Robert Cogoi (born Mirko Kogoj, 25 October 1939 – 14 May 2022) was a Belgian singer, best known for his participation in the 1964

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 ...

Early career

Cogoi was born in Châtelet to Slovene parents. In 1961 he picked up a contract with Philips Records, and the following year, won first prize at the ''Grand Prix International des Variétés'' at the Casino in Ostend with the song "Si un jour", which went on to sell 100,000 copies in France, earning Cogoi a gold disc.Biography/discography
(in French)

Eurovision Song Contest

In 1964, Cogoi was chosen as the Belgian representative to perform his self-penned song "

Près de ma rivière The Eurovision Song Contest 1964 was the 9th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Dansevise" by Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann. Organised by the Eur ...

" ("Close by My River") in the ninth

, which took place on 21 March in Copenhagen. For the first time since the inaugural contest in 1956, the Belgian entry was chosen by internal selection on the part of TV channel

RTBF The ''Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française'' (RTBF, ''Belgian Radio-television of the French Community'', branded as rtbf.be) is a public service broadcaster delivering radio and television services to the French-speaking Commu ...

rather than by a public or jury vote. "Près de ma rivière" received only two votes (from Monaco and Portugal), which was enough for a joint tenth-place finish of 16 entries, as four other songs received no votes at all.

Later career

Cogoi continued releasing albums and singles, with modest success, until the late 1960s. In 1976 he appeared in the Belgium film ''Les arpents dorés''. After many years out of the public eye, Cogoi made a guest appearance, along with several other former Eurovision participants, at the Belgian Eurovision national final in 2005.Finale nationale du concours eurovision de la chanson (2005)
IMDb

Discography

Singles

*''Si un jour'' (1962) *''Pardonnez-moi Seigneur'' (1962) *''Je m'sens très seul'' (1963) *''Tu mens, mon amour'' (1963) *''Je fais serment'' (1963) *''Dou, dou, dou, doux'' (1963) *''Quand le soleil dit bonjour aux montagnes'' (1964) *''Près de ma rivière'' (1964, außerhalb Kanadas nur als EP veröffentlicht) *''Quand le jour se lève'' (1964, nur in Kanada) *''Quand'' (1964, nur in Kanada) *''Pas une place pour me garer'' (1966) *''J'avais besoin de parler à quelqu'un'' (1966) *''La télé'' (1966) *''Pas une place pour me garer'' (1966, nur in Kanada) *''Pour le meilleur et pour le pire'' (1967) *''Je te demande pardon'' (1967) *''L'église'' (1967, nur in Kanada) *''El bandido'' (1967, nur in Kanada) *''Gina'' (1968) *''Mon île aux cocotiers'' (1968) *''Au four et au moulin'' (1969) *''Ma richesse'' (1969) *"La Station Service"/"Le Monde Est Grand " ("Hej Gamle Man") (1971) *"Oublie Barbara" (1971)

EP`s

*''Si un jour'' (1962) *''Je m'sens très seul'' (1963) *''Je serais mieux chez moi'' (1963) *''Dou, dou, dou, doux'' (1963) *''Près de ma rivière'' (1964) *''Non, rien n'a changé'' (1964) *''Quand le soleil dit bonjour aux montagnes'' (1964) *''Attendez, attendez'' (1965) *''Ça se voit sur ton visage'' (1965) *''8h, 11h10’, 15h23’'' (1966) *''J'avais besoin de parler à quelqu'un'' (1966) *''La télé'' (1966) *''Monica'' (1967) *''Je te demande pardon'' (1967)

Albums

*''Je serais mieux chez moi...'' (1963) *''Personne...'' (1964) *''Les grands succès de Robert Cogoi'' (1964) *''Je m'sens très seul'' (1964) *''Robert Cogoi'' (1967)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cogoi, Robert 1939 births 2022 deaths People from Châtelet Belgian male singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Belgium Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1964 Belgian people of Yugoslav descent