ESSYLA has been selected to represent Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna with the song “Dancing on the ice”.
ESSYLA will represent Belgium at Eurovision 2026 with “Dancing on the ice”. The reveal took place on the official Eurovision YouTube channel and on Le 7/8 on La Une and Vivacité.
ESSYLA is the stage name of Alice Van Eesbeeck. She was a finalist of season 9/2021 of The Voice Belgium. Raised with French songs, she broadened her horizons and explored many different music genres like jazz, folk, rock, and funk. In her texts, ESSYLA shares the concerns of a young woman of her time and female empowerment.
“Dancing on the ice” was composed by ESSYLA, Nicolas d’Avell and Emil Stengele, with lyrics by ESSYLA and Barbara Petitjean.
Red Sebastian represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with “Strobe Lights”. He placed 14th in Semi-Final One, scoring 23 points. Belgium received 12 points from the Sammarinese jury.
Source: RTBF
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest+
Belgium was one of the seven nations who participated in the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. To date, the country has won the contest only once in 1986. Sandra Kim won the contest with the song “J’aime la vie”. Her victory was not without controversy when it emerged that Sandra was just 13 years old, two years younger than the age restriction at the time. In the late 00s, Belgium struggled in the contest, failing to reach the final annually from 2005 until 2010, when Tom Dice finished 6th in the final with 143 points. Belgium has finished last at the contest eight times, including two sets of nul points.