Seventh place in the Eurovision Song Contest. It’s a dream come true for Gustaph after his shining performance on the Liverpool podium. “Glad the hard work paid off.”
Gustaph is met at his hotel at one o’clock in the morning with applause. His seventh place in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest is the best Flemish result in thirteen years, after Tom Dice in 2010 who finished sixth. And the second best ever in the region. Well done, and it is not surprising that Gustaph speaks to the press with a big smile on his face.
“I’m really happy that we finished seventh. Top ten was my dream anyway when we came here. The fact that it succeeded is a very nice endorsement,’ he says. ‘A few weeks ago it was predicted that we would finish 35th or 34th. And now seven… Our hard work has paid off, and I’m glad about that. Thanks also to all Belgians for supporting me so hard from home.’
With that, he immediately does better than Senek (2018) and Hooverphonic (2021) when he was on stage as a backing vocalist. He has to laugh. ‘Oh, I never really thought about it that way. I’m just glad I was able to actually stand here as myself, with a positive message about something that was about queer, inclusivity and freedom after all. As a Belgian I am also very proud that we can represent that and achieve such a result at the festival.’
Emotions as theme
The jury gave him a total of 127 points, including three ’12 points’. The maximum number. ‘Amma, yes. Greece, Georgia and Australia… Those tours are coming,’ he says jokingly. On screen you could see how Gustaph seemed overcome with emotions again. ‘Yes, I’m always emotional. That is becoming the theme, but I am really happy when something like this happens.’
He stepped onto the podium again with the same feeling as Thursday during the semi-finals. “I had to have fun and radiate that. That may be very naive, but it was my message. I knew this was about something bigger, but fun is the most important thing. And that worked.’
Gustaph exudes fun on stage.
Photo credit: PIXSELL
Striking this year was the difference between what the jury rewarded and what the audience liked. This applies not only to the winner – Finland was far ahead of Sweden in the public vote, while it was just the opposite in jury points – but also for Belgium. Gustaph collected 55 points from the televoting, bringing the total to 182. Our Belgian entry confirms that he noticed that difference. “But on the other hand, I think that’s okay. We came seventh, that’s about an overall result.’
Resilience
Gustaph has had a long journey. Opinions were divided shortly after the pre-selections, but he turned out to be steadily turning the tide in Liverpool himself. “I’m glad I’ve been resilient,” he says. “I had to fight a bit of prejudice at times, and something that can be a bit polarizing, like a competition. I’m glad that by working, and by continuing to work, it has paid off.’
And now a party and a well-deserved drink? ‘That will certainly happen. But we have to leave for Brussels at 5.55 am, so that will be packing hysterically. But first we’ll have a drink.’
2023-05-14 05:10:10
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