Countdown to the Belgian of the Year: who is in places 10 to 4? | Domestic

Smiling broadly, in a suit with barely an undershirt visible: this is how one of our country’s most famous influencers sat in front of the judge at the beginning of September. Acid (24) was summoned by an ex-Reuzegommer after he posted an 11-minute video online in which he shared the names, photos and personal information of four fellow students of Sanda Dia, who died during a student baptism. Is Acid a reckless libertine or a sophisticated online genius?

The Sports Palace, October 27, this year. Twenty thousand fans chant her name for minutes. “Linda. Linda.’ It will be a comeback that will leave no one in the room, and far beyond, untouched. Linda Mertens (45) – together with Regi Penxten the successful Milk Inc – is back.

In our weekend magazine NINA, the singer talks for the first time about the toughest ordeal that life can present: the death of her daughter. Lio was two and a half when she died in 2017 from cancer. “I was numb for the first few years. Like I had crashed into a wall. Perte total,” she tells us during the interview. That day she speaks about what there are no words for. “I continued to believe in it for a long time, until the end. Hoping for a miracle. But her whole body was full of metastases. From her belly to her bones. One day the doctor took us aside: ‘I can’t do anything more for your daughter.’”

Linda would eventually disappear from the scene for six years to deal with the unthinkable. A particularly difficult period in which she wants to flee – “I wanted nothing more than to be forgotten” – and in which she struggles to stay upright. “The day your child dies, you as a mother die with it.” Yet she manages to pick up the thread again. To step back onto that stage, in full Sports Palaces that feel like a warm blanket. And to have a more positive outlook on life than ever. Because as Linda herself says: “I promised that to Lio. I owe it to her.”

If 2024 can’t start soon enough for one politician, it’s for him. Because the dust on the Chinese spy scandal will have settled by then. But especially because Vlaams Belang chairman Tom Van Grieken (37) is already busy preparing behind the scenes for possible Flemish government negotiations: “We also want to become the largest. Only then can we think about governing.” The fact is that Van Grieken’s party became rich overnight over the past year: with every political slip-up and every scandal in the Wetstraat, he saw his party’s share in the polls rise.

Would Wout van Aert (29) regret his generosity at the end of a truly impressive Ghent-Wevelgem? Would Wout van Aert be angry with himself because he was outdone in the sprint of the Cyclo-Cross World Championships by Mathieu van der Poel and was just unable to follow VDP in that other World Championship – on the road? Would he be disappointed in leader teammate Jonas Vingegaard for the lack of leadership in the Tour stage to San Sebastian? Or would Wout Van Aert not care about all that, because his greatest victory was one in childbirth?

It was the year of great extremes for Joris Van Rossem (32), better known as Metejoor. Professionally, he swept through Flemish showbiz like a meteorite: he filled his first Sportpaleis, had his own documentary series, made a memorable passage in ‘Liefde voor Muziek’ and shone as a coach in ‘The Voice Kids’. But private life was even more turbulent. Rumors about an affair with Julia from K3 surfaced and Metejoor split up with girlfriend Britt after four years. “Sorry Joris, my own fault,” he sang on his latest hit.

A flash of light with a ball. That is Jérémy Doku (21), the boy who learned his dribbling on the squares in Borgerhout, and is the latest sensation at Manchester City. Now it’s time to guide the Red Devils to the European title. “I want to become a ‘legend’. Someone people look up to and who the youth try to imitate. Like I used to, with Ronaldinho and Messi.”

A world snooker champion, no, we didn’t have that in Flanders. Until Luca Brecel (28) played himself into history. “Sometimes it still surprises me that I think: ‘I am world champion’. I didn’t expect that, because I’m not normally like that. It really sticks.” And he promptly spent half of his million euro prize money on a Ferrari 488. He also added a Range Rover and a Porsche Taycan GTS – a birthday present for his girlfriend Laura. The reason for so much shopping frenzy and car love? “It helps me stay motivated.”