Franklin Kroonenberg (born 11 March 1961), known professionally as Franklin Brown, is a Dutch singer and voice actor. He is known for representing the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1996 The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the 41st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 18 May 1996 at the in Oslo, Norway. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (NRK) and presented by Norwegian journalis ...

, together with Maxine, with the song "

De eerste keer The Netherlands was represented by duo Maxine and Franklin Brown, with the song "De eerste keer", at the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Oslo on 18 May. Before Eurovision Nationaal Songfestival 1996 Five acts participated i ...

Career

Eurovision Song Contest 1996

In 1996, Franklin Brown and Maxine won the ''

Nationaal Songfestival (; ) was an annual music competition, which was originally organised by the Dutch public broadcaster (NTS), and later by the (NOS) and (TROS). It was staged almost every year between 1956 and 2012 to determine the country's entry for the Eu ...

'' with the song "

". This gave them the right to represent the Netherlands in the

, held in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. They finished in seventh place with 78 points.

After Eurovision

After the contest, Maxine and Franklin Brown continued to pursue their own solo careers, only to get back together in 2005, when Brown founded the

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

The EuroStars. Apart from Maxine and Franklin Brown, this group consists of the Dutch Eurovision representatives

Mandy Huydts Mandy Huydts (born April 9, 1969) is a Dutch singer and voice actress. Singer At age 9, Huydts began her career at VARA's Kinderen voor Kinderen. In 1986 she and the girl group Frizzle Sizzle took 13th place at the 1986 Eurovision Song Con ...

(of

Frizzle Sizzle Frizzle Sizzle were a Dutch teenage girl group of the 1980s. The four members of the group were Karin Vlasblom (born 10 August 1967), Laura Vlasblom (born 8 October 1968), Mandy Huydts (born 9 April 1969) and Marjon Keller (born 1 June 1970). Hi ...

, 1986),

Marlayne Marleen Sahupala (née van den Broek; born 1 July 1971), known professionally as Marlayne or Marlayne Sahupala, is a Dutch singer, television presenter and newsreader. She is known for representing the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest ...

(1999) and Esther Hart (2003). In 2020, Brown participated in a special Eurovision-themed broadcast of the Dutch television programme ''

Beste Zangers ''Beste Zangers'', formerly ''De beste zangers van Nederland'' (English: ''The Best Singers (of the Netherlands)''), is a Dutch reality television show by public broadcaster AVROTROS (a merger of AVRO and TROS, both part of the Netherlands Publi ...

'', in which he performed the song " One Good Reason" by Marlayne.

Criminal charges

In the 1980s and 1990s, Brown worked as a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. After several female colleagues had accused him of

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

, he was fired and received a two-month suspended prison sentence. One of these colleagues, who had sent him sexually explicit e-mails, was later also fired because she had made a false accusation.

Discography

With Maxine

* "

" (1996) * "Steeds weer" (2007) * "Balsem voor het hart" (2012)

With The EuroStars

* "

Love Shine a Light "Love Shine a Light" is a song by British rock band Katrina and the Waves. It represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997. It was released as a single on 28 April 1997 and was later included on the band's ninth studio a ...

" (2010)

As solo artist

* "Me Again" (2011) * "

Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow", also known as "Baretta's Theme", is a song written by Morgan Ames and Dave Grusin, recorded by multiple artists during the summer of 1975. Merry Clayton's version was the first to chart, reaching #45 on the U.S. ...

" (2011) * " One Good Reason" (2020)

Filmography

Frozen II ''Frozen 2'' (stylized as ''Frozen II'') is a 2019 American computer-animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The 58th animated film produced by the st ...

(2019) – ''Mattias (Dutch voice)''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Franklin 1961 births Living people Musicians from Rotterdam Dutch male singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the Netherlands Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1996 Dutch male voice actors Nationaal Songfestival contestants Actors from Rotterdam