# Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024

Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with the song "Before the Party's Over", written by Arianna Damato, Benoit Leclercq, Charlotte Clark, Nina Sampermans, Pierre Dumoulin, and Thomas Mustin, and performed by Mustin himself under his stage name Mustii. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Walloon Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF), internally selected the Belgian entry for the contest.

## Background

Prior to the 2024 contest, Belgium had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty-four times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in 1956, only missing the 1994, 1997, and 2001 editions. Since then, the country has won the contest on one occasion in 1986 with the song "J'aime la vie", performed by Sandra Kim. Following the introduction of semi-finals for 2004, Belgium had featured in nine finals. In 2023, "Because of You" by Gustaph represented the country, qualifying for the final and ultimately placing 7th.
The Belgian participation in the contest alternates between two broadcasters: Flemish Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) and Walloon Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF) at the time, with both broadcasters sharing the broadcasting rights. Both broadcasters –and their predecessors– had selected the Belgian entry using national finals and internal selections in the past. On 16 August 2023, RTBF –who had the turn– confirmed its intention to participate in the 2024 contest, opting for an internal selection.

## Before Eurovision
### Internal selection

On 30 August 2023, RTBF announced they had internally selected Mustii as the Belgian entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. His entry was selected later, with RTBF calling for interested people to register on a dedicated website between 11 and 17 January 2024 in order to record a repeated line, which was intended to be included as a choir in the final version of the song; at the closing of the window, over 1,000 people had recorded the line, mostly from abroad. The entry, titled "Before the Party's Over", officially premiered on 20 February 2024 on the radio programme Le 8/9 on VivaCité; however, it was accidentally played in its entirety on Tipik two days prior.

### Promotion

As part of the promotion of his participation in the contest, Mustii attended the PrePartyES in Madrid on 30 March 2024, the Barcelona Eurovision Party on 6 April 2024, the London Eurovision Party on 7 April 2024, the Eurovision in Concert event in Amsterdam on 13 April 2024, and the Nordic Eurovision Party in Stockholm on 14 April 2024. In addition, he performed at the Eurovision Village in Malmö on 4 May 2024.

### Calls for exclusion of Israel

The inclusion of Israel in the list of participants of the 2024 contest, despite the humanitarian crisis resulting from Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war, sparked controversy in Belgium as well as several other participating countries, with several groups and politicians in the country calling for the removal of Israel from the contest, including the Walloon and Flemish ministers of media Bénédicte Linard [fr; nl] and Benjamin Dalle. The start of VRT's broadcast of the second semi-final, in which Israel was set to compete, was interrupted by a message aired by the broadcaster's internal trade union which called out Israel's human rights violations and alleged destruction of the freedom of press during the war.

## At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 took place at the Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 7 and 9 May and the final on 11 May 2024. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progressed to the final. On 30 January 2024, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country would perform in; the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. Belgium was scheduled for the second half of the second semi-final. The shows' producers then decided the running order for the semi-finals; Belgium was set to perform in position 12.
In Wallonia, RTBF broadcast the first semi-final on Tipik and the second semi-final and the final on La Une, as well as all shows on its streaming platform Auvio [fr] and the final on radio via VivaCité, with commentary by Maureen Louys and Jean-Louis Lahaye [fr]. In Flanders, VRT broadcast all shows on VRT 1 as well as on its streaming platform VRT MAX [nl], and the final on Radio 2, with commentary by Peter Van de Veire; Van de Veire also hosted the pre-show Hello Malmö on VRT 1. In addition, as part of the Eurovision programming, VRT broadcast the Het Grote Songfestivalfeest concert on 27 April and 4 May; a documentary titled ABBA – Against the Odds on 28 April and 5 May, which it cooperated to produce with DR and SVT alongside other EBU member broadcasters – namely ARD/WDR, the BBC, ČT, ERR, France Télévisions, NRK, NTR, RÚV, and Yle – on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Sweden's first victory at the contest with "Waterloo" by ABBA; and the documentary Mustii, de weg naar Malmö on 8 May, dedicated to Mustii's Eurovision journey; a number of other Eurovision-themed programmes are airing during the week on VRT 1, Radio 2 and MNM.

### Performance

Mustii took part in technical rehearsals on 30 April and 3 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 8 and 9 May. His performance of "Before the Party's Over" at the contest prominently featured smoke; he sang on a platform surrounded by several microphones. His outfit was designed by Elke Oost.

### Semi-final

Belgium performed in position 12, following the entry from Georgia and before the entry from Estonia. The country was not announced among the top 10 entries in the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final.

### Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to and by Belgium in the second semi-final and in the final. Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting in the final vote, while the semi-final vote was based entirely on the vote of the public. The Belgian jury consisted of Olivier Biron, Antoine Decocq, Fanny Gillard, Alice Van Eesbeeck, and Aurel Zola Kiese. In the second semi-final, Belgium placed 13th with 18 points. Over the course of the contest, Belgium awarded its 12 points to the Netherlands in the second semi-final, and to France (jury) and Israel (televote) in the final.
RTBF appointed Livia Dushkoff as its spokesperson to announce the Belgian jury's votes in the final.

#### Detailed voting results

Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. Each jury, and individual jury member, is required to meet a strict set of criteria regarding professional background, as well as diversity in gender and age. No member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.
The following members comprised the Belgian jury:
* Olivier Biron
* Antoine Decocq
* Fanny Gillard [fr]
* Alice Van Eesbeeck
* Aurel Zola Kiese