Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1958

Eurovision Song Contest 1958
Participating broadcasterInstitut national belge de radiodiffusion (INR)
Country Belgium
National selection
Selection processGrand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne: Demi-Finale Belge
Selection date(s)19 February 1958
Selected artist(s)Fud Leclerc
Selected song"Ma petite chatte"
Selected songwriter(s)André Dohet
Finals performance
Final result5th, 8 points
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1957 • 1958 • 1959►

Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1958 with the song "Ma petite chatte", written by André Dohet, and performed by Fud Leclerc. The Belgian participating broadcaster, the Institut national belge de radiodiffusion (INR), selected its entry through a national final.

Before Eurovision

Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne: Demi-Finale Belge

Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne: Demi-Finale Belge was the national final format developed by Walloon broadcaster INR in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1958. The competition was held on 19 February 1958 and broadcast on INR.[1][2][3]

Competing Entries

After opening a submission period for songs, INR had received about 500 songs by the end of the deadline. Between 4 and 6 February 1958, a professional jury listened to and shortlisted ten entries for the competition. The jury consisted of: Angèle Guller, David Bee, Léon Jongen, Jean Omer, Peter Packay, Jaap Streefkerk, Robert Wasmuth, and René Hénoumont [fr], with Robert Ledent as the chairman of the jury. Aside from the winner, no other information about any of the artists, song titles, or songwriters is known, except for the title of one more song.[3]

Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Fud Leclerc "Ma petite chatte" André Dohet
Unknown "Il y a des rues" Unknown

Final

The final was held on 19 February 1958 at 20:40 CET and broadcast on INR. The entries were first performed as instrumentals by the orchestra, and then were performed again with the singers. The results were done over two rounds of voting. In the first round, audience members exclusively selected the top five entries to proceed to the second round. In the second round, the winner, "Ma petite chatte" performed by Fud Leclerc, was selected through the votes of a jury panel among 5 superfinalists.[1][2][3]

At Eurovision

On the night of the final, Wednesday 12 March 1958, Fud Leclerc performed seventh in the running order, following Denmark and preceding Germany. At the close of voting "Ma Petite Chatte" had received 8 points, placing Belgium join fifth (with Austria) of the 10 entries.[4]

The Belgian entry was conducted at the contest by the musical director Dolf Van Der Linden.

Voting

Every participating broadcaster assembled a jury of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.

References

  1. ^ a b "Eurovision Artists: Nationale finale Eurovisie Songfestival".
  2. ^ a b "Concours Eurovision de la Chanson - démi-finale 1958". Songfestival.be. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Vermeulen, André (2021). Van Canzonissima tot Eurosong. 65 jaar Belgische preselecties voor het Eurovisiesongfestival. Leuven: Kritak. ISBN 978-94-014-7609-6. OCLC 1240241113.
  4. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest : Netherlands 1958 : Corry Brokken, Heel De Wereld". Esc-history.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-15. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  5. ^ a b "Results of the Final of Hilversum 1958". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.