Belgium’s Eurovision 2026 plot twist: ESSYLA glides in with “Dancing on the Ice”

Belgium has finally revealed its Eurovision 2026 card, and it’s not a “safe handshake” entry either, thank you very much. ESSYLA will represent Belgium in Vienna with “Dancing on the Ice”, an electro-pop track that RTBF has put forward as a modern, polished, very-now package, complete with a proper visual identity and the kind of title that basically begs for either a stunning staging concept… or a spectacularly chaotic meme week. 

What’s genuinely interesting here is how quickly the Belgian story flips from “who are they sending?” to “oh, they’ve clearly decided what kind of Belgium they want on that stage”, because ESSYLA is being presented as part of a newer pop generation, with a distinct voice and a confident artistic world, rather than “a song, a singer, good luck”. 

Who is ESSYLA, then?

ESSYLA is from Perwez in Walloon Brabant, and Belgian viewers will recognise her from The Voice Belgique (season 9), where she reached the final alongside Jérémie Makiese (Belgium’s Eurovision 2022 representative). In other words, she’s not an industry accident, she’s already been tested in the pressure cooker of televised competition, which is basically Eurovision training with nicer lighting. 

In the Belgian press and Eurovision coverage around this announcement, there’s also a clear emphasis on her being a singer-songwriter with an aesthetic that leans bold and colourful, with empowerment themes and a very “I know who I am” vibe, which is usually the difference between a three-minute performance and a three-minute personality. 

The song: “Dancing on the Ice”

Belgium’s 2026 entry is “Dancing on the Ice”, described in the coverage as a contemporary electro-pop production, co-written/produced by Nicolas D’Avell and Emil Stengele, with the songwriting camp credited as a SABAM initiative. The official rollout also includes an online release strategy, with the track and video already circulating ahead of the wider platform drop. 

And yes, it’s already the kind of entry that will divide people into “this is slick and modern” and “this feels engineered”, because Eurovision fandom is nothing if not allergic to consensus.

Why this feels like a deliberate Belgian move

Belgium often does best when it commits to a clear identity, whether that’s quirky, edgy, artsy, or left-field. With ESSYLA + electro-pop + strong visual framing, RTBF seems to be aiming for something that reads as current and exportable, but still “Belgian” in that slightly cool, curated way Belgium does so well when it’s on form.

Now the real question is staging, because “Dancing on the Ice” is the sort of title that can either become a genuinely elegant concept, or one tragic slippery metaphor away from disaster. Vienna will decide.

Source: RTBF