Sennek will sing ‘A Matter of Time’ for Belgium in Lisbon
Belgium has been doing very, very well in Eurovision in recent years. Last year, Blanche managed to reach 4th place with her entry ‘City Lights’, which was the third top 10 finish in a row for them. As one is never supposed to change a winning method, the Belgians opted for an international selection once again. Sennek (stage name of Laura Groeseneken) is the lucky one and she will perform her entry ‘A Matter of Time’ on stage in Lisbon in May. Another top 10 finish seems well within reach with this one!
Sennek wrote the track together with Alex Callier of the band Hooverphonic and Maxime Tribeche. Sennek and Callier had been writing together before and ‘A Matter of Time’ is not miles way from the sound of Hooverphonic. It sounds like it could well have been an excellent James Bond soundtrack! The build up is suspenseful and the chorus delivers exactly what it promises to. Sennek’s vocals are warm and soulful in the verses and she hits some proper big notes in the chorus that sound more than pleasant in studio version. If she can reproduce this flawlessly in a live setting, the Belgians are definitely looking at another Eurovision success.
The only minor issue I have with this song are the rhymes in the first verse (commotion, emotion, station, combination, imagination, sensations), that seem a bit forced. If that is the only critique, you know Belgium has another potential smash in their hands. ‘A Matter of Time’ is maybe not as instant as ‘City Lights’ or their 2015 entry ‘Rhythm Inside’ (that reached 4th place too), but they delivered another exquisitely produced quality track with a distinct sound that stands out. Judging by the music video Sennek and her team have a clear vision of what the visuals for this track should look like and hopefully that will translate well to the Eurovision stage. If so, qualification for the final should be a formality and a top 10 spot there would be thoroughly deserved.
Review of Semi Final Performance:
After three years of excellent results in Eurovision, Belgium was one of the early favourites this year too with Sennek’s mysterious pop song ‘A Matter of Time’. There is some Bond influences, a dramatic instrumentation and an explosive chorus that did come quite late in a 3 minute song. The performance however, was not nearly as good as it should have been. Vocally it was shaky at times and it looked like Sennek was uncomfortable for most of it, figuring out which camera she had to look into. The intro with her hand covering the face probably looked better on paper than on television. It is such a shame, because ‘A Matter of Time’ is one of my favourite songs in the competition this year, but in a semi final this strong and diverse, questionable staging will result in missing out on a spot in the final. It turned out the juries wanted her to proceed to the final as they put her in 8th place, but the televoters gave her a shocking 16th spot, which made her end up 12th.
Read our other Eurovision 2018 reviews: ALBANIA – ARMENIA – AUSTRALIA –AUSTRIA – AZERBAIJAN – BELARUS – BULGARIA – CROATIA – CYPRUS –CZECH REPUBLIC – DENMARK – ESTONIA – FINLAND – FRANCE – FYR MACEDONIA – GEORGIA – GERMANY – GREECE – HUNGARY – ICELAND –IRELAND – ISRAEL –ITALY – LATVIA – LITHUANIA –MALTA – MOLDOVA – MONTENEGRO – THE NETHERLANDS – NORWAY – POLAND – PORTUGAL – ROMANIA – RUSSIA – SAN MARINO – SERBIA – SLOVENIA – SPAIN – SWEDEN – SWITZERLAND – UKRAINE – UNITED KINGDOM