Axel Hirsoux to represent Belgium at Eurovision

Axel Hirsoux of Hainaut province in southern Belgium will represent his country on May 6 at the 59th Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Copenhagen. During Sunday night’s Belgian final of Eurovision 2014 - this year organised by the VRT at Antwerp’s Sportpaleis - Hirsoux won over the largely Flemish public with his impressive rendition of the song, "Mother". The performance earned him 234 points, well ahead of boyband Bandits, with 90 points. The result was made up of votes split evenly between the televote and seven international juries. A panel of Belgian music experts including Bart Peeters, Piet Goddaer and Jef Martens, unanimously agreed on Hirsoux as its favourite. "I promise to do my best to win in Copenhagen," said Hirsoux, who was already well known to followers of popular media in the south of Belgium for his participation in RTBF’s programme The Voice.