Peter van de Veire about Red Sebastian elimination: “Completely stunned. There is nothing to blame for him”

Anyone who says Eurovision Song Contest, says Peter Van de Veire. His comments with the shows is now iconic and indispensable. But when Red Sebastian was told on Tuesday evening that he was not allowed to go to the final of the 2025 edition, Van de Veire was also quiet for a moment. « I was blown away. I have literally never had a candidate in all those years that I have been doing this so hard that he was going to get it, » he says in The morning On Radio 1. « I even scored the VRT bosses. I said, » Boys and girls, we’re going to win this.  » All stars were also correct. ”

« We are in such a comment booth with two. We didn’t say anything to each other for seconds. » This must be a mistake.  » We were completely stunned. species Game within Eurovision.

« Red Sebastian is nothing to blame. He has worked hard for months. There was a good team behind it. The VRT did this very well, » says the commentator.

But what is the statement then? Why does the story end here for Belgium? Van de Veire looks at the televoting on the one hand. Since 2023, the National Jury’s no longer fulfill the semi -finals and so the result is only determined by the public. “This had been the format at Hooverphonic (in 2021, ed.)that would have made a difference. They had also not passed on this system, « says Van de Veire.

According to the commentator, another possible explanation is that a number of countries of whom we normally get points were in the second semifinal this year. Consider, for example, France, Germany, Georgia and Australia.

« But it’s actually simple: Europe didn’t want this, » he says. « Too bad. You can write books about it, but this is actually the only explanation. They didn’t like it enough. »

Thursday evening is the second semifinal and on Saturday we will know who is the winner of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest.