Ishtar (meaning - Babylonian goddess of love) is a band formed in 2003.

They released a first CD, called Troubamour, in 2005. The album contains adaptations of medieval European love songs in several European languages, amongst them Icelandic, Dutch, Greek, Romanian, Bulgarian, Estonian and Serbian.

Next to European love songs, they write and perform songs in non-existing languages. One of these songs brought victory to Ishtar, when they won the Belgian national final on 9th March in Brussels. 

Ishtar are the Belgium’s participants in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. It is an ensemble of ten, but only six members will be on stage during the performance of their Eurovision Song Contest entry: Lead singer and mezzo-soprano Soetkin Baptist, composer and guitar player Michel Vangheluwe and the siblings Ann, Marleen, Els and Hans Vandaele.