Jacques Hustin (15 March 1940 – 6 April 2009) was a Belgian singer-songwriter and artist who was successful in his homeland in both fields, and is best known internationally for his participation in the 1974

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 ...

Early career

Hustin was born in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

. From an early age, Hustin was interested in both music and painting. He studied art and design, and worked at various times as an illustrator,

stage designer Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including plays and musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, where it may be referred to as prod ...

and composer of

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

. He released his first album in 1966 and moved to Paris, where he lived for several years. In 1968, he was winner of the first edition of the musical contest "Cerbul de aur" ("Golden Dear"), in the city of Brasov, Romania. His song was "Camelias". He imposed himself on the scene where well-known singers were also performing during the festival:

Los Machucambos Los Machucambos was a music band formed in Paris in 1959. The two guitar players were Rafael Gayoso (from Spain), Milton Zapata (from Peru) and the singer was Julia Cortés (from Costa Rica) . In 1960 Zapata was replaced by Romano Zanotti (pseudon ...

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, Rika Zarai,

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, Maria Mitiieva,

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. Second place was Czech singer Josef Laufer. Third place was another Belgian singer, Kalinka.

Eurovision Song Contest

In 1974 Hustin's self-penned song "

Fleur de liberté Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 with the song "", composed by Jacques Hustin, with lyrics by Franck F. Gérald, and performed by Hustin himself. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Walloon (RTB), selected its ent ...

" ("Flower of Liberty") was chosen as Belgium's representative in the nineteenth

, which took place on 6 April in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, England. The 1974 contest is notable for the participation of a number of artists who were already internationally known names (

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), also as the contest which served to launch the winning group,

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

, into global

superstar A superstar is someone who has great popular appeal and is widely known, prominent, or successful in their field. Celebrities referred to as "superstars" may include individuals who work as actors, musicians, athletes, and other media-based profe ...

dom. In this very competitive field, "Fleur de liberté" finished in ninth place of 17 entries. In 1978, Hustin took part in the Belgian Eurovision selection for a second time, but on that occasion his song "L'an 2000 c'est demain" ("The Year 2000 is Tomorrow") lost out to "

L'amour ça fait chanter la vie Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 with the song "", written and performed by Jean Vallée. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Walloon (RTBF), selected its entry through a national final. Before Eurovision Wall ...

" by

Jean Vallée Jean Vallée (born Paul Goeders in Verviers on 2 October 1941 – 12 March 2014, Clermont-sur-Berwinne) was a Belgian songwriter and performer. Vallée was appointed Knight of the Order of the Crown by HM Albert II in 1999. Career In 1967 ...

(which went on to finish second in the 1978 contest, Belgium's highest placing to that date).

Later career

In 1975 Hustin hosted a series of programmes called ''La Guimbarde'' for Belgian television channel

RTBF The ("Belgian Radio-television of the French Community"), shortened to RTBF (branded as rtbf.be), is a public broadcasting, public service broadcaster for the French Community of Belgium, French-speaking Community of Belgium. Its counterpart i ...

, which featured singers and musicians from

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

. Hustin continued recording and performing until the late 1980s, when he decided to bring his musical career to a close in order to concentrate on painting. He ran an art workshop in the Belgian

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

for ten years, and continued to paint up until his death.

Death

Hustin died of undisclosed causes on 6 April 2009, aged 69.obituary

(in French)

References

* (in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hustin, Jacques 1940 births 2009 deaths Artists from Liège 20th-century Belgian male singers 20th-century Belgian singers Belgian singer-songwriters Belgian male singer-songwriters Musicians from Liège Walloon musicians French-language singers of Belgium Eurovision Song Contest entrants