BELGIUM

The Belgian entry was revealed on March 10th during an especially convened press conference by the Wallooon broadcaster RTBF at the Maison de Vienne in Brussels. The song was then premièred on La Une and the radio station Vivacite before the video was made available on youtube. The Belgian representative in Vienna will be Loïc Nottet singing "Rhythm inside".

Way back in November, RTBF announced that former Voice Belgique runner up Loïc Nottet would be singing their song. This follows on from the last Walloon representative, Roberto Bellarosa, who also came from the same talent show. Nothing was really known about the song until the day of its release although it seems like they have been working on the song for a long time.

The song has a very modern Belgian feel to it and sounds like something you would easily hear on the airwaves of Studio Brussel. The song was co-written by Loïc himself and his mentor on The Voice, BJ Scott. It also has help from Luuk Cox a Flemish musician, DJ and producer. Many have likened the style of song to Lorde and Sia, both of which Loïc is a known fan of. It is certainly the type of song that Studio Brussel could play at the drop of a hat.

Loic is only 19 and this is his first song release since being on The Voice. He has a very modern and contemporary style of singing. His voice is a little on the high side, almost like his voice hasn't quite broken which means he can really push at the higher notes and also makes for an interesting timbre. He also has great pedigree as a great performer and dancer. Although he song is not one for a full out dance routine I could imagine him being able to project his style and rhythm into the performance. His youth and style will also get some of the female and male fans voting for him.

Unfortunately, the video doesn't really give us many clues as to what might happen on the Eurovision stage. He will need a good sent of backing singers to help with the atmosphere and mix of the song. It will depend on how much moving Loïc wants to do on the stage himself as to whether he needs or wants dancers. I think the fact that he has been part of the writing process for the song, I hope he has a good visual idea as to what he want to project into the performance to make it stand out.

Not to put too fine a point on it, this *is* the best song chosen this year. Of that there is little doubt. It is modern, contemporary, radio friendly and you can hear the modern influences. If this was a Nordic or Balkan entry, this would be a nailed on winner straight away, but this is Belgium. Although it has the Netherlands for company in the first half of semi 1 it is a very Eastern heavy semi. This said it is a semi dominated by a) women and b) orchestral ballads. This should hopefully mean he gets a favourable draw as his song might me split between some very samey ballads which will in turn make him stand out. This *should* qualify and in some way being the best thing this year, it should be up there as a possible winner but part f

of me would not be surprised is it stays in the semi...

ARTIST - Loïc Nottet

SONG - Rhythm Inside

MUSIC - Loïc Nottet, Luuk Cox, Shameboy

LYRICS - Beverly Jo Scott