo pop banger?
Maybe a pastiche of Fuego/She Got Me/Euphoria with skimpy costumes and energetic choreography?
Is that what you think a pop banger means? And is that what you think Euphoria is, nothing more than skimpy outfits?
No, Beauty Never Lies was a good example of the reverse.
Loved this comment!
To me, a “big surprise” would be something unlike “Release me” or “Mad about you”. A song like “Summer Sun” could work.
A big surprise??!! Ok Belgium….. It’s better to say nothing like that in the esc world, it avoids the big disappointment after the high expectations created by such statements. No comments about the behavior and the arrogance of the hooverphonic’s leader, I don’t want to be mean…… it just doesn’t give the desire to vote for somebody who is not at all eurovision friendly no matter the quality of his entry.
“A big suprise” ?? Hmm, we are expecting blondish, slow and dark so for it to be a suprise, it could mean anything from upbeat to a different vibe. Very interesting.
Moldova are having “a Maruv style dance track” after an underwhelming ballad this year, I wonder what Belgium are going to do?
Time is flying, not long til the first selections are released
I’m really hopeful that Hooverphonic’s song in 2021 will be much stronger than Release Me, which was very forgettable and underwhelming. Hopefully it will be more like the great songs they have in their back catalogue such as Anger Never Dies, The Night Before, One Two Three, Amalfi, etc.
Release Me was beautiful. It was actually too good for Eurovision, made me think of Blackbird from Finland in that regard. But whatever their next song is, you should not overhype a song at Eruovision… Don’t say it’s a “big surprise”, cause the likeliest outcome is that fans will end up disappointed.
Nothing is too good for Eurovision so certainly not their Release me, again less, period.
A ton of songs are too good for Eurovision. Meaning that they’re good, classy, refined songs (just like Release Me and Blackbird) but Eurovision fans consider them “boring” just because all they want is over-the-top bass, a hamster wheel in the back and some cheap Disney princess vocalizing on a pole while fireworks come out of her orifices.
And what about Amar Pelos Dois which is classy and refined too, the eurofans have made it win, so it’s useless to denigrate them or Eurovision, Eurovision is fireworks and shows but emotions too, so no need to say this or that is too good for Eurovision, no matter the styles of the songs, all kind of songs can be included in Eurovision. If blackbirds from Norway didn’t qualify it’s not because of the lack of taste of the fans, it’s the contest which is like that, unpredictable. About Release me, for my taste and my opinion it was not… Read more »
One exception doesn’t make a rule. That’s not how you build an argument. I mean, I enjoy Eurovision obviously but let’s not bury our heads in the sand: it’s not a show that is musically inclusive at all. It’s heavily biased towards showy/tacky/over-the-top songs, because that’s what fans want and consequently this is what a lot of TV networks submit. Why are we even talking about this, it’s not like it’s news. It’s ESC 101.
It isn’t the exception. If you want classy and refined, listen to virtually every Eurovision song of the 50s and 60s. In the past five years, I direct you towards Release Me, Voda, Empires, Répondez-Moi, Tears Getting Sober, Fai Rumore, Grow, Sebi, Better Love, That Night, Limits, Arcade, A Matter Of Time, When We’re Old, Crazy, Oniro Mou, Qami, For You, Funny Girl, Inje, O Jardim, Mercy, City Lights, Blackbird, Amar Pelos Dois, My Turn, Never Give Up On You, Lighthouse, I Stand, Goodbye (Shelter), Sound Of Silence, 1944, One Last Breath, Goodbye To Yesterday, Wars For Nothing, Playing With… Read more »
You’re actually perfectly proving my point, so thank you: most of the songs you list (save for a few exception) failed at Eurovision, some did not even qualify. I did not bother counting how many of these songs in your comment qualified/placed top 10, but if you consider that these songs are indeed classy then you have to admit that classy songs generally don’t do well at Eurovision. Hence perfectly proving my point. Also, if you don’t think Eurovision is tacky I don’t think we’re even watching the same show. It is SUPER tacky and over-the-top, and that’s fine. That’s… Read more »
19 of them were in the final. Taking away big 5 and host country, then 17. I didn’t perfectly prove your point since 17 isn’t 1 last time I checked. This obviously doesn’t count 2020, but Répondez-Moi and Tears Getting Sober were widely considered front-runners to win. I’m just over people like you waving off Eurovision as tacky when it isn’t. It has grown so much as a contest and we need to respect that. So much great music has come from this contest, so please stop diminishing it.
Thank you Ashton
I agree with you on both “Release Me” and the overhyping, however I personally disagree with the too good for eurovision argument as I think that eurovision is a platform for all genres of music and that no genre is too good for the competition. However, I get that you are saying that songs like “Release Me” tend to be underappreciated in esc, but I unfortunately think that is a direct consequence of the song being too dark and slow for first time watchers who are more likely to support the more outlandish acts which stand out more upon first… Read more »
Thank you Lebanese esc fan
I like Hooverphonic as a band, I love Alex’s past efforts (e.g. with Sennek, although I remember him saying in an interview that the final version of “A Matter Of Time” was not “his one”, right?) and I also really enjoyed “Release Me” because of the Bond-ish atmosphere they created. So I’m looking forward to their song for 2021 😀
Don’t expect anything from them anymore. Their latest offering Summer Sun has failed too. They’re a blast from the past, lacking a lot of inspiration. The same old stuff. Nothing new, nothing inventive. Plus a singer that stares to the audience as she’s looking like a cow in the meadow. But as VRT doesn’t give a shit, they let egotistiscal Alex Callier do his own thing. They probably don’t even listen to the songs beforehand. Even if Alex comes up with the biggest pile of shit, no one at VRT will intervene cause they don’t care or dare. Let it… Read more »
To be fair, “Release Me” was old news as soon as they released it. I know I aged whilst listening to it.
