Last month, Belgium confirmed their participation ahead of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, due to be held in Italy. After two consecutive years of VRT (due to the cancellation of 2020), 2022 will once again be overseen by RTBF. Last week, the broadcaster announced that their selected artist for the 2022 contest will be revealed today.
RTBF, the Belgian French-language broadcaster, has announced the Belgian entrant for Eurovision 2022 during Le 8/9 on VivaCité radio this morning – Jérémie Makiese. The Voice Belgique winner had expressed his interest in representing Belgium at Eurovision 2022 in an interview back in June.
This continues the recent tradition of Belgium announcing their internally-selected artist well in advance of fellow participating countries. RTBF have fully internally-selected their entries since 2013.
Although we have little indication of who/what the act will be, back in June, The Voice Belgique winner Jérémie Makiese expressed his interest in representing Belgium at Eurovision 2022 in an interview.
Belgium at Eurovision 2021
Hooverphonic were formed in 1995, with Alex Callier and Raymond Geerts at the helm. Although the band have since had six lead singers, Geike Arnaert (who joined in 1997) is their longest-serving and is the vocalist behind their biggest international hit “Mad About You”. She rejoined the band last year during the preparations process for their 2021 entry.
Flemish broadcaster VRT selected Hooverphonic in the second half of 2019 to represent Belgium in 2020. The band had planned to go to Rotterdam with “Release Me”, but unfortunately COVID-19 threw a spanner in the works. However, the group got a second chance and instead brought “The Wrong Place” to Rotterdam this year. They placed 19th in the Grand Final with 74 points.
Prior to the contest, the band celebrated their 25th anniversary in their hometown Sint-Niklaas. They also released their latest album Hidden Stories to mark the occasion.
Are you looking forward to hearing the Belgian entry for Eurovision 2022? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify and YouTube to see our reactions to the news in the run up to the 2022 national final season!
