| Year: | 1982 |
| Country: | Belgium |
| Preselection: | Eurosong |
| Preselection Date: | Heats 24 January 1982 31 January 1982 7 February 1982 Semi-final 14 February 1982 Final 21 February 1982 |
| Entrant: | Stella |
| Song: | Si tu aimes ma musique |
| Final Result: | 4th, 96 points |
Belgium was represented by Dutch singer Stella Maessen (billed simply as Stella), with the song "Si tu aimes ma musique", at the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Harrogate, England on 24 April.
This was Stella's third appearance at Eurovision: She had appeared as part of the group Hearts of Soul for the Netherlands in 1970 and in Dream Express for Belgium in 1977. As a solo singer, she had also taken part in the Belgian preselection in 1981.
The selection of the Belgian entry took place during five episodes of the popular music programme Palmarès. Palmarès was broadcast weekly on sundays, and the five episodes between 24 January 1982 and 21 February 1982 were dedicated to selecting the Belgian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1982. The competition consisted of three heats, a semi-final, and a final. All the shows took place at the RTBF studios in Brussels, hosted by Pierre Collard-Bovy, and the songs were all presented in pre-recorded videos.[1]
A 12-member jury with people from the television and radio industry, journalists, and representatives from SABAM selected 18 entries out of 156 submissions.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter | "Plus personne n'y croit" | Sylvain Vanholme, Bichou | |
| Chrome 17 | "Intuition" | J.M. Xhenseval, N. Loureiro-Covas | |
| Claude Michel | "Si par bonheur" | Frédéric François, Miele | |
| Cologne Intime | "Boomerang" | Charles Roguery | |
| Cricha | "Lucifer" | Freddy Nieuland, Igor Minarief | |
| Eddy Pascal | "Même" | Eddy Pascal | |
| Frank Michael | "Toi simplement toi" | Frank Michael, Jos Vanesse, Rosario Marino | |
| Freddy Nieuland | "Les mots chantent" | Freddy Nieuland | |
| Gala | "Patati patata" | Jean-Luc Gardian | |
| Isabelle Rigaux | "Partir" | Isabelle Rigaux, Anne-Marie Gaspard | |
| Jacky Lafon | "On l'appelle chanson d'amour" | Peter Laine, Alain Darmor | |
| Joseph Cioppa | "Vivons l'amour de demain" | Joseph Cioppa | |
| Nicole Mery | "Quelle surprise" | B.M. Heinz, Phil Francis | |
| Pascal Amory | "Slow en tendresse" | Marc Delisie, J. Baugniet | |
| Serge Mohimont | "Au fond de ma mémoire" | Serge Mohimont | |
| Shema | "Mon joujou" | Jean-Marie Ongaro, Alain Deré | |
| Stella | "Si tu aimes ma musique" | Fred Beekmans, Bob Baelemans | |
| Tiziano | "Par amour" | Frédéric François, Miele |
The heats took place on 24 January, 31 January, and 7 February 1982 and were broadcast for 30 minutes from 17:30 CET. Six competing acts performed in each show and the top two as decided by televoting advanced to the semi-final. Televoting was only open for just over an hour and the results of each show were announced in a short show at 19:24 CET on the day of each heat.[2] [3] [4] [5]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stella | "Si tu aimes ma musique" | Advanced | |
| 2 | Joseph Cioppa | "Vivons l'amour de demain" | Advanced | |
| 3 | Frank Michael | "Toi simplement toi" | Eliminated | |
| 4 | Shema | "Mon joujou" | Eliminated | |
| 5 | Cricha | "Lucifer" | Eliminated | |
| 6 | Freddy Nieuland | "Les mots chantent" | Eliminated |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claude Michel | "Si par bonheur" | Advanced | |
| 2 | Gala | "Patati patata" | Eliminated | |
| 3 | Pascal Amory | "Slow en tendresse" | Advanced | |
| 4 | Chrome 17 | "Intuition" | Eliminated | |
| 5 | Nicole Mery | "Quelle surprise" | Eliminated | |
| 6 | Eddy Pascal | "Même" | Eliminated |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiziano | "Par amour" | Advanced | |
| 2 | Cologne Intime | "Boomerang" | Eliminated | |
| 3 | Baxter | "Plus personne n'y croit" | Advanced | |
| 4 | Jacky Lafon | "On l'appelle chanson d'amour" | Eliminated | |
| 5 | Serge Mohimont | "Au fond de ma mémoire" | Eliminated | |
| 6 | Isabelle Rigaux | "Partir" | Eliminated |
The semi-final took place on 14 February 1982 and was broadcast for 30 minutes at 17:30 CET. The six entries which had qualified from the heats competed and the top four entries as decided by televoting advanced to the final. Televoting was only open for just over an hour and the results of the semi-final were announced in a short show at 19:24 CET on the same day.[6]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claude Michel | "Si par bonheur" | Eliminated | |
| 2 | Stella | "Si tu aimes ma musique" | Advanced | |
| 3 | Pascal Amory | "Slow en tendresse" | Eliminated | |
| 4 | Joseph Cioppa | "Vivons l'amour de demain" | Advanced | |
| 5 | Tiziano | "Par amour" | Advanced | |
| 6 | Baxter | "Plus personne n'y croit" | Advanced |
The final was held on 21 February 1982 and was broadcast for 30 minutes at 17:35 CET. The winning song was chosen by the same 12-member jury panel which had selected the 18 songs from the received submissions and the results of the final were announced in a short show at 20:10 CET on the same day.[7] [8]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stella | "Si tu aimes ma musique" | 1 | |
| 2 | Baxter | "Plus personne n'y croit" | 2 | |
| 3 | Tiziano | "Par amour" | 3 | |
| 4 | Joseph Cioppa | "Vivons l'amour de demain" | 4 |
On the night of the final Stella performed 11th in the running order, following Austria and preceding Spain. At the close of the voting "Si tu aimes ma musique" had received 96 points, placing Belgium 4th of the 18 entries.[9] Although the song did not receive any 12 points votes (the highest were 10 from Denmark and Spain), it achieved the distinction of being only the eighth song in Eurovision history to that date (and only the third non-winner) to receive points from every other participating country (excluding the 1971-1973 contests where each country had to award a minimum of 2 points to every song). The Belgian jury awarded its 12 points to Switzerland.[10]