Canzonissima was the national final format developed by BRT which determined the song that would represent Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 1971. This was the 4th edition of Canzonissima, after previously being used to select BRT's 1963 and 1967 entry, and a 3rd season that ran between 1967 and 1968 but wasn't related to the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition consisted of nine semi-finals held between October 1970 and January 1971, and a final on 6 February 1971. All shows were held in the Amerikaans Theater in Brussels, and hosted by Jan Theys.[1]
Format
Canzonissima 1971 consisted of nine semi-finals and a final. The original format had ten artists compete in each semi-final and the top three songs chosen by a jury, as well as the public's favourite, would appear again in the next semi-final, while the other artists would have to select new songs, but after one of the competing artists died after semi-final 2, the remaining seven semi-finals only had nine artists. For a song to qualify to the final, it would have to place top three with the juries, or win the public vote, three times. A song could qualify with any combination of these, for example, it could get top three with juries twice and win the public vote once and then qualify to the final[1]
Voting in the semi-finals was done by two separate juries and postcard voting. Jury A was a professional jury made up of five members who each gave between 0 and 10 points to every song, and Jury B was a 5-member jury formed by people from the music industry. Jury B didn't impact the selection for Eurovision and their goal was to choose 'the best Flemish song'. Since songs introduced in semi-final 9 could not get to top three with the juries or win the public vote three times and qualify for the final, the rules to qualify for the final were changed for semi-final 9. Songs had to receive at least the average number of points that every song that qualified to the final got in their last semi-final from the jury. The public vote winner also qualified to the final.[1]
Semi-final 1–3 October 1970
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Points
Public
Jury B Points
1
Kalinka
"Wil je soms weten"
28
6
27
2
Johnny White
"Je maakt me stapelgek"
28
355
19
3
Nicole & Hugo
"Mijn hele leven"
27
167
25
4
Johan Stollz
"Brugge"
30
415
16
5
Ann Christy
"Dag vreemde man"
35
142
32
6
Ron Davis
"Mona Lisa"
23
321
20
7
Mary Porcelijn
"Lachen"
31
11
32
8
Joe Harris
"Jij bent mijn engel"
25
595
16
9
Kate's Kennel
"Peloton… vuur!"
24
61
22
10
Micha Marah
"Tamboerke (Parram… parram)"
20
1070
16
Semi-final 2–17 October 1970
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Points
Public
Jury B Points
1
Micha Marah
"Tamboerke (Parram… parram)"
21
2504
16
2
Ron Davis
"Katialinda"
24
571
34
3
Kate's Kennel
"Wij lopen te vlug voorbij"
20
26
27
4
Joe Harris
"Sunny Girl"
25
1448
22
5
Kalinka
"Loop maar door"
29
99
24
6
Johan Stollz
"Brugge"
27
364
16
7
Ann Christy
"Dag vreemde man"
39
603
32
8
Nicole & Hugo
"Ik wil met je mee"
31
139
22
9
Mary Porcelijn
"Lachen"
31
80
32
10
Johnny White
"Verloren hart, verloren droom"
38
982
27
After Semi-final 2, on 21 October 1970, Ron Davis was involved in a car accident and remained absent from Canzonissima 1971 until his death on January 22, 1971. His death was commemorated at the start of the ninth semi-final.
Semi-final 3–31 October 1970
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Points
Public
Jury B Points
1
Micha Marah
"Tamboerke (Parram… parram)"
22
4906
16
2
Kate's Kennel
"De tijd is rijp"
21
25
25
3
Johnny White
"Verloren hart, verloren droom"
39
484
27
4
Mary Porcelijn
"Lachen"
32
115
32
5
Ann Christy
"Dag vreemde man"
39
92
32
6
Joe Harris
"Anne Marie"
28
687
21
7
Nicole & Hugo
"Ik wil met je mee"
31
71
22
8
Johan Stollz
"Zo ver van mij"
31
198
17
9
Kalinka
"Een regenboog"
27
13
28
Semi-final 4–14 November 1970
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Points
Public
Jury B Points
1
Nicole & Hugo
"Ik wil een papieren man"
17
99
24
2
Joe Harris
"Want je mist haar"
29
118
24
3
Micha Marah
"Ik ben zeventien"
29
3474
20
4
Johan Stollz
"Eva"
15
299
19
5
Ann Christy
"Een droom nooit gedroomd"
27
35
29
6
Kalinka
"Canzonissima"
38
120
23
7
Kate's Kennel
"Droom"
22
27
26
8
Johnny White
"Verloren hart, verloren droom"
39
111
27
9
Mary Porcelijn
"Hou je van mij?"
