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Michèle Torr (born Michelle Cléberte Tort 7 April 1947) is a French singer and author, best known in non-Francophone countries for her participation 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 ...
for
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
in 1966 and for
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 1977.


Early career

Born in
Pertuis Pertuis (; oc, Pertús) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Located south of the Luberon, this town is also near Aix-en-Provence, a famous town. Pertuis has existed since at ...
, Vaucluse, Torr won her first singing contest at age fifteen, in 1962, winning the first year's ''On Chante dans mon Quartier'' contest in Avignon. Michèle was a tall beautiful woman with actress-like expression, and easily wins the audience over by singing the
Édith Piaf Édith Piaf (, , ; born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ; December 19, 1915– October 10, 1963) was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars. Pia ...
song ''Exodus''.
Mireille Mathieu Mireille Mathieu (; born 22 July 1946) is a French singer. She has recorded over 1200 songs in eleven languages, with more than 122 million records sold worldwide. Biography and career Early years Mireille Mathieu was born on 22 July 1946 in A ...
was runner-up that year with ''Les cloches de Lisbonne'' by Maria Candido. Then in 1963, at age sixteen, Michèle won a recording contract with the Mercury label, and opened for
Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (, ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, l ...
at the
Paris Olympia The Olympia (; commonly known as L'Olympia or in the English-speaking world as Olympia Hall) is a concert venue in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France, located at 28 Boulevard des Capucines, equally distancing Madeleine church and Opéra G ...
. She released three EPs (four songs each) throughout 1964, which were aimed at radio and juke-box play. Torr's release of ''Dans mes bras, oublie ta peine'' in 1964 was a big hit. Further releases of both original French material, and French covers of British and American hits, proved to be hit and miss. This setting the tone for Torr's career throughout the 60's, as she tried to find her niche. The Mercury contract ended in 1972.


Eurovision Song Contest appearances

In 1966, Torr was invited to perform the
Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. As a standard form of th ...
entry, '' Ce soir je t'attendais'', at the eleventh
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 ...
. This was permitted as there has never been a requirement at Eurovision for the singer to be native to the country they represent; indeed Luxembourg only very rarely chose a
Luxembourger Luxembourgers ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerger ) are a Germanic ethnic group and nation native to their nation state of Luxembourg, where they make up around half of the population. They share the culture of Luxembourg and speak Luxembourgish. Luxembour ...
as their performer. As Luxembourg had won the 1965 contest, the 1966 contest was held 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 ...
on 5 March. Torr wound up finishing joint-tenth out of eighteen participants, alongside the entries from Finland and Germany. Eleven years later, in 1977, Torr again took part in Eurovision, this time representing
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 ...
with the song '' Une petite française''. The 1977 contest took place in London on 7 May, and Torr improved on her previous result, finishing fourth of eighteen participants. In between her two Eurovision appearances, Torr had also taken part in the French Eurovision pre-selection in 1970 with two songs, but had not progressed beyond the semi-final stage.


Later career

Torr had continued to record and release singles during the early and mid 1970s like ''Une vague bleue'', a big hit, but she achieved the biggest successes of her career at the end of the decade with ''Emmène-moi danser ce soir'', ''La séparation'' and ''Discomotion''. Through the 1980s she continued to release successful singles and albums and was a regular on television. Her career stalled in the 1990s, with much less new material being released, although compilations of earlier work kept her in the public eye. On 3 March 2008, she released her album ''Ces années-là'' on the Sony BMG Import label. On 12 November 2012, she released an album of religious songs ''Chanter c'est Prier'' on the Sony Music France S.M.A.R.T. label. As of 2015, She continues to tour worldwide on the French music nostalgia circuit, with almost a concert a month.


