Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999

Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 with the song "Like the Wind" written by Ilia Beyers, John Terra, Emma Philippa-Hjälmås and Wim Claes. The song was performed by Vanessa Chinitor. The Belgian entry for the 1999 contest in Jerusalem, Israel was selected through the national final Eurosong '99, organised by the Flemish broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT). The competition featured twenty-five competing entries and consisted of three shows. In the final on 28 February 1999, "Like the Wind" performed by Vanessa Chinitor was selected as the winner via the votes of three televoting groups and two jury groups.

Belgium competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 29 May 1999. Performing during the show in position 2, Belgium placed twelfth out of the 23 participating countries, scoring 38 points.

Background
Prior to the 1999 contest, Belgium had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-one times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in. Since then, the country has won the contest on one occasion in with the song "J'aime la vie" performed by Sandra Kim. In 1998, Mélanie Cohl represented the country with the song "Dis oui" and placed sixth.

The Belgian broadcaster for the 1999 contest, who broadcasts the event in Belgium and organises the selection process for its entry, was Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT). The Belgian participation in the contest alternates between two broadcasters: the Flemish VRT and the Walloon Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF). Both broadcasters have selected the Belgian entry using national finals and internal selections in the past. In 1996 and 1998, both VRT and RTBF organised a national final in order to select the Belgian entry. VRT held the Eurosong national final to select their entry for the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest.

Eurosong '99
Eurosong '99 was the national final that selected Belgium's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999. The competition consisted of four shows that commenced on 7 February 1999 and concluded with a final on 28 February 1999 where the winning song and artist were selected. All shows took place at the Studio 100 in Schelle, hosted by Bart Peeters and were broadcast on TV1.

Format
Twenty-five entries were selected to compete in Eurosong, of which 21 competed in three semi-finals that took place on 7, 14 and 21 February 1999 with each show featuring seven entries. The winner of each semi-final qualified to the final and the highest scoring second placed act in the semi-finals was also selected to advance. The final took place on 28 February 1999 where the four semi-final qualifiers were joined by the remaining four entries that were automatically qualified for the final and the winner was chosen. The results of all shows were determined by an expert jury, an international jury consisting of European expats living in Belgium and public televoting on Radio 2, Radio Donna and TV1. Each voting group had an equal stake in the result. Televoting on Radio 2 and Radio Donna was held for a week prior to each of the five shows, while televoting on TV1 was held during each show.

During each of the five shows, the expert jury provided commentary and feedback to the artists and selected entries to advance in the competition. These experts were:


 * Liliane Saint-Pierre – singer, represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987
 * Anja Daems – Radio 2 presenter
 * Marcel Vanthilt – singer and television presenter

Competing entries
A submission period was opened on 1 November 1998 for artists and songwriters to submit their entries until 15 December 1998. Twenty-one entries were selected from 199 received during the submission period, while VRT also directly invited four composers to each submit a song which would directly qualify for the final: Marc Paelinck, Marc Vanhie, Miguel Wiels and Stefan Wuyts. The twenty-five acts selected for the competition were announced on 12 January 1999.

Semi-finals
The four semi-finals took place on 7, 14 and 21 February 1999. In each show seven entries competed and the combination of results from three televoting groups and two jury groups determined the winner that qualified to the final. The highest scoring second placed act in the semi-finals, "This Is My Life" performed by Voice Male, also proceeded to the final.

Final
The final took place on 28 February 1999 where the four entries that qualified from the preceding three semi-finals and the four pre-qualified entries competed. The winner, "Like the Wind" performed by Vanessa Chinitor, was selected by the combination of results from three televoting groups and two jury groups. "Like the Wind" received over 100,000 of the 242,000 registered televotes.

At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 took place at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, Israel, on 29 May 1999. According to the Eurovision rules, the 23-country participant list for the contest was composed of: the previous year's winning country and host nation, the seventeen countries which had obtained the highest average points total over the preceding five contests, and any eligible countries which did not compete in the 1998 contest. On 17 November 1998, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Belgium was set to perform in position 2, following the entry from Lithuania and before the entry from Spain. Belgium finished in twelfth place with 38 points.

The contest was broadcast in Belgium by both the Flemish and Walloon broadcasters. VRT broadcast the show on TV1 with commentary in Dutch by André Vermeulen and Bart Peeters; the broadcast reached 1.399 million viewers with a marker share of 69%. RTBF televised the shows on La Une with commentary in French by Jean-Pierre Hautier. The Belgian spokesperson, who announced the results of the Belgian televote during the final, was Sabine De Vos.

Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Belgium and awarded by Belgium in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to the Netherlands in the contest.