Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 with the song "Euro-Vision", written by Michel Moers, Dan Lacksman, and Marc Moulin, and performed by themselves under their stage name Telex. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Walloon Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF), selected its entry through a national final.
Synthpop had never previously been tried in a Eurovision final, and the choice of song and group caused much comment, particularly regarding the implied sarcasm directed towards Eurovision in the song's deliberately banal lyrics.
Before Eurovision
Eliminatoires Belges du Grand prix de la Chanson Européenne
Walloon broadcaster Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF) had the turn to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 representing Belgium. The final took place on 24 February 1980 and was hosted by former Belgian Eurovision entrant Jean Vallée. Each song was presented as a pre-recorded video from the RTBF studios. The show was broadcast at 19:55 CET until 20:35 CET, after which a jury deliberated for 2 hours and at 22:35 CET a five minute show was broadcast with the announcement of the winning song, but no other results were revealed.
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Telex performed last in the running order, following Spain. It was the first time that a song of this nature had been entered for Eurovision, and the audience reaction was somewhat bewildered, as if they were unsure whether or not it was meant to be a joke entry. The reaction was largely shared by the juries, as at the close of the voting "Euro-Vision" had received only 14 points, placing Belgium 17th of the 19 entries. Singer Marc Moulin later claimed that the band had hoped to finish last and blamed the Portuguese jury for thwarthing their aims, although how much of this was bravado after a bad result in the contest is open to conjecture. The Belgian jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners Ireland.
Voting
References
