Lena Valaitis (born 7 September 1943) is a

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n–

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

schlager singer who had her greatest success during the 1970s and 1980s. She finished second at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest.

Early life and education

Valaitis was born on 7 September 1943 in Memel, which was in the reclaimed

Memel Territory Memel, a name derived from the Couronian-Latvian ''memelis, mimelis, mēms'' for "mute, silent", may refer to: *Memel, East Prussia, Germany, now Klaipėda, Lithuania **Memelburg, ( Klaipėda Castle), the ''Ordensburg'' in Memel, a castle built in ...

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Her father, a soldier of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

, was killed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. At the end of the war, Valaitis, her mother, and her brother arrived as refugees in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. She first attended

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primary (' ...

Memmingen Memmingen (; Swabian: ''Memmenge'') is a town in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is the economic, educational and administrative centre of the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the river that marks the Baden-Wü ...

and then the "Lithuanian Gymnasium Hüttenfeld" in Hüttenfeld,

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

. Valaitis left for training with the

Deutsche Bundespost The Deutsche Bundespost (German federal post office) was a German state-run postal service and telecommunications business founded in 1947. It was initially the second largest federal employer during its time. After staff reductions in the 19 ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, where she received private singing lessons.

Personal life

Valaitis has one son, Marco (born 1973), from her first marriage. In 1979, she married actor Horst Jüssen, with whom she had her second son, Don David (born 1983). Valaitis currently lives in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Career

Valaitis began her musical career by joining the band Frederik Brothers. She signed a record contract with

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

in 1970 and released her first single, "Halt das Glück für uns fest", on 13 June 1970. She made her first television appearance in the same year, appearing on ''ZDF-Drehscheibe'', a musical program on

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

. Valaitis achieved her first hit with 1971's "Ob es so oder so, oder anders kommt". Under the production of

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

, she hits in the following years with "So wie ein Regenbogen", "Bonjour mon amour", and "Wer gibt mir den Himmel zurück". In 1976, Valaitis reached the Top 20 of the German singles chart for the first time with "Da kommt José der Straßenmusikant" and "Ein schöner Tag", a German version of "

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both ...

". She sang "Du machst Karriere" in the German finals of the 1976

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 ...

, achieving seventh place. She also sang the

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...

in the 1977 feature film '. Valaitis is perhaps best known for her performance in the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. She represented Germany with the song "

Johnny Blue Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varian ...

", which finished second to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

entry, "

Making Your Mind Up "Making Your Mind Up" is a song by the British pop group Bucks Fizz. It was the winner of the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, representing the , and was composed by Andy Hill and John Danter. Released in March 1981, it was Bucks Fizz's debut si ...

" by Bucks Fizz. In the following years she made additional recordings, including a duet with the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

-born German singer

Costa Cordalis Costa Cordalis ( el, Κώστας Κορδαλής; born Konstantinos Cordalis; 1 May 19442 July 2019) was a Greek-German Schlager singer. Biography Born Konstantinos Cordalis in Elateia, Phthiotis, Cordalis moved to Germany in 1960. His 197 ...

in 1984. Her last Eurovision attempt was in 1992 with "Wir sehen uns wieder", which came third in the German selection show, '' Ein Lied Für Malmö''. Valaitis left show business in the end of 1993, but began releasing new material in the 2000s. She released "Ich lebe für den Augenblick" in 2001 and "Was kann ich denn dafür", a duet with the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n singer

Hansi Hinterseer Johann Ernst "Hansi" Hinterseer (born 2 February 1954) is an Austrian singer, actor, entertainer and former alpine skier. Sports career Hinterseer is the son of Ernst Hinterseer, who won a gold medal in slalom skiing at the 1960 Winter Olympics. ...

, in 2002. Valaitis recorded another duet with Hinterseer, "" (the folk song on which

Wooden Heart "Wooden Heart" is a pop song recorded by Elvis Presley. The composition is based on a German folk song " Muss i denn" (''lit.'' Must I then) and it was featured in the 1960 Elvis Presley film ''G.I. Blues''. The song was a hit single for Presl ...

was based), in summer 2006.

