Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 with the song "", composed by Paul Quintens, with lyrics by Phil van Cauwenbergh, and performed by Jacques Raymond and Lily Castel. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Dutch-speaking (BRT), selected its entry through a national final.
Raymond and Castel had not taken part in the national final, which was won by Nicole & Hugo performing the song. BRT called them as late replacements shortly before Eurovision, as Nicole had fallen ill and was unable to travel. Nicole & Hugo would represent .
Before Eurovision
was the national final format developed by Dutch-speaking broadcaster (BRT) which determined the song that would represent Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 1971. This was the 4th edition of , after previously being used to select BRT's and entry, and a 3rd season that ran between 1967 and 1968 but wasn't related to the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition consisted of nine semi-finals held between October 1970 and January 1971, and a final on 6 February 1971. All shows were held in the Amerikaans Theater in Brussels, and hosted by Jan Theys.
Format 1971 consisted of nine semi-finals and a final. The original format had ten artists compete in each semi-final and the top three songs chosen by a jury, as well as the public's favourite, would appear again in the next semi-final, while the other artists would have to select new songs, but after one of the competing artists died after semi-final 2, the remaining seven semi-finals only had nine artists. For a song to qualify to the final, it would have to place top three with the juries, or win the public vote, three times. A song could qualify with any combination of these, for example, it could get top three with juries twice and win the public vote once and then qualify to the final
Competing entries BRT shortlisted eight singers and two groups for 1971: Ann Christy, , Micha Marah, , , , , , Nicole & Hugo, and Kate's Kennel. A total of 58 songs competed in 1971. +Competing entriesArtistSongSongwriter(s)Composer(s)Lyricist(s)Ann Christy""Willy Crombé"De kinderen rond mijn huis"A. Delhaye, S. Kaesen"Een droom nooit gedroomd", F. Vadyn"Het lied is uit of moet het nog beginnen""n Kleine melodie"Oscar Denayer, F. Vadyn"'n Zilveren kooi""Alles wordt oranje", K. Vanes, Albimoor"Anne Marie"R. De Mon, P. Loland"Jij bent mijn engel"R. DeroKer Delva"Nooit weer"R. Varner, L. Barey"Sunny Girl"R. Dero, Ker Delva"Valdemosa"Varner"Want je mist haar"R. Dero"Ballade voor Soraya", Ker Delva, Henk André"Brugge"Henk André"Emigrant", Ker Delva, E. De Backer"Er is altijd", BDG"Eva"Ker Delva"Ik mis je""Melodie voor jou"Rocco Granata"Zo ver van mij", Will Ferdy, M. Mortier"De wereld blijft niet staan""Dromen zijn nog vrij"Paul QuintensPhil Van Cauwenbergh"Je maakt me stapelgek"Merino Costa, Franz André, "Morgen is morgen", "Te mooi om waar te zijn""Verloren hart, verloren droom""Canzonissima"C. M. Peters, G. Bogaert"Een regenboog"R. Mast, C. M. Peeters"Loop maar door"King Williams, Greta Bogaert"Vroeg of laat"Scott BradfordG. Bogaert"Wil je soms weten"King WilliamsGreta BogaertKate's Kennel"Ach matroosje", Dré Baekelandt"De tijd is rijp", Dré Baekelandt"De voetbalkampioen", Dré Baekelandt"Droom", Dré Baekelandt"Peloton… vuur!", Dré Baekelandt"Regenlied"Clee Van Herzele, Dré Baekelandt"Rock and Roll", Dré Baekelandt"Toen", Dré Baekelandt"Wij lopen te vlug voorbij", Dré Baekelandt"Als je terugkomt""Hou je van mij?""Lachen"R. Dero"Requiem", Sus Nyens"Weet je nog wie ik was", Micha Marah"Balabaloe"K. Van Herck, T. Rendall"Die ring"A. Delhaye, Karel Van Herck"Ik ben zeventien"K. Van Herck, Joka""Rudi WittKarel Van HerckNicole & Hugo"A Song Is Born""Goeiemorgen, morgen"Paul QuintensPhil Van Cauwenbergh"Ik wil een papieren man""Ik wil met je mee"R. Varner"Mijn hele leven"Rocco Granata"Pak je koffers"Paul QuintensPhil Van Cauwenbergh"Katialinda"Daviny, Jo Deensen"Mona Lisa"J. DeensenDaviny
Shows
Semi-finals Voting in the semi-finals was done by two separate juries and postcard voting. The first jury was a professional jury made up of five members who each gave between 0 and 10 points to every song. The members of the professional jury were non-voting chairman (head of entertainment at BRT), Jo Leemans (singer), Jos Boudewijn (radio producer), Anton Peters (actor and director), (author and actor), and Raymond Stuyck (journalist). The second jury was a 5-member jury formed by people from the music industry. The music industry jury voted during every semi-final but did not impact the selection for Eurovision and their goal was to choose 'the best Flemish song'. The music industry jury only voted on any new songs in a semi-final and qualified songs kept their scores from previous semi-finals. The members of the music industry jury were non-voting chairman Nest Van der Eyken (SABAM), (composer and conductor), Gerd Mertens (conductor and organist), Vic Nees (composer), Jef Claessen (radio producer), and Armand Preud'homme (composer).
