Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Liefde is een kaartspel", composed by John Terra and Siirak Brogden, with lyrics by Daniël Ditmar, and performed by Lisa del Bo. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Flemish Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep Nederlandstalige Uitzendingen (BRTN), selected its entry through a national final.

Before Eurovision

De Gouden Zeemeermin

De Gouden Zeemeermin (The Golden Mermaid) was the national final format developed by Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep Nederlandstalige Uitzendingen (BRTN) in order to select the Belgian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. 40 songs in total took part in the national final, which consisted of four semi-finals between 3 and 24 February 1996 and a final on 9 March 1996. All five shows took place at the Knokke Casino Studios in Knokke and were hosted by Michel Follet and Alexandra Potvin.

Competing Entries

Artists wishing to compete in De Gouden Zeemeermin had to submit a photograph, biography, and at least two recorded songs to BRTN. Out of 117 applications, 40 were chosen to compete and they had until 8 January 1996 to submit a song. Prior to 8 January 1996, two candidates withdrew their participation: Katja Vandl and Ann Swartenbroeckx. They were replaced by Kaye and Chrissy.

Semi-finals

Ten songs competed in each semi-final with the top three from each qualifying for the final. The results for the semi-finals were determined exclusively by a seven-member professional jury, who each awarded 12, 10, or 8–1 points to each song (i.e. they could award 12 points to more than one song if they chose). The professional jury consisted of: Guy De Pré, Leen Demaré, Marc Brillouet, Sabine De Vos, Marc De Schuyter, Nora Nys, and Ro Burms. Former Belgian Eurovision representative, Jacques Raymond, acted as a non-voting chairman of the jury.

Final

The final took place on 9 March 1996 and the twelve entries that advanced from the preceding four semi-finals competed. The winner was selected by a combination of votes from five regional juries in Belgium (25%), a press jury (25%) and a professional jury (50%). The professional jury consisted of the same seven members as in the semi-finals. "Liefde is een kaartspel" performed by Lisa del Bo was selected as the winner, having been ranked first by all but the press jury.

At Eurovision

In 1996, for the only time in Eurovision history, an audio-only qualifying round of the 29 songs entered (excluding hosts who were exempt) was held in March in order for the seven lowest-scoring songs to be eliminated before the final. "Liefde is een kartspel" placed 12th, thus qualifying for the final. As of 2022, this is the last time that Belgium had sung its entry in Dutch. On the night of the final del Bo performed 16th in the running order, following the and preceding the eventual winner. At the close of the voting "Liefde is een kaartspel" placed 16th of the 23 entries, having received 22 points. The result was not good enough to prevent Belgium from being relegated from the 1997 contest on the cumulative countback rule. The Belgian jury awarded its 12 points to the United Kingdom. "Liefde is een kaartspel" later became embroiled in controversy when it was alleged that it had been plagiarised by the "Listen To Your Heartbeat". This was initially denied by the writers of the Swedish song, but Belgian songwriters' association SABAM threatened legal action, and a cash settlement was agreed to forestall this.

Voting

Qualifying round

Final