Loïc Nottet and Blanche scoop up awards

23/11/2017

Belgian artists are increasingly finding success on the international stage. Both Loïc Nottet and Blanche recently received a prestigious music award.

On 8 November, Loïc Nottet won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Belgian Act. The 21-year-old singer and dancer from Courcelles in the province of Hainaut, who represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015 with the hit ‘Rhythm Inside’, beat Lost Frequencies, Bazart, Oscar and the Wolf and Coely. Nottet received his award during this year's MTV EMA “pre-party” in Plein Publiek in Antwerp, marking the third time the event was held in Belgium. The young artist also had a chance of winning the “Best Worldwide Act”, but it was Dutch rapper Lil’ Kleine who grabbed that title in the end.

Singer Blanche won a 2018 European Border Breakers Award (EBBA), a music award for the most successful European musicians. The 18-year-old accepted the award on 9 November in Liège during the Pure Like on Stage evening concert, organised by PURE FM. As the concert tickets had sold out, she had no shortage of listeners. Blanche gained international recognition after she represented Belgium at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, where she achieved a respectable fourth place. Since then, her hit ‘City Lights’ has been streamed more than 20 million times.

The singer from Brussels, who is signed to the PIAS label, is not the first Belgian artist to win an EBBA award. She was preceded by compatriots Selah Sue, Stromae and Gabriel Rios. Other international stars who have previously won the prestigious award include Adele, Mumford & Sons, Dua Lipa, Christine & the Queens, Hozier, Of Monsters and Men, Disclosure, The Script, Years & Years, John Newman, Robin Schulz, MØ and Tokio Hotel.

The jury’s scores are based on factors such as airplay (streaming), sales, live performances in Europe and the position in the European Border Breakers Charts. In addition, the nominees must have achieved groundbreaking success with their first international release in Europe and originate from a country participating in the EU's Creative Europe programme. The EBBA are therefore a way to celebrate European popular and contemporary music by bringing the artists, the industry and the fans together.

The EBBA, which are celebrating their 15th edition this year, are EU awards, organised by Eurosonic Noorderslag in partnership with the European Commission (Creative Europe) and the European Broadcasting Union. Each year, 10 European artists are honoured and can, to top it all off, also win the public vote at the end. Blanche is the third nominee this year: she was preceded by Swedish singer-songwriter Skott and the Danish group Off Bloom. The fourth nominee is Alice Merton from Germany, while the names of the remaining six remain undisclosed. It is known, however, that the Public Choice Award, i.e. the public's favourite artist among the ten nominees, will be announced on 17 January 2018 at the Eurosonic Noorderslag showcase festival in Groningen, the Netherlands. Voting will be possible from the end of November until Christmas via https://www.europeanborderbreakersawards.eu/en/.