18 Brussels, Belgium

**Fabulous Song Contest 18**, often referred to as **FSC #18**, was the 18th edition of Fabulous Song Contest, held in Brussels, Belgium.

79 countries participated in the 18th contest. Yves V from Belgium won the contest with the song "Echo" receving a total of 308 points.

### **HOST CITY**

**Brussels** officially the **Brussels-Capital Region**, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region (within which it forms an enclave) and the Walloon Region. Brussels is the most densely populated and the richest region in Belgium in terms of GDP per capita. It covers 162 km2 (63 sq mi), a relatively small area compared to the two other regions, and has a population of over 1.2 million. The five times larger metropolitan area of Brussels comprises over 2.5 million people, which makes it the largest in Belgium. It is also part of a large conurbation extending towards Ghent, Antwerp, Leuven and Walloon Brabant, home to over 5 million people.

### **VENUE**

The **Antwerps Sportpaleis** also called **Sportpaleis Antwerpen**, **Sportpaleis Merksem** or simply the **Sportpaleis**, is an arena in Belgium. It is a multipurpose hall where concerts, sporting events, festivals and fairs are organized. The arena was built for sport, especially track cycling, but there is now little sport there, an exception being the Diamond Games tennis. According to Billboard Magazine, the Sportpaleis is the second most visited event hall in the world, second only to Madison Square Garden. The Sportpaleis is known for performances by both Dutch-speaking and international artists. It also hosts the Nekka-Nacht, the Proximus Diamond Games tennis tournament for women and Pop Poll De Luxe, organised by the magazine HUMO.

### **PRESENTERS**

**Angèle Van Laeken** was born on 3 December 1995, in Uccle, Brussels-Capital Region. Angèle is the daughter of the singer Marka and of the actress Laurence Bibot. Her brother is the rapper Roméo Elvis. Her father encouraged her from an early age to learn the piano, which inspired her musical career. Angèle spent a difficult adolescence in a strict Catholic school before attending the Decroly School. The artistic options at this high school helped develop her musical skills. She then enrolled in the Jazz Studio Antwerp for a jazz education before joining her father's band. She was one of 2018's biggest breakout acts in French and Belgian pop, breaking Stromae's record for weeks at the top of the Belgian singles charts with her 2018 single "Tout oublier" which features her brother Roméo Elvis.

**Loïc Nottet** born 10 April 1996, is a Belgian singer, songwriter and dancer. He began his career as a singer in the third season of *The Voice Belgique* in 2014 and represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 which was held in Vienna, Austria, where he placed fourth with his original song "Rhythm Inside".After his competition, he released "Million Eyes", the first single from his debut album *Selfocracy*, which later topped the charts in Belgium, reached number eight in France and number twenty in Switzerland. His second studio album *Sillygomania* was released on 29 May 2020.

### **RESULTS**

This time we had a Quarter Final with 13 countries, 3 Semi-Finals with 22 countries in each Semi-Final and Grand Final with 30 countries.