In 1978, "L'amour ça fait chanter la vie" by Jean Vallée achieved Belgium's first top three placement, when it was second.

Belgium is a federal country divided into two major linguistic regions: Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north and French-speaking Wallonia in the south, each region having its own broadcaster: Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT)[a] in Flanders and Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF)[b] in Wallonia.

With an average of 9.26 points per voting nation and 77.2% of the maximum possible score, as of 2022[update], Kim's record still ranks eighth among all Eurovision winners.

In the 2000s, Belgium experienced mixed fortunes: the country started the decade by finishing last for the eighth and (as of 2022[update]) final time at the 2000 contest in Stockholm, before achieving its best result of the 21st century in 2003 when Urban Trad sang in an imaginary language and earned second place with 165 points, losing out to Turkey's Sertab Erener by just two points.

[1] Belgium then experienced a mix of ups and downs for the remainder of the 2010s: while the country failed to qualify for the final on five occasions (in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2019), Belgium qualified in 2013 (with Roberto Bellarosa placing 12th) before scoring a three-year streak in the top ten, thanks to Loïc Nottet (fourth in 2015), Laura Tesoro (tenth in 2016) and Blanche (fourth in 2017).

Following two non-qualifications with Sennek (2018) and Eliot (2019), Belgium recorded three consecutive qualifications with Hooverphonic (2021), Jérémie Makiese (2022) and Gustaph (2023), the latter finishing in seventh place overall.

[3] Over the years, commentary for the contest has been provided by several experienced Belgian radio and television presenters, including Jacques Mercier, Luc Appermont, and Paule Herreman.

VRT supplied an additional commentator to join André Vermeulen starting in 1998; between 1999 and 2010, dual commentary was provided by either Bart Peeters or Anja Daems.