Belgium was represented by Robert Cogoi, with the song "Près de ma rivière", at the 1964 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 21 March in Copenhagen. Cogoi was selected internally by broadcaster RTB and the song was chosen internally in late January 1964.
Before Eurovision
Internal Selection
Unlike RTB's last four entries, they decided to internally select their entry instead of hosting a televised selection. This would be the first time a Belgian entry is chosen entirely by internal selection, and would remain the only time a Belgian entry is selected internally until 1985, and the only time a Walloon entry is selected internally until 1990.[1]
After RTB internally selected Robert Cogoi, he proposed three songs that he had composed himself. A jury consisting of Robert Cogoi, people from his record company, and representatives of RTB selected the Eurovision entry from the three submissions. "Près de ma rivière" was selected as the Belgian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1964. No info is known about the other two songs, but it is believed Cogoi never recorded them. The song was announced in late January 1964.[1]
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Cogoi performed 15th in the running order, following Switzerland and preceding Spain. Only an audio recording of Cogoi's performance and a couple seconds of rehearsal footage survives, as it is believed that the video master of the 1964 contest was destroyed in a fire at the Danish TV archive in the 1970s and no other broadcaster had recorded the show or requested a copy. Voting was by each national jury awarding 5, 3 and 1 points to their top three songs, and at the close of voting "Près de ma rivière" had received 2 points (1 each from Monaco and Portugal), placing Belgium joint 10th (with the Netherlands) of the 16 entries. The Belgian jury awarded its 5 points to runaway contest winners Italy.
The Belgian conductor at the contest was Henri Segers.
Belgium
