Belgium
The basics Full country name Kingdom of Belgium Capital Brussels Facts First participation 1956 (Mony Marc) Victories 1986 (Sandra Kim) Hosts Brussels 1987
Belgium is one of the founding countries of the Eurovision Song Contest, participating in the very first competition in 1956. Two public broadcasters in Belgium alternate their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest; RTBF, the French-language broadcaster and VRT, the Flemish broadcaster.
Belgium has only missed three contests to date; 1994, 1997 and 2001. Belgium's Sandra Kim won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1986 when she was only thirteen years old. As a result the Belgians hosted the contest in Brussels the following year. The country finished second in 2003 with a song performed in an imaginary language. In 2008 they entered another song in an imaginary language but failed to qualify for the Grand Final.
Both RTBF and VRT have used national finals as well as internal selections for the Eurovision Song Contest. In recent years Belgium has reversed its fortunes in the Eurovision Song Contest having qualified for the Grand Final on four out of five ocassions.
