Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000

Eurovision Song Contest 2000
Eurovision Song Contest 2000
Country	Belgium
National selection
Selection process	Finale Nationale Concours Eurovision de la Chanson 2000
Selection date(s)	18 February 2000
Selected entrant	Nathalie Sorce
Selected song	"Envie de vivre"
Selected songwriter(s)	Silvio Pezzuto
Finals performance
Final result	24th, 2 points
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest

Belgium was represented by Nathalie Sorce with the song "Envie de vivre" at the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Stockholm on 13 May. Sorce was the winner of the Belgian national final for the contest, held in Brussels on 18 February.

French-language broadcaster RTBF was in charge of the selection of the Belgian entry for the 2000 Contest.

Before Eurovision[]

Finale Nationale Concours Eurovision de la Chanson 2000[]

The final took place on 18 February 2000 at the RTBF Studio 6, hosted by Jean-Pierre Hautier. A public televote determined the winner, "Envie de vivre" performed by Nathalie Sorce. The results of the public televote were revealed by Belgium's six regions (four Walloon provinces with votes from Namur and Luxembourg being combined, a "Rest of Belgium" region covering the five Flemish provinces, and Brussels) and led to the victory of Sorce by a margin of over 3,500 votes.^[1]

Final – 18 February 2000
Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Televote	Place
1	Maria Canel	"Et si..."	Maria Canel Ferreiro, Patrice de Matos de Morais	2,518	10
2	Géraldine Cozier	"Ma voie"	Geraldine Cozier, Cécile Delamarre, Pascal Noel, Philippe Libois	8,371	5
3	Gerlando	"Rêve"	Fernando de Meersman, Hughes Maréchal	4,002	9
4	Sabrina Klinkenberg	"Tout ce que je suis"	Alexis Vanderheyden, Jacques Broun	11,085	3
5	La Teuf	"Soldat de l'amour"	Alec Mansion	6,216	6
6	Mezzo Mezzo	"Belgicanos"	Silvio Pezzuto, Michel Ianiri, Juan Gonzalez	10,750	4
7	Christel Pagnoul	"Pour la vie"	Francis Goya, Ralph Benatar, Christel Pagnoul, Valérie Weyer	6,066	7
8	Frédéric Reynaerts	"Le nomade m'a dit"	Frédéric Reynaerts	17,774	2
9	Nathalie Sorce	"Envie de vivre"	Silvio Pezzuto	21,362	1
10	Triana	"Donne"	Roberto D'Angelo, Filippo di Maira	5,270	8

Detailed Regional Televoting Results
Draw	Song	Walloon Brabant	Hainaut	Namur and Luxembourg	Liège	Rest of Belgium	Brussels	Total
1	"Et si..."	163	63	142	68	48	2,035	2,518
2	"Ma voie"	368	2,042	2,782	1,072	228	1,879	8,371
3	"Rêve"	103	1,313	263	360	563	1,427	4,002
4	"Tout ce que je suis"	292	809	393	7,906	114	1,571	11,085
5	"Soldat de l'amour"	290	727	731	1,489	146	2,833	6,216
6	"Belgicanos"	424	3,962	848	1,109	497	3,910	10,750
7	"Pour la vie"	340	681	221	742	456	3,626	6,066
8	"Le nomade m'a dit"	956	2,497	1,988	3,137	2,225	6,971	17,774
9	"Envie de vivre"	910	8,305	2,243	3,360	950	5,594	21,362
10	"Donne"	91	629	211	3,361	47	931	5,270

Controversy[]

After the final, there was initially some degree of uncertainty about the disproportionately high number of votes to Sabrina Klinkenberg from the province of Liège, but RTBF subsequently confirmed that it was correct, citing the fact that Klinkenberg was a native of that province as the most probable explanation, and pointing out that Sorce had also received an exceptionally high number of votes from her home province of Hainaut.

At Eurovision[]

On the night of the final Sorce performed 10th in the running order, following Russia and preceding Cyprus. A somewhat shrill and at times off-key vocal performance, combined with a much-criticised choice of outfit, contributed towards an ignominious result, with only 2 points received and a last place finish of the 24 entrants, the eighth time that Belgium had finished at the foot of the Eurovision scoreboard.^[2] The 12 points from the Belgian televote were awarded to Latvia.^[3]