Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011
| Eurovision Song Contest 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |
 Belgium
|
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| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Eurovision 2011: Qui? A vous de choisir! | |||
| Selection date(s) |
Online Selection: 20 September 2010 - 31 December 2010 Semi-final: 30 January 2011 50% Jury 25% Radio Listeners 25% Internet Final: 12 February 2011 50% Jury 50% Televoting |
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| Selected entrant | Witloof Bay | |||
| Selected song | "With Love Baby" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Failed to qualify (11th) | |||
| Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany, selecting their entry through an internet selection and a national final, organised by French speaking broadcaster RTBF (Radio télévision belge de la communauté française).
RTBF has announced that the selection would kick off on 1 October via the internet. Original plans to launch the selection in May had been stopped by the EBU.
On 20 September, RTBF and Akamusic launched a website, where music artists could upload their songs. All entries had to be written in English or French by Belgian songwriters. Until December 31, page visitors could give financial support in order to make the professional production of their respective favourite song possible. All songs that gathered at least €20,000 qualified for the second stage of the national selection, where the eventual winner would be chosen by a jury and a televote. All people who donated money to songs other than the winning one were reimbursed.
The first phase of the Belgian selections for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 finished on December 31. Almost 200 artists subscribed with a song on Akamusic. 3,181 producers together invested €697,015. 30 artists reached 100% of the necessary amount of €20,000 for qualification.
Because the number of qualified artists passed all expectations, RTBF introduced an additional round in which the number of finalists were reduced to 14. The semi-final was held on Sunday afternoon 30 January and was aired by radio channel VivaCité and in live stream video on the internet site of RTBF.
The 30 selected songs were judged by a professional jury, by the listeners and on the internet. In the end, 14 songs qualified for the Belgian national final on television.
RTBF announced that the national final, 'Eurovision 2011: Qui? A vous de choisir!' (English: 'Eurovision 2011: Who? It's your choice!'), would take place in mid-February.
On 26 January, RTBF announced the jury of the Belgian final:
Belgium competed in the first half of the second semi-final of the contest, on 12 May. Witloof Bay did not qualify for the final, placing in 11th with 53 points and missing out on qualification by a single point.
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Wikipedia