Alors on danse...
This evening the European Parliament played host to a throng of national and international performers. They and their enthusiastic audience got the Belgian Presidency off to a cracking start.
Place du Luxembourg had never seen anything like it. This was the first time that the square had been used as a venue for this kind of musical spectacle. It looked more like a festival venue, with the European Parliament in the background and dozens of screens set up all along the Esplanade.
The programme was rich and varied, offering a range of musical styles. Home-grown talent like Daan, Joost Zwegers, Marie Daulne (Zap Mama) and Belgium’s Eurovision winner Sandra Kim all performed. The hottest ticket in Brussels at the moment, Stromae, have been at the top of the hit parades all over Europe for weeks, and so just had to be there. He got the audience bopping with his catchy hit ‘Alors on danse’ [Let's dance].
Belgian musicians were interspersed with both famous and less well-known guests from other European countries and other parts of the world. The high point of the evening was undoubtedly the arrival of Brian Molko, the lead singer of the internationally famous rock group Placebo, who performed classic songs by Jacques Brel and The Beatles.
The European Union found out tonight that Belgium is a country that knows how to party. The show went on until into the early hours. Belgium danced itself into the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