Since songs introduced in semi-final 9 could not get to top three with the juries or win the public vote three times and qualify for the final, the rules to qualify for the final were changed for semi-final 9. Songs had to receive at least the average number of points that every song that qualified to the final got in their last semi-final from the jury. The public vote winner also qualified to the final.
After the second semi-final, on 21 October 1970, Ron Davis was involved in a car accident and remained absent from 1971 until his death on 22 January 1971. His death was commemorated by the juries at the start of the ninth semi-final.
The seventh semi-final did not take place live and was instead pre-recorded because it took place during the Christmas holidays.
+Semi-final 13 October 1970ArtistSongJuryPublicResult 1"Wil je soms weten"284610 2"Je maakt me stapelgek"2843554 3Nicole & Hugo"Mijn hele leven"2761676 4"Brugge"3034153Jury Qualifier 5Ann Christy""3511427Jury Qualifier 6"Mona Lisa"2393215 7"Lachen"312119Jury Qualifier 8"Jij bent mijn engel"2575952 9Kate's Kennel"Peloton… vuur!"248618 10Micha Marah""20101,0701Public Qualifier +Semi-final 217 October 1970ArtistSongJuryPublicResult 1Micha Marah""2192,5041Public Qualifier 2"Katialinda"2485715 3Kate's Kennel"Wij lopen te vlug voorbij"20102610 4"Sunny Girl"2571,4482 5"Loop maar door"295998 6"Brugge"2763646 7Ann Christy""3916034Jury Qualifier 8Nicole & Hugo"Ik wil met je mee"3131397Jury Qualifier 9"Lachen"313809Jury Qualifier 10"Verloren hart, verloren droom"3829823Jury Qualifier +Semi-final 331 October 1970ArtistSongJuryPublicResult 1Micha Marah""2284,9061Public Qualifier – Final 2Kate's Kennel"De tijd is rijp"219258 3"Verloren hart, verloren droom"3914843Jury Qualifier 4"Lachen"3231155Jury Qualifier – Final 5Ann Christy""391926Jury Qualifier – Final 6"Anne Marie"2866872 7Nicole & Hugo"Ik wil met je mee"314717 8"Zo ver van mij"3141984 9"Een regenboog"277139 +Semi-final 414 November 1970ArtistSongJuryPublicResult 1Nicole & Hugo"Ik wil een papieren man"178996 2"Want je mist haar"2931184Jury Qualifier 3Micha Marah"Ik ben zeventien"2933,4741Jury & Public Qualifier 4"Eva"1592992 5Ann Christy"Een droom nooit gedroomd"275358 6"Canzonissima"3821203Jury Qualifier 7Kate's Kennel"Droom"227279 8"Verloren hart, verloren droom"3911115Jury Qualifier – Final 9"Hou je van mij?"236737 +Semi-final 528 November 1970ArtistSongJuryPublicResult 1Kate's Kennel"Regenlied"159449 2"De wereld blijft niet staan"305776 3Micha Marah"Ik ben zeventien"2774,3191Public Qualifier – Final 4"Er is altijd"268944 5Ann Christy"'n Zilveren kooi"342865Jury Qualifier 6"Requiem"286668 7"Want je mist haar"3141193 8"Canzonissima"333677Jury Qualifier 9Nicole & Hugo"Goeiemorgen, morgen"3816072Jury Qualifier + Semi-final 5Detailed jury voting resultsSong Total 1"Regenlied"2335215 2"De wereld blijft niet staan"5776530 3"Ik ben zeventien"4666527 4"Er is altijd"2684626 5"'n Zilveren kooi"6887534 6"Requiem"4657628 7"Want je mist haar"5577731 8"Canzonissima"5885733 9"Goeiemorgen, morgen"6888838 +Semi-final 612 December 1970ArtistSongJuryPublicResult 1"Nooit weer"354938 2"Canzonissima"316749 3Ann Christy"'n Zilveren kooi"345967 4Kate's Kennel"Ach matroosje"099212 5Nicole & Hugo"Goeiemorgen, morgen"4316624Jury Qualifier 6Micha Marah"Die ring"3624,2391Jury & Public Qualifier 7"Morgen is morgen"3168483 8"Als je terugkomt"3621366Jury Qualifier 9"Ik mis je"3083585 +Semi-final 726 December 1970 (Pre-recorded)ArtistSongJuryPublicResult 1"Te mooi om waar te zijn"267405 2Ann Christy"De kinderen rond mijn huis"315148 3Micha Marah"Die ring"3152,7101Public Qualifier – Final 4"Melodie voor jou"248366 5"Vroeg of laat"372139Jury Qualifier 6Nicole & Hugo"Goeiemorgen, morgen"4314762Jury Qualifier – Final 7"Als je terugkomt"3721343Jury Qualifier 8Kate's Kennel"Rock and Roll"169504 9"Valdemosa"354287 +Semi-final 89 January 1971ArtistSongJuryPublicResult 1"Ballade voor Soraya"3364,3452 2Nicole & Hugo"A Song Is Born"3551535 3"Alles wordt oranje"3911614Jury Qualifier 4Kate's Kennel"Toen"59238 5Micha Marah"Balabaloe"2874,3711Public Qualifier 6"Als je terugkomt"3911803Jury Qualifier – Final 7"Vroeg of laat"383199Jury Qualifier 8"Dromen zijn nog vrij"383616Jury Qualifier 9Ann Christy"Het lied is uit of moet het nog beginnen"248337 +Semi-final 923 January 1971ArtistSongJuryPublicResult 1Ann Christy"'n Kleine melodie"374278 2Nicole & Hugo"Pak je koffers"3656783 3"Dromen zijn nog vrij"356287 4Micha Marah"Balabaloe"3083,5042 5"Weet je nog wie ik was"422994Jury Qualifier – Final 6"Vroeg of laat"41379Jury Qualifier – Final 7"Emigrant"3567,2421Public Qualifier – Final 8Kate's Kennel"De voetbalkampioen"219686 9"Alles wordt oranje"441775Jury Qualifier – Final + Semi-final 9Detailed jury voting resultsSong Total 1"'n Kleine melodie"5799737 2"Pak je koffers"7977636 3"Dromen zijn nog vrij"5789635 4"Balabaloe"6457830 5"Weet je nog wie ik was"6610101042 6"Vroeg of laat"71088841 7"Emigrant"6869635 8"De voetbalkampioen"51060021 9"Alles wordt oranje"691010944
Final The final took place on 6 February 1971 at 20:45 CET in the Amerikaans Theater in Brussels. Voting was by an "expert" jury of 11 members, which consisted of the five members of the professional jury in the semi-finals plus six journalists from Flemish newspapers, each giving one point to their favourite song. This turned out to be something of a non-event, as in the end, only three songs received any votes at all. "" performed by Nicole & Hugo was the choice of eight of the jury members.
During the final, it was also announced that "" performed by Mary Porcelijn was the winner of the music industry jury and earned the title of 'the best Flemish song', despite not gaining the most points from the music industry jury.
+ Final – 6 February 1971 Artist Song Points Place 1Ann Christy""22 2Nicole & Hugo"Goeiemorgen, morgen"81 3"Alles wordt oranje" 04 4"Lachen"04 5Micha Marah""04 6"Verloren hart, verloren droom"13 7"Als je terugkomt"04 8"Weet je nog wie ik was"04 9"Vroeg of laat"04 10Micha Marah"Ik ben zeventien"04 11Micha Marah"Die ring"04 12Johann Stollz"Emigrant"04