François Deguelt (born Louis Deghelt, 4 December 1932 – 22 January 2014) was a French singer, best known for his participation on behalf of Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contests of 1960 and 1962.
Born in Tarbes, in the Hautes-Pyrénées region of France in 1932, François Deguelt was raised by his grandmother in Barbezieux , Charente , where he spent all his youth. He had originally other career aspirations in mind before entering the glamorous world of entertainment. He was persuaded to give up his philosophy studies in the early fifties, moving to Paris to become a cabaret singer at the Tire Bouchon at Monmartre. In 1952 he composed his first song “Coquette et Vieyday.” In 1953, he started on the radio on the Francis Claude program and then toured with Jean Nohain for the show Reine d'un jour. It wouldn't take long for
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his vocal abilities to receive recognition, already in 1956 he was winner of the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque award. However, duty called in the late fifties and he was obliged to perform his military service in Northern Africa.
After returning to his homeland, he performed on stages such as the Olympia and A.B.C. before being asked to represent Monaco for the first time at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960. François jumped at the chance, and so took the song Ce soir-là (That evening) to London and earned Monaco a highly repectable third place.
He went on to record an impressive eighteen more songs before being requested once again to represent the principality, at the 1962 Eurovision Song Contest, this time a little closer to home. The contest took place in Luxemburg and he took Monaco to the dizzying heights of second place with the entry Dis rien (Say nothing). His second and third placings have earnt him entry into a
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rather unique group in Eurovision terms – there are only five other artists who have appeared at the contest and managed the same feat: Cliff Richard, Katja Ebstein, Chiara and Željko Joksimović being the other four.
rather unique group in Eurovision terms – there are only five other artists who have appeared at the contest and managed the same feat: Cliff Richard, Katja Ebstein, Chiara and Željko Joksimović being the other four.He continued to record after both appearances and recorded almost a hundred songs throughout the sixties and seventies, scoring major hits in the process with songs such as "Le Ciel, le soleil et la mer" (1965) which sold over 100,000 copies."Le printemps" (1966), "Minuit, le vent, la nuit" (1968) and "La libération" (1968). He married Dora Doll in 1965 but later divorced due to his career.
In the 1970’s he lived on a barge moored at the bridge of Saint-Cloud and composed many songs. During the summer months he sailed in his nine-ton sailing boat called "Nectos III". He carried on touring and performing throughout the french speaking world enjoying a special appeal to fans of nostalgia right up until as recent as 2006.
He passed away at his long time home of Var on the Côte d’Azur yesterday after a lengthy period of illness aged 81.