Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957

Belgium was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957, on 3 March 1957, by Bobbejaan Schoepen with the song "Straatdeuntje", written by Harry Frekin and Eric Franssen and performed in Dutch. The song was chosen during a national final with Schoepen performing all entries.

Eurovision Song Contest 1957
Country Belgium
National selection
Selection processDe T.V. Maakt Muziek
Selection date(s)19 February 1957
Selected entrantBobbejaan Schoepen
Selected song"Straatdeuntje"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Harry Frekin
  • Eric Franssen
Finals performance
Final result8th, 5 points
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1956 • 1957 • 1958►

Before Eurovision

De T.V Maakt Muziek

De T.V. Maakt Muziek was the national final format developed by NIR in order to select Belgium's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1957. The competition was held on 19 February 1957 at 20:45 CET at Studio 6 at Flagyplein in Brussels, hosted by Tante Terry and broadcast on NIR. The show was also broadcast in Netherlands on NTS. All three competing songs were performed by Bobbejaan Schoppen and "Straatdeuntje" was selected as the winning song by an "expert" jury.[1][2]

Format

The format of the national final consisted of semi-final, where juries reduced amount of participating songs from 7 to 3, and a live final on 19 February 1957 where the winner was selected among 3 finalists by an "expert" jury.[3][4]

The jury panel consisted of:

  • Marcel Put - Composer (jury chairperson)
  • Nick Bal - Journalist
  • Francis Bay - Conductor
  • Robert Bosmans
  • Bob Boon - TV presenter and producer
  • Leonce Gras - NIR's musical director
  • Jack Kruger - Musical manager
  • Albert Rollwagen - Music publisher
  • Paul Van Dessel - NIR's TV director
  • Gaert Mertens - Bariton
  • Renaat Verbruggen

Semi-final

7 songs competed in the semi-final, with the qualifiers being decided by an "expert" jury.[5]

Artist(s) Song Songwriter(s)
Bobbejaan Schoepen "Het beeld van mijn moeder" Leo Camps, Hans Flower
"Straatdeuntje" Eric Franssen, Harry Frékin
"Zomernacht in Gay Paree" Eric Franssen, Jan Stevens, Max Sluys
Eric Franssen "O mijn huisje op de heide" Eugeen de Ridder, Armand Preud'homme
Rina Pia "De jodelende koe" Johnny Steggerda
Wim van de Velde "Brave boerinnekes" Luc Verbist, Jef Trappeniers
"Voor jou chérie" Nelly Byl, Jack Say

Final
De T.V. Maakt Muziek
Bobbejaan Schoepen in the national final.

The final was held on 19 February 1957. "Straatdeuntje" was selected by the jury as the winning song and would become Belgium's third entry in the Eurovision Song Contest (as every country had two songs in the 1956 competition) and the first song submitted by the Flemish broadcaster as well as the first Belgian entry performed in Dutch.[6][7]

Draw Song Points Place
1 "Straatdeuntje" 16 1
2 "Zomernacht in Gay Paree" 21 2
3 "Het beeld van mijn moeder" 23 3

At Eurovision

At the Eurovision Song Contest in Frankfurt, the Belgian entry was the first of the night preceding Luxembourg. Reflecting the song title, the stage was showing the picture of a street in the background. Schoepen delivered, as usual in these days, a simple performance which was remarkable because of the large whistling part in his song. At the close of voting, Belgium had received five points in total; the country finished shared eight among the ten participants. The Belgian jury gave half of its points, five, to the winning country, the Netherlands.

Voting

Every country had a jury of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song. Among the jury members was Francis Bay, who would go on to conduct the Belgian entry at Eurovision in nine future edition of the contest.[8]

Sources
  • Jan Feddersen: Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein, Hoffmann und Campe 2002

References
  1. "Eurovision Artists: Nationale finale Eurovisie Songfestival".
  2. "De T.V. Maakt muziek - België 1957".
  3. "Eurovision Artists: Nationale finale Eurovisie Songfestival".
  4. "De T.V. Maakt muziek - België 1957".
  5. "Eurovision Artists: Nationale finale Eurovisie Songfestival".
  6. Belgian lyrics at Eurovision
  7. "Eurovision Artists: Nationale finale Eurovisie Songfestival".
  8. "And the conductor is...|...a website dedicated to all conductors of the Eurovision Song Contest".
  9. "Results of the Final of Frankfurt 1957". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
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