Belgium

All Kinds Of Everything
The Irish Eurovision Website

	BELGIUM
	Song : "O Julissi" Performer : Ishtar Music & lyrics : Michel Vangheluwe Running Order : #6 in the first semi-final		Audio file
			Preview video

THIS YEAR'S ENTRY

Belgium is one of the seven countries that entered the very first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. For over fifty years the two national broadcasters in the country have taken turns to represent Belgium in the competition. Last year if was the French speaking channel RTBF that sent The KMGs to Helsinki and this year its the turn of the Flemish VRT to select the entry that goes to Belgrade.

In recent years while VRT has tended to favour high profile, multi-artist selection shows and this year was no exception with four quarter finals and two semi-final before the public chose the group Ishtar and the song "O Julissi Na Jalini" by Ishtar on March 9th. The song title has been shortened to "O Julissi" for the European audience.

The group Ishtar are named after the Babylonian goddess of love. They are normally an ensemble of ten performers, but only six members will be on stage during the performance at the Eurovision Song Contest, due to the rule which limits the number of performers. The six members chosen to be on stage in Belgrade are lead singer and mezzo-soprano Soetkin Baptist, composer and guitar player Michel Vangheluwe, who wrote and composed the song "O Julissi", together with the siblings Ann, Marleen, Els and Hans Vandaele providing backing vocals and music.

Ishtar has existed since 2003 and released their first CD, called "Troubamour", in 2005. The album contained adaptations of medieval European love songs in several European languages including Icelandic, Dutch, Greek, Romanian, Bulgarian, Estonian and Serbian. All vocal and musical arrangements are based on authentic medieval music sheets dating from as early as the 11th century. A second album will be released later this year.

Next to European love songs, they write and perform songs in non-existent languages. One of these songs brought Ishtar to Eurovision, when they won the Belgian national final on 9th March in Brussels , after being the hot favourites for several weeks. Singing in an imaginary language seems to be a successful formula for Belgium : folk group Urban Trad earned second place with "Sanomi" in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest.

Even though the words and lyrics of Belgium ’s song don’t have an understandable meaning in the conventional sense, they do tell a story. Composer Michel Vangheluwe describes "O Julissi" as a piece of music about a child enjoying a walk through a fairytale forest, meeting and greeting the beautiful things of life, but also a few evil ones. Apparently with the song, Ishtar is aiming for Europe to be filled with joy, optimism and a warm feeling of happiness for at least three minutes.

This year's Belgian entry seems to have left both bookmakers and most Eurovision fans rather cold "Sanomi". It is not among the favourites to qualify from the first semi-final, although some internet fan polls have it as a potential qualifier.

SAMPLE LYRICS

O julissi na jalini

O julissi na ditini

O bulo diti non slukati

Sestrone dina katsu

BROADCASTER

RATINGS

Bookmakers

Eurovision history

Runnning order

Fan Poll

Webmaster

LAUNCH PAD

BELGIUM AT EUROVISION

	First entry: 1956
	Number of previous entries: 50
	Best result: Winners (1986)
	Worst result: Last (8 times), failed to qualify (three times)

TEN YEAR FORM GUIDE

WEBMASTER REVIEW

I don't like songs in imaginary languages as it seems a bit of a cheat to me. However this is far from being the worst song in this year's contest and it does have a unique charm that might well appeal to some of Eurovision audience. It could just about make it to the final based on public votes, but it must also stand a good chance of getting the jury selection.

REVIEWS

"Interesting use of the imaginary language again, not sure if this is going to be a second " Sanomi " but it will be remembered for sure. Might get some votes but it is not a guaranteed qualifier." - Paul Hutter (Germany)

"This is a very good and funny song. It makes me very happy. It is an unique song in this edition of the Eurovision and I really hope that it will do very well in Belgrade, they deserve it. This is one of those typical love it or hate it entries, and I certainly love it." - Nick Peeters (Belgium)

"Pleasant melodic gibberish which yields some sort of an ethereal sensation. It's not Sanome but it is good anyway." - David Berlinger (Israel)

"To be honest, I expected something better from Belgium and other than this song. People compare it with the much better "Sanomi" from 2003, but I don't see why.It's a part of flemish etno and I don't see it qualifying.So sayonara, try next year, nice to know ya..." - Iggy

"Imaginary language one more time, but without the surprise effect this time, and without the good celtic sound of Urban Trad. It will go to the final only with the help of the jury." - Yom (France)

"Too old fashioned for my taste. Nice melody (50s style), her voice is interesting, but why another song in an imaginary language?" - Atmantas (Greece)

"I am fully aware that this song is a bit silly, but there’s just something about it that I like. I would have preferred a more ‘regular’ entry from Belgium but I appreciate the risk that they’re taking this year, as they’ve failed miserably with many a decent pop song. It’s fun and dangerously catchy and Belgium is one of the countries that I really want to see back in the final." - John Withers (U.K.)