Eurovision 2025: Belgium’s queer act Red Sebastian on how Disney inspired his song
Red Sebastian representing Belgium in the Official Portrait Studio at St. Jakobshalle (Corinne Cumming/EBU)
Red Sebastian representing Belgium in the Official Portrait Studio at St. Jakobshalle (Corinne Cumming/EBU)
Belgium’s Red Sebastian has explained some of the inspiration behind his stage name and the performance he’s planning for the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland.
One of a number of LGBTQ+ acts performing this year, the singer-songwriter is representing his home country with ‘Strobe Lights’ at the 69th Eurovision Song Contest this week, and will be hoping he can score a victory for Belgium for just the second time in the competition’s history.
Speaking to PinkNews exclusively prior to his performance in Tuesday’s first semi-final, Red Sebastian – real name Seppe Herreman – explained the influence Disney’s The Little Mermaid, his “favourite animation movie of all time,” had on him.
“Crab Sebastian showed me that fun quirkiness and also made me relate a lot to him as a kid. I felt the odd one out a lot and he also was a little odd, but he owned it. That showed me that it was okay to be a little odd and different,” he said.
From there he decided to embrace the name, taking it for his stage persona. Also, “red [has] always been my favourite colour,” he added explaining that “it’s a colour for love, passion, and ambition.”
The combination of these two things “made it perfect,” the ‘Strobe Lights’ singer said adding that it gives him confidence.
On whether any of those influences will make their way into his stage act for Eurovision, beside his characteristic red colour, Sebastian shared that his song is also inspired by another childhood classic, Alice in Wonderland.
“It’s a clubby song and it’s about going out and living your life,” he told PinkNews. “But I feel like Alice in Wonderland, she’s always exploring new things, she’s living her life, and it’s also a little trippy.
“It’s a bit like in the club when you have a drink too much and you are a little bit hazy,” Sebastian said. “I want to play the mind games that Alice plays in Wonderland also in my act,” he then teased.
Speaking to ESCplus International in April, Red Sebastian identified as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and said, “I think Eurovision is such a wonderful place to spread love and I hope we can do that this year as well and make the world more beautiful through the music at Eurovision.”
Speaking on the topic of queer joy, which is inherent in his performances, Sebastian elaborated that “it’s very important for me to be my complete self on that stage and to show others that you don’t have to be afraid to be yourself.”
This, he said, goes back to watching Eurovision as a child and seeing performers demonstrate a “love and the confidence” which made him feel ok to be himself.
This has led to a dual ambition for Sebastian in Eurovision. “One is winning Eurovision, of course. But the other one is just to inspire people to be themselves unapologetically [and] just go for it and live your life for yourself and don’t be afraid of what other other people will think or say, you have to be happy. That’s the most important thing.”
Red Sebastian will be taking to the stage during the first of two live semi-finals on Tuesday (13 May). The second semi-final will take place two days later (Thursday 15 May) before the Grand-Final on Saturday (17 May).
The live shows will be broadcast in the UK on BBC One and the BBC iPlayer from 8pm.