23
73
31
Semi-final 5–28 November 1970
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Points
Public
Jury B Points
1
Kate's Kennel
"Regenlied"
15
44
20
2
Johnny White
"De wereld blijft niet staan"
30
77
29
3
Micha Marah
"Ik ben zeventien"
27
4319
20
4
Johan Stollz
"Er is altijd"
26
94
26
5
Ann Christy
"'n Zilveren kooi"
34
86
29
6
Mary Porcelijn
"Requiem"
28
66
25
7
Joe Harris
"Want je mist haar"
31
119
4
8
Kalinka
"Canzonissima"
33
67
23
9
Nicole & Hugo
"Goeiemorgen, morgen"
38
607
29
Semi-final 6–12 December 1970
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Points
Public
Jury B Points
1
Joe Harris
"Nooit weer"
35
93
23
2
Kalinka
"Canzonissima"
31
74
23
3
Ann Christy
"'n Zilveren kooi"
34
96
29
4
Kate's Kennel
"Ach matroosje"
0
921
10
5
Nicole & Hugo
"Goeiemorgen, morgen"
43
662
29
6
Micha Marah
"Die ring"
36
4239
26
7
Johnny White
"Morgen is morgen"
31
848
26
8
Mary Porcelijn
"Als je terugkomt"
36
136
35
9
Johan Stollz
"Ik mis je"
30
358
28
Semi-final 7–26 December 1970
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Points
Public
Jury B Points
1
Johnny White
"Te mooi om waar te zijn"
26
40
30
2
Ann Christy
"De kinderen rond mijn huis"
31
14
24
3
Micha Marah
"Die ring"
31
2710
26
4
Johan Stollz
"Melodie voor jou"
24
36
25
5
Kalinka
"Vroeg of laat"
37
13
30
6
Nicole & Hugo
"Goeiemorgen, morgen"
43
476
29
7
Mary Porcelijn
"Als je terugkomt"
37
134
35
8
Kate's Kennel
"Rock and Roll"
16
50
5
9
Joe Harris
"Valdemosa"
35
28
28
Semi-final 8–9 January 1971
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Points
Public
Jury B Points
1
Johan Stollz
"Ballade voor Soraya"
33
4345
23
2
Nicole & Hugo
"A Song Is Born"
35
153
36
3
Joe Harris
"Alles wordt oranje"
39
161
28
4
Kate's Kennel
"Toen"
5
23
0
5
Micha Marah
"Balabaloe"
28
4371
13
6
Mary Porcelijn
"Als je terugkomt"
39
180
35
7
Kalinka
"Vroeg of laat"
38
19
30
8
Johnny White
"Dromen zijn nog vrij"
38
61
29
9
Ann Christy
"Het lied is uit of moet het nog beginnen"
24
33
27
Semi-final 9–23 January 1971
Draw
Artist
Song
Jury A Points
Public
Jury B Points
1
Ann Christy
"'n Kleine melodie"
37
27
29
2
Nicole & Hugo
"Pak je koffers"
36
678
27
3
Johnny White
"Dromen zijn nog vrij"
35
28
29
4
Micha Marah
"Balabaloe"
30
3504
13
5
Mary Porcelijn
"Weet je nog wie ik was"
42
99
34
6
Kalinka
"Vroeg of laat"
41
7
30
7
Johan Stollz
"Emigrant"
35
7242
22
8
Kate's Kennel
"De voetbalkampioen"
21
68
0
9
Joe Harris
"Alles wordt oranje"
44
77
28
Final
The final took place on 6 February 1971 at the Amerikaans Theater in Brussels. Voting was by an "expert" jury of 11 members, each nominating their favourite song. This turned out to be something of a non-event, as in the end, only three songs received any votes at all. "Goeiemorgen, morgen" was the choice of eight of the jury members.[1][2]
Shortly before the Dublin final, however, Nicole had fallen ill and was unable to travel, so broadcaster BRT drafted in Raymond and Castel as late replacements. Raymond had previously sung for Belgium at Eurovision in 1963. Nicole and Hugo would represent Belgium in 1973.
On the night of the final Raymond and Castel performed 10th in the running order, following the United Kingdom and preceding Italy. At the close of the voting "Goeiemorgen, morgen" had received 68 points, placing Belgium 14th of the 18 participating countries.[3][4] The original version by Nicole and Hugo does, however, remain one of the better-remembered of Belgian Eurovision entries.