Sandra Caldarone (born 15 October 1972), better known as Sandra Kim, is a Belgian singer of Italian descent who won the

Eurovision Song Contest 1986 The Eurovision Song Contest 1986 was the 31st edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Bergen, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song "La det swinge" by Bobbysocks! Organised by the European Broadcastin ...

. Her father was an Italian immigrant from Torrebruna in the Province of

Chieti Chieti (, ; , nap, label= Abruzzese, Chjïétë, ; gr, Θεάτη, Theátē; lat, Theate, ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Central Italy, east by northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region. ...

in the

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

region of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. At the time of her Eurovision win, she was only 13 years old, making her the youngest winner of

the contest "The Contest" is the 51st episode of the NBC sitcom '' Seinfeld''. The eleventh episode of the fourth season, it aired on November 18, 1992. In the episode, Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer hold a contest to determine who can go for the longes ...

, even though the lyrics of her song "

J'aime la vie "J'aime la vie" (; "I Love Life") was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1986, performed for by Sandra Kim. Belgium had finished the 1985 contest in last place, and thus achieved the rare turnaround from last to first in the space o ...

" ("I love life") claim her to be 15; the Swiss petitioned to have the song disqualified after her real age was revealed. This petition ended up failing and Kim went on to win that year's Eurovision Song Contest. Kim also represented Belgium at the

Yamaha Music Festival The , also known as Yamaha Music Festival and unofficially as the "Oriental Eurovision", was an international song contest held from 1970 until 1989. It was organised by the Yamaha Music Foundation in Tokyo, Japan from 1970 until 1989. The first ed ...

in Tokyo during the autumn of 1986 and sang the title song for the French animated television series '' Il était une fois... la vie''. Kim's

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

album ''Make Up'' was released on 12 May 2011, containing songs written by famous Belgian artists like

Salvatore Adamo Salvatore Adamo (born November 1, 1943) is a Belgian-Italian musician, singer and composer, who is known for his romantic ballads. Adamo was born in Comiso, Sicily, Italy, and has lived in Belgium since the age of three, which is why he has dual ...

Dani Klein Danielle Schoovaerts (born 1 January 1953), known professionally as Dani Klein, is a Belgian singer, songwriter, band leader and producer, and consistently the center and driving force of the band Vaya Con Dios (1986-1996, 2004-2014 and 2022-). ...

(Vaya Con Dios),

Ozark Henry Piet Goddaer (born 29 April 1970 in Kortrijk) is a Belgian musician, better known by his stage name Ozark Henry. , he has released nine studio albums under the name Ozark Henry. In 2001, he released the album ''To All Our Escapes'' under the nam ...

, Anthony Sinatra (Piano Club), Jacques Duval and David Bartholomé (Sharko). She also won the first season of the Belgian version of The Masked Singer as “Queen”.

Early life

Kim was born in Montegnée, near

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

to a hairdresser mother and accordionist fath

and started singing when she was seven.

Personal life

In 1994, Kim married Olivier Gerard. They divorced a year later. She has been married to Jurgen Delanghe since 2001.

Discography

Albums

*''J'aime la vie'' (1986, French) *''Bien dans ma peau'' (1988, French) *''Balance tout'' (1991, French) / ''Met open ogen'' (1991, Dutch) *''Les Sixties'' (1993, French) / ''Sixties'' (1993, Dutch) *''Onvergetelijk'' (1997, Dutch) *''Heel diep in mijn hart'' (1998, Dutch, 2-track single) *''Make Up'' (2011, English and French)

Singles (some)

*"Tokyo Boy" (French) *"Bel me, schrijf me" (duet with Flemish singer Luc Steeno, Dutch) *"Anyway the Wind Blows" (2010, English) *"Who Are You (07/11/2020, English) *"AMI AMI

References

External links

* (English version)
Website about Sandra Kim's discography
(French - Dutch - English) 1972 births Living people People from Saint-Nicolas, Liège Belgian people of Italian descent Eurovision Song Contest winners Masked Singer winners Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Belgium Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1986 French-language singers of Belgium Dutch-language singers of Belgium Belgian child singers 21st-century Belgian women singers {{Belgium-singer-stub