Today in Liège, Belgium, Blanche was announced as a winner of the 2018 European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA), the European music awards for emerging artists with outstanding success across Europe. Blanche was surprised at Pure Like On Stage, organized by PURE FM.

Blanche
Blanche stepped into the spotlight when she represented Belgium at the first semi-final of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev. It’s hard to imagine a better version of the folky song City Lights, but she did it again in the final. It earned her a 4th place ranking. The young Belgian singer has a soothing, husky voice that reminds of Lorde and London Grammar’s Hannah Reid. Blanche is signed to PIAS, and with just this one song released so far, that has racked-up over 20 million streams, it is safe to say the world is eager to see and hear her next move.

EBBA ceremony
Earlier, Skott from Sweden and Off Bloom from Denmark were announced as winners of an EBBA. A total of ten artists will win an EBBA in the upcoming weeks. The winners will receive their award in a ceremony hosted by TV personality and musician Jools Holland at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in Groningen, Netherlands, on 17 January 2018. The ceremony will feature performances by the winning acts.

Public Choice Award
All EBBA winners are also in the running to win the Public Choice Award. Fans from all over the world can vote online from the end of November to Christmas for their favourite emerging artist. The winner of the Public Choice Award will be announced during the EBBA ceremony at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in Groningen. Up to ten voters, chosen at random from different countries, will be invited to the award ceremony. Each will be able to bring a friend and the flight and hotel costs will be taken care of.

The EBBA
The EBBA celebrate new and border-breaking artists who create today and tomorrow’s music. From Dua Lipa (UK) to Alan Walker (Norway), the EBBA winners represent some of the standout European sounds of recent years. Other previous winners include Adele, Christine & the Queens, Stromae, Gabriel Rios, Hozier, Of Monsters and Men, Mumford & Sons, Aurora, Disclosure, John Newman, C2C, Tokio Hotel, The Script, Years and Years, Robin Schulz, Carnival Youth, MØ and Selah Sue.

From the group of enthusiastic gig-goers out on the weekend to the industry dedicated to making the music you love, Music Moves Europe. The EBBA are one of the EU’s ways of celebrating European popular and contemporary music, by bringing the artists, the industry and the fans together to celebrate European music.

15th edition of EBBA
Every year, 10 European artists receive an EBBA to recognize their success in countries other than their own. This success is measured by: airplay, sales, live performances in Europe, position in the  European Border Breakers Charts

To be eligible for the 2018 awards, the artists must have achieved border-breaking success with their first international release in Europe between 1 August 2015 and 31 July 2016 and come from a country participating in the EU’s Creative Europe programme.

The EBBA, now in their 15th year, is an EU Prize, organised by Eurosonic Noorderslag in partnership with the European Commission (Creative Europe) and the European Broadcasting Union, with support from Buma Cultuur, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Province of Groningen and the City of Groningen.

Contact
Nikki McNeill | Global Publicity
nikki@globalpublicity.co.uk
Event PR | Festival PR | Music PR