[LMBTO] Belgium's choice for Eurovision 2019 - The Voice assists again...

Recognise this singer?  I suspect that few of us, bar real stalwarts of The Voice Belgique, would have known the name of Belgium's artist for Tel Aviv, prior to their announcement earlier this week:


Or Eliot for the purposes of performing at Eurovision 2019.  RTBF have yet again thrown everyone a real curveball with their choice for the Contest, selecting a relative unknown whose only experience is THAT reality music show.  At one stage we did have a solo performance of his to watch but that has been pulled off all social media sources by the broadcaster (possibly due to a couple of bum notes) but we do still have a Duel to watch and digest:

It doesn't help me that I never really liked this version of the song (Tears For Fears uptempo original is far, far better) and personally I prefer Paak's voice to Eliot's but our Eurovision singer does have a distinctive quality about his voice.  A little bit nasal to my ear but I'm not going to judge him on that with this one performance of singing bits and pieces of a song but what else is there to use?  Nothing at the moment, but RTBF have had this knack of picking singers that have a quality to their vocals that really strikes a chord with the Eurovision audience.  Remember this guy in Malmö?

I remember seeing Roberto sing this song at the announcement of his participation and he, in a word, was awful, despite him being a winner of The Voice.  A few months later and he nailed it at the Contest, getting 12th place.  The next Voice alumni was two years later and we ended up with 4th and one of the best performances of the 2015 Contest:



Yep, SuRie and all, Loïc Nottet wowed us all with "Rhythm Inside" and for many this should have been part of the mix for the title shoot-out between Måns, Polina and Il Volo.  Two years later, another unknown, another hit.  We had a quiet and reserved young lady singing possibly one of the most chart friendly entries that we have had for years:



Blanche still sounds amazing two years on.  RTBF have a pedigree of selecting the right artists, giving them the right song and staging, leading to great results at Eurovision for their nation.  Will Eliot and the Belgian delegation do the same thing in Tel Aviv?  What we do know is:

• The song will be called "Wake Up"
• Pierre Dumoulin, who co-wrote "City Lights", will be writing the song and has already said that Eliot has "sensitivity and 'crack' that's needed to convey the emotions"
• The song is apparently 'a call to youth to improve the state of the world and mobilise for peace'

And that is really all we know!  The song is to be released in February and it will only be then that we know whether Belgium have yet found yet another 'ruby in a mountain of rocks' or if RTBF has run out of luck, as far as picking total unknowns to perform at Eurovision is concerned.

I have never been so unsure one way or the other about a recent Belgian entry - when his actual song is revealed, Eliot's entry will definitely make me "wake up" and help me to decide one way or the other...