After much speculation, broadcaster RTBF has officially announced that young The Voice Belgique participant Eliot Vassamillet will represent Belgium in Tel Aviv.

It was just a matter of time before Belgian broadcaster RTBF would reveal the country’s Eurovision 2019 representative. And now it’s clear: flying the Belgian flag in Tel Aviv will be the 18-year old artist Eliot Vassamillet, also simply known as Eliot.

The Voice Belgique

Multi-instrumentalist Eliot Vassamillet hails from the city of Mons (Dutch: Bergen) in the province Hainaut (Henegouwen) and became known to the larger public when he participated in the 2018 edition of the popular talent show The Voice Belgique, the Walloon (French-Belgian) version of The Voice-franchise.

The young singer immediately caught the attention with his distinctive warm sound, joining the team of artist Slimane. Eliot eventually made it to the first round of the live shows before exiting the show, yet his characteristic voice did not go unnoticed.

The young artist said afterwards:

If I could break into the music scene, it would be great. To make it my job, it would be even better.

And now the newcomer will have the chance to prove himself and grace an ever bigger stage than that of The Voice, having the honour to represent his country at Eurovision 2019!

A successful formula

Belgium has had a successful run in Eurovision these past years, including a 6th place (2010), a 12th place (2013), an 1oth place (2016) and two 4th places (2015 and 2017), respectively. Most of these artists were young newcomers, broadcasters RTBF and VRT (the Walloon or French channel and the Flemish or Dutch channel, who alternately choose the Belgian participant) opting for the clear strategy to select a relatively unknown singer from The Voice-franchise, either The Voice Belgique or The Voice van Vlaanderen (The Voice of Flanders), to represent the Belgian colours.

The candidates did not necessarily have to get a high ranking in their Voice seasons, as long as they showcased a distinctive sound and a sense of uniqueness – a strategy that has served Belgium well in Eurovision.

Song by Pierre Dumoulin

Although the song Eliot will sing in Tel Aviv is set to be presented to the public in the course of February, we do know that the entry will be written by musician Pierre Dumoulin, who was co-author of the Belgian Eurovision 2017 hit City lights by Blanche.

Pierre Dumoulin, frontman of the group Roscoe, is excited to work with Eliot, as he stated:

As soon as I saw Eliot’s performance at his Blind Audition, I felt that he had ‘that extra stuff’ that I’m looking for in an artist, that sensitivity and fragility that are necessary to convey emotion.

Belgium at Eurovision 2018

Belgium was represented by Laura Groeseneken, known as SENNEK, at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, Portugal. With her enigmatic song A matter of time she unfortunately did not go through to the Grand Final, placing 12th with 91 points in Semi-Final 1.