Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979
| Eurovision Song Contest 1979 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Belgium | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Artist: Internal selection Song: Eurosong | |||
| Selection date(s) | Semi-finals3 February 1979 10 February 1979 17 February 1979 24 February 1979 Final 3 March 1979 | |||
| Selected entrant | Micha Marah | |||
| Selected song | "Hey Nana" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 18th, 5 points | |||
| Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Belgium was represented by the song "Hey Nana", performed by Micha Marah at the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Jerusalem on 31 March.
Before Eurovision
[edit]Eurosong
[edit]Format
[edit]In the summer of 1978, BRT sent invites for a meeting to discuss the format of Eurosong 1979 to eleven artists. These artists were: Della Bosiers, Luk Bral, Lieven Coppieters, Kris De Bruyne, Wim De Craene, Jan De Wilde, Leen Persijn, Raymond van het Groenewoud, Erik Van Neygen, Zjef Vanuytsel, and Johan Verminnen. Four artists accepted the invitiation: Della Bosiers, Lieven Coppieters, Kris De Bruyne, and Wim De Craene. The original format was similar to Eurosong 1977. Each of the four artists would have a dedicated programme each where they perform their best known songs as well as new songs for the Eurovision Song Contest and one song from each programme would qualify to a final round. In the final, each artist would perform their qualified song and the winner would go to the Eurovision Song Contest in Jerusalem.[1]
However, for unknown reasons, the planned national final was scrapped and instead Micha Marah was selected to perform six songs across four semi-finals and a final. In the first three semi-finals, one song was eliminated. In the fourth semi-final, Micha Marah and her team chose one of the three previously eliminated songs to return to the competition and one song was eliminated. In the final, the winning song was chosen from the three remaining songs.[1]
Competing Entries
[edit]BRT opened a submission period for songs and six were chosen for the competition. Guy Beyers, a business partner of Micha Marah at the time, chose a selection of songs, from which a committee at BRT chose six songs for Eurosong 1979. All six songs had English lyrics, which meant that Guy Beyers had to translate the songs into Dutch.[1]
| Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|
| "Alleen" | Chris Van Oost, Guy Beyers |
| "Alles zal zich weer herhalen" | Dirk Stuer, Guy Beyers |
| "Comment ça va?" | Fred Beekmans, Bob Baelemans, Guy Beyers |
| "Hey Nana" | Charles Dumolin, Guy Beyers |
| "Mijn dagboek" | Chris De Wamme, J. G. Callebaut, Guy Beyers |
| "Mooi prater" | Fred Beekmans, Bob Baelemans, Guy Beyers |
Semi-finals
[edit]All four semi-finals were held in the Amerikaans Theater in Brussels and were hosted by Micha Marah and Karel Buts. Francis Bay conducted the BRT Big band, and Anny Gérard, Joanna Lecomte, and Patricia Maessen provided backing vocals in each semi-final. Each semi-final was split into two parts. In the first part, Micha Marah hosts the show, sings well-known songs, and invites guests onto the show. In the second part, Karel Buts takes over hosting duties and Micha Marah performs the candidate songs.[1][2]
The jury was intended to be a 200-member audience jury who give between 1 and 6 points to each song. The BRT Study Service would choose 100 families from which two members from two different generations would attend the programme. However, bad weather conditions on the days of the shows meant that there never was 200 jury members.[1]
| Draw | Song | Points | Place | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Mijn dagboek" | 571 | 3 | Advanced |
| 2 | "Alleen" | 504 | 5 | Advanced |
| 3 | "Mooi prater" | 454 | 6 | Eliminated |