When I started to read your comment I was thinking: I’m tired of reading these kind of comments.
But your punchline made it worthwhile. That was a good read. 🙂
Thanks!
Big fan of Hooverphonic right here. Definitely not a fan of “Release Me” though. 😉
I think that “Release Me” was super boring and I hope that they’ll have a better song next year
Bulgaria was also boring as hell, and I was crucified for it!!!
Can’t wait – they were actually in my top 5 this year. I have no worries since all of their music is quality. 🙂
I liked ‘Release Me’ a little bit, but frankly, I’m not sure if their song would have come to life in Rotterdam. So naturally, I’m looking for something much better. If you’re gonna promise a surprise, you already make people have high expectations.
Can someone explain to me what happened at that ‘Love shine a light’ thing? I didn’t watch.
Well all the singers sang the song together except Belgium (Hooverphonic refused to do it since they don’t like the song lol).
I mean yeah I do agree it would be a nice gesture to participate, but tbh it’s their decision and they had the right to do it. I don’t blame them 🙂
That’s all? Some people really just look for stuff to be hysteric about. Why should they do it if they don’t like it? I like them more for staying true to themselves. Imagine whining about artists not singing a song they don’t like. Ridiculous. Although I like ‘Love shine a light’ a lot more than ‘Release Me’. haha
It wasn’t about the song, it was about the message of the song – at the height of a pandemic, they could have just put their own feelings aside and participated. Just like everybody else. I do agree it wasn’t a big deal…nobody probably even noticed.
true, it’s more about the message, but again it’s not something to be too mad about.
It’s a good thing that there are people who aren’t ‘just like everybody else’.
Generally, yes. In the context of a pandemic, no. Like the idiots who refuse to wear masks.
Surely you’re not comparing refusing to join a choir for a show hardly anyone cared about with people who put lives of others at risk, are ya?
Correct! I am not doing that.
I have no issue whatsoever with artists refusing to sing songs if they don’t feel like it, but surely Alex Callier could have avoided calling “Love Shine a Light” some flemish equivalent of “piss poor”. You should never insult other artists’ music, and Alex needs to keep his ego in check.
lol he did? What’s the exact statement and in what context did he say it? If the 1997 winner is piss poor, what is ‘Release Me’? ‘Piss Poorer’? lol I still maintain he can say whatever he wants. Just like Eurovision fans, he’s allowed to call songs piss poor. He doesn’t need to do anything.
It’s hard to find an exact english equivalent to what he said, but it definately was a lot more scathing than piss poor(I recall it involved the term c*nt, I hope I won’t be flagged lol). He said it in an interview with VRT and to me it definately didn’t seem it was taken out of context. I’ll try to see if I can link you up with the article but I think it has probably been taken down as I’ve been searching for it for quite some time.
Ah, this one:
https://wiwibloggs.com/2020/05/17/alex-callier-explains-why-hooverphonic-sat-out-of-the-love-shine-a-light-medley/254478/
In this article, he doesn’t say anything bad, although it certainly sounds like he thinks very highly of himself. The ‘I don’t feel it’s part, however, is perfectly fine.
Hooverphonic a.k.a. just Alex Callier.
https://www.demorgen.be/nieuws/iedereen-zingt-mee-met-love-shine-a-light-behalve-hooverphonic-het-is-een-kutnummer~b0e2c1f7/
That’s the link to the article in dutch. He appears to call the song ‘kutnummer’ which literally translates to ‘p*ssy number’. Not sure if this is another way of saying something is bad in Flanders but I don’t get why the name of the female genitalia was used in relation to a song. That was done in poor taste to say the least.
Kutnummer is a word people use quite often in Belgium when they don’t like a song, we don’t necessarily think of female genitalia when using this word. 😉
Still mad over the Love Shine A Light fiasco, but I am excited nonetheless. Hopefully we will get internal songs earlier, like late this year instead of early 2021.
I mean, after the whole Europe Shine a Light fiasco, Alex better gives us something good and/or fixes his attitude. I feel sorry for Luka and Raymond, they both deserved so much better!
There is nothing wrong if he refused to sing Love Shine A Light.
Sure “Release Me” will be “old news,” but won’t wine be for me is for them refusing to participate in the “Love Shine a Light” cover completely missing the point of the contest. Sure it’s a contest, but the main purpose is to unite the countries and bring them close together especially in difficult times
They were also full of joy and enthusiams when they announced “release me” and the song was … well, not the best. When they announce their new song in the same euphoric way I am very concerned about the quality of the entry.