Decorations

* Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (2016)


Discography


45s

* ''Les Amoureux'' et ''Piano va l'amour'' 1973 * ''Une vague bleue'' *Je m'appelle Michèle * '' :fr:Cette fille c'était moi'' 1975 * ''Ce soir je t'attendais'' (
Eurovision 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 ...
) 1976 * ''Une petite Française'' (
Eurovision 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 ...
) 1977 * '' :fr:Emmène-moi danser ce soir'' 1978 * ''J'aime'' 1978 * ''Chanson inédite'' 1979 * ''Lui (1980)'' * '' :fr:J'en appelle à la tendresse'' 1981 * ''Midnight blue en Irlande'' 1983 * ''Adieu'' 1983 * ''Donne moi la main, donne moi l'amour'' 1984


Albums

* 1964: ''Dans mes bras oublie ta peine'' * 1965: ''Dis-moi maintenant'' * 1966: ''Ce soir je t'attendais'' * 1970: ''tous les oiseaux reviennent'' * 1974: ''un disque d'amour'' * 1976: ''je m'appelle Michèle'' * 1976: ''Michele Torr'' * 1977: ''j'aime'' * 1978: ''Emmène moi danser ce soir'' * 1979: ''chanson inédite'' * 1980: ''à l'Olympia'' * 1980: ''Lui'' * 1981: ''j'en appelle à la tendresse'' * 1982: ''Olympia'' * 1983: ''adieu/à mon père'' * 1983: ''midnight blue en Irlande'' * 1983: ''Adieu'' Disc'Az 478 * 1984: ''donne-moi le matin, donne-moi l'amour'' * 1985: ''Michèle Torr'' * 1986: ''Qui'' * 1987: ''chansons de toujours'' * 1987: ''I remember you'' * 1988: ''je t'avais rapporté'' * 1988: ''Argentina'' * 1990: ''la compil' de mes succès'' * 1991: ''vague à l'homme'' * 1993: ''à mi vie'' * 1995: ''à nos beaux jours'' * 1996: ''le meilleur de Michele Torr en public'' * 1997: ''seule'' * 1998: ''portrait de scène'' * 1998: ''Michele Torr 2cd'' * 1999: ''emmene moi danser ce soir en public'' * 2000: ''une petite française 3cd'' * 2001: ''acoustique'' * 2001: ''best of'' * 2002: ''donner * 2003: ''à l'Olympia'' * 2003: ''chante Piaf'' * 2004: ''en concert'' * 2005: ''à l'Olympia'' * 2006: ''la louve'' * 2007: ''ces années là'' * 2008: ''Olympia'' * 2010: ''triple best of'' * 2011: ''Olympia'' * 2012: ''chanter c'est prier'' * 2013: ''Herbert Léonard / Michele Torr au Québec'' * 2014: ''diva'' * 2016: ''tout l'amour du monde'' ;Others *2012: ''Chanter c'est prier''


Books

* 1999: La Cuisine (provençale) de ma mère by Michèle Torr * 2005: la Couleur des mots (autobiography) by Michèle Torr, and Laurent Fialaix


See also

*
France Gall Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall (9 October 1947 – 7 January 2018), known professionally as France Gall, was a French ''yé-yé'' singer. In 1965, aged 17, she won the Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg. Between 1973 and 1992, s ...
*
Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; born 17 January 1944) is a French former singer and songwriter. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy has been an important figure in French pop music since her debut, spanning a career of ...
*
Sylvie Vartan Sylvie Vartan (; born Sylvie Georges Vartanian; hy, Սիլվի Ժորժ Վարդանյան. on 15 August 1944) is an Armenian-Bulgarian-French singer and actress. She is known as one of the most productive and tough-sounding yé-yé artists. ...
*
Sheila Sheila (alternatively spelled Shelagh and Sheelagh) is a common feminine given name, derived from the Irish name ''Síle'', which is believed to be a Gaelic form of the Latin name Caelia, the feminine form of the Roman clan name Caelius, mean ...


References


External links


Official website




{{DEFAULTSORT:Torr, Michele 1947 births Living people People from Pertuis French women singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Luxembourg Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Monaco Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1966 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1977 Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres