When RTBF take the reins, we always find out who will be singing for Belgium early!
Mustii is their choice for Eurovision 2024!
The French speaking broadcaster for Belgium never messes around and yet
again we know who they have singing for them within the first week of the
new Eurovision season! Admittedly it is not anyone connected to The
Voice Belgique (for the first time since that show started) but it is
an internal selection of the singer, the same as it has been since
2011. The main difference is that Mustii is not only older (32) than
the previous five RTBF choices and has more strings to their bow (stage and
screen actor, Drag Race judge). Mustii also has released two
top 5 albums/1 EP/7 singles in the past, plus can sing and perform live. Here is a
gig version of the song you heard on the show this week, "Shame":
I think that going into the Malmö crowd like that might give the SVT security a panic attack
though! To be honest, RTBF have chosen very wisely and if I were
Belgian, I would be very pleased so far - the song we
get in February will determine how well Belgium do in Sweden.
Stage charisma? I think that Mustii has that covered too:
So it is all systems go as far as Eurovision 2024 is concerned in week one! Mustii was a great way to kick start show 265 too...
And the playlist?
Mustii - "Shame"
Agnetha Fältskog - "Where Do We Go From Here?"
Ani + The Cranes - "Happy Birthday To Me"
Sudden Lights - "Backwards In Time"
Alyosha - "Sweet People"
Miki Núñez - "Entre Un Millón"
Zoë - "Loin d'ici"
Jóhanna Guðrún - "Síðan Hittumst Við Aftur"
Jessica Mauboy ft Jason Derulo - "Give You Love"
Svala ft Ingi Bauer - "Ein Í Nótt"
Silia Kapsis - "Disco Dancer"
Ana Soklič - "Bohinian girl, Bohemian woman"
Raylee - "Red Light"
Måneskin - "HONEY (ARE U COMING?)"
Josh Island - "Patio Blues"
BRUNETTE - "Holiday Nostalgia"
Luca Hänni - "She Got Me"
Alika - "Lihtsalt veab"
Mia Dimšić - "Airplane Hearts"
Anna Odobescu - "High On You"
Albina - "Grad sve zna"
Now there seemed to be strong rumours that Cyprus had an artist in the pipeline too, according to OGAE Greece, so I took a chance and played something from this singer too:
(The BBC interview with ABBA's first A)...
(The excellent Aussievision article that provided ways of how to support the Australian artists who had performed at Eurovision and Eurovision: Australia Decides)...
(My blog article in 2017 about Eurovision and Strictly Come Dancing).
The last item to cover on this show was Josh Island, the singer from Luxembourg who is the first artist to say that they have submitted a song for his nation's selection process. After I tagged Josh as being on the show on the Bradley Stoke Radio FB page, he and his PR team got in touch and told me about his submission, his upcoming album, his new single that came out on Wednesday ("How Does It Feel") and details of his tour of the nations surrounding Luxembourg. They enjoyed "Patio Blues" being played on the show and, if all the planets align, I will chat with Josh about his experiences for LET ME BE THE ONE. That will probably happen in the run up to the Luxembourg National Final IF he is one of the artists selected. For those listeners in Germany, Luxembourg and Netherlands, here are the dates:![]()
I have listened to his album that is released on Friday 15th September and it is definitely worth a listen. It is called "In My Head", has ten songs and is available as digital download and signed CD on Bandcamp. As for the likelihood of Josh being at a National Final, I'd say that unless Luxembourg has a huge quality of excellent singers that I am unaware of, I'd be pretty confident that he will be there - he has a superb voice and writes very thoughtful, yet catchy, music. Fingers crossed that we haven't heard the last of Josh Island...
1680 entries on the Eurovision stage
41 entries from 2020 (EBU approved but not performed)
7 Non Qualifiers from 1996 Qualifying Round
4 Non Qualifiers from "Kvalifikacija za Millstreet"
The 1996 non-qualifiers will be played the week after next (hopefully), but the 1993 entries for Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia will be on show 266...
Bosnia & Herzegovina were contending with a war in their nation...
Nothing changes for Eurovision nations, does it?
Nothing changes for Eurovision nations, does it?