| 4 | "Alles zal zich weer herhalen" | 549 | 4 | Advanced |
| 5 | "Hey Nana" | 766 | 2 | Advanced |
| 6 | "Comment ça va?" | 849 | 1 | Advanced |
| Guest performers | ||||
| Dream Express, Bobbejaan Schoepen, Heddy Lester | ||||
| Draw | Song | Points | Place | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Alleen" | 516 | 4 | Advanced |
| 2 | "Alles zal zich weer herhalen" | 424 | 5 | Saved |
| 3 | "Mijn dagboek" | 685 | 3 | Advanced |
| 4 | "Hey Nana" | 713 | 2 | Advanced |
| 5 | "Comment ça va?" | 746 | 1 | Advanced |
| Guest performers | ||||
| Nicole & Hugo, Hans Flower, Brotherhood of Man | ||||
| Draw | Song | Points | Place | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Alleen" | 509 | 4 | Eliminated |
| 2 | "Mijn dagboek" | 690 | 2 | Advanced |
| 3 | "Hey Nana" | 632 | 3 | Advanced |
| 4 | "Comment ça va?" | 852 | 1 | Advanced |
| Guest performers | ||||
| Jacques Raymond, Tonia, Lenny Kuhr | ||||
| Draw | Song | Points | Place | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Alles zal zich weer herhalen" | 233 | 4 | Eliminated |
| 2 | "Mijn dagboek" | 381 | 3 | Advanced |
| 3 | "Hey Nana" | 576 | 2 | Advanced |
| 4 | "Comment ça va?" | 758 | 1 | Advanced |
| Guest performers | ||||
| Pierre Rapsat, Pepe Lienhard Band | ||||
Final
[edit]The final was held on 3 March 1979 with the three surviving songs, this time voted on by a 20-member jury rather than the public. The Jury consisted of; five past Eurovision Song Contest participants: Lily Castel, Jacques Raymond, Nicole Josy, Hugo Sigal, and Luc Smets; five representatives of BRT television: Zaki, Herman Meyssen, Ward Bogaert, Jef Bruyninckx, and Guy Helsen; five representatives of BRT radio: Jos Baudewijn, Peter De Groot, Luk De Laet, Paul Verbruggen, and Frans Feyaerts; and five journalists: Emiel Janssens, Louis Van Raak, Roland Rentmeesters, Jan Van Hemeldonck, and Willy Schuyesmans. The jury voted in the same way as the public, by giving between 1 and 6 points to each song.[1][3]
| Draw | Song | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Mijn dagboek" | 58 | 3 |
| 2 | "Hey Nana" | 96 | 1 |
| 3 | "Comment ça va?" | 83 | 2 |
| Guest performers | |||
| Teach-In, Xandra | |||
At Eurovision
[edit]On the night of the final Marah performed 12th in the running order, following France and preceding Luxembourg. At the close of the voting "Hey Nana" had received just 5 points, placing Belgium joint last (with Austria) of the 19 entries, the fifth time Belgium had found itself at the bottom of the Eurovision scoreboard.[4] The Belgian jury awarded its 12 points to Spain.[5]
"Hey Nana" is noted for lyrics which those who understood Dutch cited as among the most facile and childish ever heard at Eurovision. Marah herself made no secret of her dislike for the song, refusing even to record it, making it one of the very few Eurovision songs never to have been released commercially in its home territory.
Nonetheless, Marah went on to sing "Hey Nana" on a Belgian TV show in 2017.[6] She made a studio recording in 2023.[7]
Voting
[edit]
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External links
[edit]Hey Nana lyrics and translation
1979 Eurovision performance
2017 live performance
2023 videoclip
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Vermeulen, André (2021). Van Canzonissima tot Eurosong. 65 jaar Belgische preselecties voor het Eurovisiesongfestival (in Dutch). Leuven: Kritak. ISBN 978-94-014-7609-6. OCLC 1240241113.
- ^ "ESC National Finals database - Belgium semi-finals 1979". Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
- ^ ESC National Finals database - Belgium final 1979
- ^ "Final of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
- ^ ESC History - Eurovision Belgium 1979
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2itjwF7dCoc
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1c9hrJBdVg
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.