Singles

* 1970 "Halt das Glück für uns fest" * 1970 "Und das Leben wird weitergehen" * 1971 "Ob es so oder so oder anders kommt" * 1971 "Alles was dein Herz begehrt" * 1971 "Die kleinen Sünden und die kleinen Freuden" * 1972 "Und da steht es geschrieben" * 1972 "Lächeln ist der Weisheit letzter Schluß" * 1973 "So wie ein Regenbogen" * 1973 "Die Welt wird nicht untergeh´n" * 1973 "Ich freu' mich so auf morgen" * 1974 "Bonjour mon amour" * 1974 "Wer gibt mir den Himmel zurück" * 1974 "Ich möchte die Gitarre sein" * 1975 "Was der Wind erzählt" * 1975 "Immer die schönen Träume" * 1975 "Im Regen kann man keine Tränen sehen" * 1976 "Da kommt José, der Straßenmusikant" * 1976 "Ein schöner Tag" (

) * 1976 "Komm wieder, wenn du frei bist" * 1977 "Heinz, lass doch die Pauke stehn" * 1977 "...denn so ist Jo" * 1977 "Cheri je t´aime" * 1978 "Ich spreche alle Sprachen dieser Welt" * 1978 "Oh Cavallo" * 1978 "Ich bin verliebt" * 1979 "Auf der Strasse ohne Ziel" * 1979 "Nimm es so wie es kommt" * 1980 "Jamaika Reggae Man" * 1981 "

" * 1981 "Johnny Blue (English Version)" * 1981 "Rio Bravo" * 1982 "Highland oh Highland" (with the

German national football team The Germany national football team (german: link=no, Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international Association football, football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football ...

) * 1982 "Gemeinsam mit Dir" * 1982 "Gloria" * 1983 "Worte wie Sterne" * 1984 "So sind meine Träume" * 1984 "Wenn der Regen auf uns fällt" duet with

) * 1985 "Mein Schweigen war nur Spiel" * 1986 "Männer sind ´ne verückte Erfindung" * 1987 "Ich liebe dich" * 1988 "Nastrowje Mr. Gorbatschow" * 1992 "Wir sehn uns wieder" * 1993 "Menschen mit Herz" * 2001 "Ich lebe für den Augenblick" (German version of "

There You'll Be "There You'll Be" is a song by American country music singer Faith Hill. Written by Diane Warren, produced by Trevor Horn and Byron Gallimore, and orchestrated by David Campbell, the song was released on May 21, 2001, and was included on the ...

" by

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and actress. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. Hill' ...

from the movie "

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

") * 2002 "Was kann ich denn dafür" (duet with

) * 2002 "Und wenn ich meine Augen schließ" * 2003 "Still rinnt die Zeit" * 2004 "Morgen soll die Hochzeit sein" * 2005 "Komm lass uns tanzen (Arabische Nächte)" * 2006 "Muss i denn zum Städtele hinaus" (duet with Hansi Hinterseer) * 2010 "Und ich rufe Deinen Namen" * 2011 "Ich muss immer an Dich denken" * 2012 "Ein schöner Frühlingstag"

Discography

* 1972 ''Die Welt der Stars und Hits'' * 1974 ''Wer gibt mir den Himmel zurück'' * 1975 ''Star für Millionen'' * 1975 ''Da kommt Lena'' * 1976 ''Meinen Freunden'' * 1976 ''Komm wieder, wenn du frei bist'' * 1977 ''...denn so ist Lena'' * 1978 ''Ich bin verliebt'' * 1978 ''Stardiscothek'' * 1979 ''Nimm es so, wie es kommt'' * 1981 ''Johnny Blue - Meine schönsten Lieder'' * 1982 ''Lena'' * 1989 ''Weihnachten mit Lena Valaitis'' * 2010 ''Liebe ist'' * 2012 ''Ich will alles''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valaitis, Lena 1943 births Living people Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1981 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Germany Valaitis, Lena German people of Lithuanian descent People from East Prussia People from Klaipėda Schlager musicians