Who is Laura Groeseneken?
Laura Groeseneken will represent Belgium at the next year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 will be the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It will take place for the first time in Portugal, at the MEO Arena in Lisbon, following the country’s first victory at the 2017 contest in Kiev with the song “Amar pelos dois”, performed by Salvador Sobral. Following the breathtaking victory of Salvador Sobral, the Eurovision Song Contest will take in Lisbon, Portugal next 8, 10 and 12 May 2018.
Two public broadcasters in Belgium alternate their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. RTBF was responsible for arranging the Belgian Eurovision entry in 2017 meaning that it is the turn of Flemmish broadcaster VRT in 2018. Earlier this year, the broadcaster already confirmed that an internal selection would be used to decide Belgium’s choice of artist for Lisbon.
Laura’s participation in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest was announced on the talkshow Van Gils & Gasten, during which she performed an English version of Amar Pelos Dois (Love For Both), Portugal’s winning song at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.
Who is Laura Groeseneken?
Laura Groeseneken was born in 1990 and comes from Leuven. The singer-songwriter has already worked on several high-profile musical projects including the 50th anniversary celebrations of the James Bond franchise, 007 In Concert. Since 2014 Laura has been performing with with Ozark Henry and together they have appeared at some of Belgium’s biggest festivals, including Rock Werchter, which takes place in Belgium every July.
As her day job, Laura works as a visual merchandiser for IKEA. Meanwhile, she is working on her solo career and writes her own songs under the name Sennek. She is also a vocal coach at the music centre Het Depot in the city of Leuven.
At home, music also holds an important place in Laura’s heart — the showpieces of her house are two Rhodes pianos. And, not surprising, Laura is a big fan of Scandinavian design and Belgian fashion.
Belgium participated in the very first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 but has only won once, in 1986, and hosted the contest in Brussels the following year. In recent years Belgium has reversed its fortunes in the Eurovision Song Contest having qualified for the Grand Final on four out of five ocassions. Last year Blanche represented the country with the song City Lights, finishing fourth in Kyiv.
