Wallonia selected the Belgian representative for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest tonight. In the final of Eurokids 2004, broadcast live on La Une, the Walloons selected Free Spirits for Lillehammer with the song Accroche-toi.

Lorie, often named as a possible representative for Monaco next year in Kiev, opened the final of Eurokids 2004 with a spectacular performance of her current hit Ensorcelée. Then it was up to kids. After several changes of the rules due to the disqualification of first semi final winner Bess, 7 kids were on stage.

Like it happened in the semi finals, several juries awarded points to the kids. This time the kids jury and Vivacité radio jury gave 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 points. The points of the La Une televoting counted double. For the occasion of the final, RTBF also invited a press jury.

These are the results of Eurokids 2004:

01. 56 points | Free Spirits – Accroche-toi (Hold on)
02. 52 points | Methiola – S�amuser (To have fun)
03. 50 points | Mary-Lo – Laissez-moi rêver (Let me dream)
04. 47 points | Hotvibes – Ma vraie identité (My real identity)
05. 45 points | Manon – Mais la vie (But life)
06. 35 points | Alex – Ecoute-moi (Listen to me)
07. 30 points | Kevin – J'ai envie (I feel like…)

After Flanders' rock band Xink last year, now also the Walloons select a rock song for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. After three juries had given their points, Free Spirits and Methiola were in the lead together, closely followed by Hotvibes. The fourth jury, the televoting results, were decisive and pointed out Free Spirits as Belgian representatives for the second edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

Free Spirits consists of the boys Fabrice Morelle, Olivier Losciuto and Samuel Evrard. They all live in Liège, are 14 years old and like the music of the Offspring, Sum 41, Muse, Nirvana and Blink 182 . With Accroche-toi, Free Spirits sing a very dark and controversial song, a try to convince one not to commit suicide.

The first Walloon selections for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest have come to an end but however they can't be called a real success. The Walloon Belgians once again proved that their interest in Eurovision is very low as Eurokids scored disappointingly low viewing figures the last couple of weeks.

“It's true that I'm a bit disappointed about the result“, says Leslie Cable, producer of the show. “But the shows we produced looked really good. The songs, the realisations and the choice of participants were excellent. If we had to do it all over again, we would do it in the same way. With Eurokids 2004 we proved we are still capable to produce shows, reaching the quality level of productions in France.”

In 2005, Flemish broadcaster VRT and Walloon broadcaster RTBF will organize the third edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.