"J'aime la vie" (; "I Love Life") is a song recorded by Belgian singer Sandra Kim, with music composed by Jean Paul Furnémont and Angelo Crisci, and lyrics by Marino Atria. It in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1986 The Eurovision Song Contest 1986 was the 31st edition of the 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 Broadcasting Unio ...

, held in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, winning the contest. It is the only song from Belgium to win the contest, and Kim is the youngest ever Eurovision winner. The song was included on Kim's album ''J'aime la vie'' in 1986. As a single, it topped Belgium's singles chart for seven weeks and was the country's best-selling hit of 1986, and it also reached the top 20 in Austria, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden.

Background

Conception

"J'aime la vie" was written by composers Jean Paul Furnémont and Angelo Crisci, with lyrics by Marino Atria, and was recorded by Sandra Kim. Performed in French, the song is a positive one, dealing with the pleasure to be had in life. Kim, herself of Italian descent, also recorded it in Italian –with the same title as the original French, "J'aime la vie"–, and English –in two versions, the first "Crazy of Life", the second with the same title as the original French, "J'aime la vie"–.

Selection

On 2 March 1986, "J'aime la vie" performed by Kim competed in the organized by the

Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française The ("Belgian Radio-television of the French Community"), shortened to RTBF (branded as rtbf.be), is a public service broadcaster for the French-speaking Community of Belgium. Its counterpart in the Flemish Community is the Dutch-language V ...

(RTBF) to select their song and performer for the of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. The song won the competition so it became the for the contest.

Music video

A music video of the song was released where Kim sang the song with the common theme of "things she likes" intact throughout. In the video, she does many things which she finds enjoyable, which include partaking in

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

class, hanging out with friends, listening to her

Walkman is a brand of Personal stereo, portable audio players manufactured by Sony since 1979. It was originally introduced as a portable Compact Cassette, cassette player and later expanded to include a range of portable audio products. Since 2011, ...

, buying a big

ice cream cone An ice cream cone (England) or poke (Ireland) is a brittle, cone-shaped pastry, usually made of a wafer similar in texture to a waffle, made so ice cream can be carried and eaten without a bowl or spoon. Many styles of cones are made, includ ...

, and performing a choreographed dance in an exercise studio. The video was reconstructed scene by scene some 25 years later as a commercial for the insurancy company Delta Lloyd. The new and old videos were then shown side by side.

Eurovision

On 3 May 1986, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the in

, Norway, hosted by (NRK), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Kim performed "J'aime la vie" thirteenth on the night, following 's " You Can Count on Me" by Luv Bug and preceding 's " Über Die Brücke Geh'n" by Ingrid Peters. Jo Carlier conducted the live orchestra in the performance of the Belgian entry. At the close of voting, the song had received 176 points, finishing first in a field of twenty. The entry received points from every jury. Although the lyrics describe the singer as being "fifteen", Kim was later proven to be only thirteen at the time of her performance. She thus remains the youngest ever Eurovision winner and one of the youngest-ever performers at the contest. Her record is unlikely to be challenged, as the Contest rules were changed to specify that performers must turn at least sixteen in the year that they perform. It was reported that the , who had placed 2nd, petitioned to have the Belgian win nullified after Kim's age was revealed. "J'aime la vie" was succeeded as Belgian representative at the 1987 contest by " Soldiers of Love" by

Liliane Saint-Pierre Liliane Saint-Pierre (born Liliane Louise Keuninckx, 18 December 1948) is a Belgian pop singer. Hailing from Flanders, she sings mostly in Dutch. She competed at Eurovision Song Contest 1987 with the song " Soldiers of Love". Biography Lilia ...

Aftermath

In a 2006 interview, Kim was asked if she sings "J'aime la vie" "with pleasure" at concerts and events now, to which she responded, "Not always." She then said, "It's a little girl's song, with little girl's lyrics, with a young adolescent's atmosphere. Nowadays, singing 'J'aime la vie'... do you like life every day? Me neither." On 22 May 2021, the interval act "Rock the Roof" in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2021 The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's win at the with the song "Arcade (song), Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The Netherlands was se ...

grand final featured "J'aime la vie" performed by Sandra Kim.

Track listing

7-inch single # "J'aime la vie" – 3:00 # "Ne m'oublie pas" – 4:39

Personnel

"J'aime la vie" * Written by R. Marino-Atria/J.F. Furnemont-A. Crisci * Arranged by J.P. Lebens * Produced by Marino "On n'oublie pas" * Written by R. Marino-Atria/J.F. Furnemont-A. Crisci-A. Bertrand * Engineered L. Tylgat

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Legacy

"J'aime la vie" was covered by Pommelien Thijs as the character in Caroline Timmers in the Flemish TV series '' #LikeMe''.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1986 singles 1986 songs Carrere Records singles Eurovision Song Contest-winning songs Eurovision songs of 1986 Eurovision songs of Belgium Sandra Kim songs