Hooverphonic are a Belgian trio from the Flemish region of the country. Formed in 1995, they are foremost a trip-hop group but have incorporated other genres such as alternative, indie pop and electronica into their sound.
They have released 10 studio albums to date, and since their formation have gone through many personnel changes. The current line-up is bassist/keyboardist Alex Callier, guitarist Raymond Geerts and singer Geike Arnaert.
Luka Cruysberghs was originally going to be part of the Eurovision performance and had been the lead singer of their intended 2020 entry, but on 9 November 2020 it was announced that she had parted ways with the group. That same day, Arnaert returned to the group, having last performed with them in 2008.
With the cancellation of the 2020 contest, it was agreed by both VRT and RTBF that Hooverphonic would represent Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song The Wrong Place. They finished in 19th place in the final, bringing Belgium back to the grand final for the first time since 2017.
Alex Callier was a member of the Belgian jury for the 2023 contest in Liverpool.
Trivia[]
- Hooverphonic have a couple of Eurovision connections. 2018 Belgian representative Sennek and 2018 French representative Émilie Satt of Madame Monsieur have both contributed songs and/or vocals to the group.
- Alex co-wrote Sennek's 2018 entry A Matter of Time.
- Alex was a coach for 4 seasons on The Voice of Flanders. In the 5th series, he mentored former bandmate Luka Cruysbergs to victory.
- They were the only 2020 artists not to participate in the Love Shine a Light finale during the Europe Shine a Light special.
- Their participation in the 2021 contest marked the first time a Flemish act represented Belgium on Dutch soil (as their 1958, 1970, 1976 and 1980 representatives were from Wallonia).
- Geike's vocal coach and one of the group's backing singers was Gustaph, who represented Belgium at the 2023 contest in Liverpool.