François Deguelt (, born Louis Deghelt, 4 December 1932 – 22 January 2014) was a French singer, best known for his participation on behalf of

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

s of 1960 and 1962.

Biography

Deguelt gave up his studies to become a

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

singer in Paris in the early 1950s. In 1956, he was the winner of the

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of the

Académie Charles Cros The Académie Charles Cros (Charles Cros Academy) is an organization located in Chézy-sur-Marne, France, that acts as an intermediary between government cultural policy makers and professionals in music and the recording industry. The academy is ...

. Following a period of

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in Algeria, Deguelt returned to France, and was offered the chance in 1960 to sing for Monaco in the fifth

, held in London on 29 March. Deguelt's song " Ce soir-là" ("That Night") proved popular with the juries, finishing in third place of the 13 entrants. Deguelt returned to Eurovision, again representing Monaco, in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

with the song " Dis rien" ("Say Nothing"). This contest took place on 18 March in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Lu ...

, where he went one better by finishing second of 16 participants. Deguelt is one of five acts in Eurovision history (alongside

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

Katja Ebstein Katja Ebstein (born Karin Witkiewicz; 9 March 1945) is a German singer. She was born in Girlachsdorf (now Gniewków, Poland). She achieved success with songs such as "Theater" and "Es war einmal ein Jäger". She was married to , who wrote many of ...

Chiara Siracusa Chiara Siracusa better known by her mononym Chiara (born 25 September 1976), is a Maltese singer. She represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998, 2005, and 2009 and is with a second and a third place the third most successf ...

and Zeljko Joksimovic) to have finished second and third without having won. Deguelt's later successful singles included "Le Ciel, le soleil et la mer" (1965), "Le printemps" (1966), "Minuit, le vent, la nuit" (1968) and "La libération" (1968). He continued to tour and perform on the nostalgia circuit throughout the Francophone world until his death. He died at the age of 81 on 22 January 2014.

References

External links

Discography and cover art at encyclopédisque.fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deguelt, Francois 1932 births 2014 deaths People from Tarbes Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Monaco Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1960 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1962 Pathé-Marconi artists 20th-century French male singers