Halfway through Belgian music week ArtistCongratz would like to shed some more spotlight 🔛our national music scene. Once more lots of international potential is detected🎶🙌
After ESNS, the annual awardceremony in the Dutchspeaking part of Belgium is on our schedule. They are called The MIA’s, short for Music Industry Awards. This year they were held in Antwerp. Organized by vi.be (supporting our Belgian music scene💪🎼) and national channel VRT.
Join us for some captivating images of absolute highlights⤵️ during the show:
After last years “natural high” on top of the Atomium in Brussels by Oscar & The Wolf, meet this year’s showstarter: Gustaph, border breaking performer/creator in 2023. “Because of you” keeps inspiring audiences and artists, The song turns out as one of the most successful Belgian entries of the Eurovision Song Contest. (Picture by Jokko/VRT)Meet multi-talent Pommelien Thys, hot in Flanders because of her own unique artistic approach. Besides acting in different series, writing her own songs and performing them with panache, she also designs her own ecofriendly, conscious 🌱fashion 🔛 stage. She wins no less than five Music Industry Awards. CONGRATZ indeed Pommelien! 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 (pic by Jokko/VRT)Pommelien in concert 🎵 💃🩰The MIA “Breakthrough of 2023” goes to thankful “nominee-along-such-talented-fellow-artists” Aron Blommaert. Nicely presented by Miss Loena Hendrickx, European Champion, our national pride in Figureskating 🥇⛸️ (pic by Jokko/VRT)And this long braided multi-awarded beauty waltzes through lalaland and “Different Waters📀” by the name of Coely, our international hip hop pride. She was handed her prize by a famous Belgian goofy influencer called Average Rob⤵️🦸🏻(pic by Jokko/VRT)
Average Rob; not quite that average where Marvel’s characters are concerned
And this is Portlands Jenthe Pironet (best alternative 🎸) on the left, alongside Metejoor, also nominated in different categories🙌🎵🎶Jenthe also wins the award for the most heartwarming speech, dedicating his prize to medical science and care ❤️🩹 (pic by Jokko/VRT)Rapper winner Brihang definitely has a heart for all things going wrong in the world 🌎 ⬇️ “make music not war & cease all fires.” Hear his Peace pleas(e)🎶 ✌️(pic by Jokko/VRT)Another moving moment highlighting the ceremony. All time Flemish audience favourite Hugo Sigal dedicates his award for best (Flemish) popular to his late partner on and off stage Nicole, who sadly passed away too soon. (pic by Jokko/VRT)A lifetime of folky music is crowned🤴🏻🎶. With lyrics involving all our daily concerns like bread 🥖, spoons 🥄 and… WiFi of course. Bart Peeters gets his special award by another national icon Raymond van het Groenewoud. (pic by Jokko/VRT)CONGRATZ to all winners and nominees 🙌, check all of them 🔛 https://mias.vrt.be (pic by Jokko/VRT)
Kate Ryan, iconic artist who also defended our colours at Eurovision back in 2006 🇧🇪 remember her famous knee move while bringing her now-evergreen “Je t’adore”🎵♥️ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3JHnre0q3ow
And this far-from-freaky-fellow I interviewed more than a decade ago with his band Freaky Age. Cheers to Lenny Crabbé👋🥂, son of Luc Crabbé (Telstar/Betty Goes Green)
Meet Lenny number two :), also a very gifted musician
And this must be the most famous soundman🎤in Flanders. In the picture a lot but always his likable self. Whom everybody knows simply by his first name: Pascal.
And last but not least a selfie 🤳 with these multitalented ladies, pianist/designer Tylaine (in the middle) and singer Zohra🎶🎤How about a red wall instead of the regular carpet… Don’t you just love this quote from «The Voice»? An absolute work of art adorning this wall of the locker room @ music lab Trix Antwerp Thank you VRT, TRIX, Sportpalace & VI.Be for including ArtistCongratz 🎶
At Filmfest Ghent, it’s come as Close as it can get. Tonight is “Homerun-night” for “Close”.
This refined Belgian motion picture just might be our next production to make it to the stage of the Dolby Theatre on March 12th 2023.🍒
But let’s not get too far ahead. ArtistCongratz discovered the film in an exclusive preview just yesterday.
The only way to capture completely what it was that touched so many filmhearts in Cannes last Spring. And will touch many more in the months to come.
Writing a review that does this gem justice is not an easy task, but certainly not too much to ask.
ArtistCongratz has made an ultimate wishlist why you absolutely should go see this movie📩
1. Director Lukas Dhont and screenwriter Angelo Tijssens tell a story that concerns us all.
2. Close is close in more ways then one. Be prepared to be glued to the screen.
3. In this film cinema meets visual arts and poetry in all its simplicity 🌺 some things are left unspoken. But the director understands the art of making the viewer read between the lines.
4. The acting performances of the entire cast are stunning. Eden Dambrinne plays the leading role like a pro, although this is his debut. AC would like to invent him a nickname: #Silverscreenblender with eyes like a reindeer.
5. One of the most moving breaking-scenes in a supporting role is played by one of our Belgian fetisj actors, Kevin Janssens.
6. Every school and every student should go see this film and by that we don’t mean just filmstudents.
7. Leo & Remi’s “flower run” will become legendary.
8. This is not only queercinema at its best. Close is cinema at its closest to closure after devastating events.
9. Be able to say you saw it even before it was nominated for an Oscar.
10. Although it will also touch you on TV, this film is made for the big screen. The cinematography is mindblowing.
Close is a Lumière-production. Directed by Lukas Dhont. Written by Lukas Dhont and Angelo Tijssens. Cast: Eden Dambrinne (Leo), Gustav De Waele (Remi), Igor Van Dessel (Charlie), Emilie Dequenne (Sophie), Léa Drucker (Nathalie), Kevin Janssens (Peter).
We honestly could not have found a better answer for our questioning title, as the one of a play that was on top of our must see list at Theater Aan Zee this year. 👁
Please check out these two artists and founding fathers of a newborn collective called dinsdag.org
Written and performed by Jeff Aendenboom and Bas Vanderschoot, “The Memeing of Life” is the talk of the town in Ostend these days.
If you get the chance elsewhere, by all means go check it out yourself. You are in for a treat full of surprises. Although the play is in Dutch, it looks and feels extremely universal. Get ready for an extraordinary view on cyberculture and prepare for a journey through time and space, different artforms, covered in dadaïsm. And memes, by all means 🙃
How about learning one of Belgium’s three languages 😉 through theater and memes? It’s just a wild idea.
Anyway, it’s the sum of wild ideas that often leads to genius TAZ-productions like: “The Memeing of Life” 👩🏻🏫▶️🖼👁 Another well deserved “ArtistCongratz”👏 to these youngsters.
With the makers’ consent ArtistCongratz would like to grant you some sneak peeks▶️⤵️
Warning: Not a scene for all too sensitive viewers 👁“Mona”Jeff Aendenboom demonstrating « The Memeing of Life »❓A Turning Point 👏🙌Jpeg Picture with a Merchmom, if That’s no meme;-)
ArtistCongratz 