Bob Benny (18 May 1926 – 29 March 2011), born Emilius Wagemans, was a Belgian singer and musical theatre performer, who participated 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 ...

s of 1959 and 1961.

Early career

Benny began his singing career at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

when he started performing regularly at a café in Sint-Niklaas. By the early 1950s, he had regular spots on radio and released his first album ''Mijn haart spreekt tot u'' (''My Heart Speaks to You''). In 1957, he had his first hit single with "Cindy, Oh Cindy", which reached No. 2 on the Belgian chart.

Eurovision Song Contest

In 1959, Benny was chosen, with the song "

Hou toch van mij Belgium was represented by Bob Benny, with the song '" Hou toch van mij", at the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 11 March in Cannes, France. The song was chosen at the Belgian national final on 15 February. Benny would represen ...

" ("Do Love Me"), as the Belgian representative in the fourth

which took place on 11 March in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...

, France. ''Hou toch van mij'' received votes from five of the other 10 participating countries and finished in sixth place. In 1961, Benny was again selected to represent Belgium, with the song "

September, gouden roos Belgium was represented by Bob Benny, with the song "September, gouden roos", at the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 18 March in Cannes, France. The song was chosen in the national final on 29 February. Benny had previously repr ...

" ("September, Golden Rose"), in the sixth

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 pri ...

, which again was held in Cannes, on 18 March. Although the contest had now expanded to 16 participants, "September, gouden roos" only managed to pick up one point from

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 ...

, consigning Benny to a joint last-place finish with

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Jimmy Makulis Dimitrios Makulis (''Greek'': Τζίμης Μακούλης; 12 April 1935 in Athens – 28 October 2007 in Athens), known as Jimmy Makulis, was a Greek singer who had a successful career in German-speaking markets in the 1950s and 1960s, ...

Later career

Benny had two further hit singles in 1963, ''Waar en wanneer'' (#3) and ''Alleen door jou'' (#5). He became a musical theatre performer and played in many long-running shows in Belgium and Germany. In 2001, Benny suffered a stroke and fell into financial difficulties. A

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

on his behalf took place in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

in April 2003, featuring the music of

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American ...

performed by well-known Flemish artists. In 2006, Benny celebrated his 80th birthday and claimed he was back to full health.Biography
(in Dutch)

Private life

In 2001, Benny came out as homosexual.

Death

On 29 March 2011 the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

broadcaster

Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep The VRT (), is the national public-service broadcaster for the Flemish Community of Belgium. History VRT is the successor to a succession of organisations. The Belgian National Institute of Radio Broadcasting was known as the Nationaal Insti ...

(VRT) reported that Benny had died in a nursing home in Sint-Niklaas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benny, Bob 1926 births 2011 deaths Belgian male singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Belgium Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1959 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1961 People from Sint-Niklaas Gay musicians Belgian LGBT musicians 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people