The Belgian song was revealed on February 20th - with the première of the song on the Eurovision Song Contest youtube channel. Way back in August, RTBF revealed that they had internally selected their singer and the chosen song was already in production. The Belgian song for Malmö is "Before the party's over" by Mustii.
Thomas Mustin (aka Mustii) started his acting studies at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion in Louvain-la-Neuve which led to many roles on French-language television shows as well as performances in French and Belgian theatre and opera. In 2019, he received the Magritte Award for Most Promising Actor for is role in the film "The Royal Exchange". He is almost as well known to many as one of the judges on Drag Race Belgique. In terms of his music career, he signed his first record contract in 2014 and his debut song was called "The golden age". He has plenty of experience performing at concerts and music festivals in francophone countries. Both of Mustii's albums have reached the Belgian top 10. In 2016, he was nominated in 6 categories at the D6bels Music Awards winning Newcomer of the year.
This song in an anthemic pop song with electronic and choral influences. The song starts with a verse and chorus, followed by a slightly shorter verse and full chorus which takes use just before the two minute mark. Here, the song takes a slightly different path and there starts a chant of a line over and over again. Mustii then starts to repeat the name of the song in a different rhythm making the songs into a harmonised call and response. This final part is anthemic but his sense of urgency is anchored by the alternate phrases done by the choir in the background. Mustii's voice shows a lot of texture in the song: at first is it rather delicate but grows into something a lot stronger - almost angry. In addition the background music is rather ambient but the driving drum beat and string section in the final part almost replicates a pulse or a marching beat.
The video has a muted tone, with a sepia quality, as well as smoke and dry ice which harmonises the different staging ideas together. There are a lot of has many themes and styles of dress; an Elizabethan pearl headdress, partially naked with silver glitter and a stylised press conference. Some of these presentations work better than others and have more impact and clarity. The latter of the list above would be an excellent set up for a staging idea and could be an effective use of the camera angles 'in the round'. Having audience members right around him would also give him licence to work the crowd in a way that is also accessible to the television viewers. It is clear from Mustii's creative background he will have a clear direction and intention about how this is staged and won't be afraid of pushing boundaries. There could be dancers involved or even extra singers so it will be interesting to see how this appears on stage. I guess my initial thought with the song was the fact that it didn't feel terribly memorable at first. However the final minute with the chanting gets under your skin really easily. I hope that the televoters stay with this song because anybody judging this within the first 40 seconds may well be left with the wrong impression and miss the most important message.
ARTIST - Mustii
SONG - Before the party's over
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - C. Clark, A. Damato, P. Dumoulin, B. Leclercq, T. Mustin, N. Sampermans
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