Dimitrios Makulis (''Greek'': Τζίμης Μακούλης; 12 April 1935 in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

– 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, and is known for his participation on behalf of Austria in the 1961

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

Makulis became a successful singer in his native Greece before moving to Germany in the mid-1950s. In 1956 he scored a top 5 hit with "Auf Cuba sind die Mädchen braun". His biggest hit was "Gitarren klingen leise durch die Nacht", No.4 in 1959, and he continued to place charting singles until 1964.

Eurovision

In 1961, Makulis was chosen internally by Austrian broadcaster ORF to represent the country with the song " Sehnsucht" ("Longing") in the sixth

, held on 18 March in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, France. This proved unsuccessful, as "Sehnsucht" picked up only one point, from the United Kingdom jury, and finished along with Belgium's

Bob Benny 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 Contests of 1959 and 1961. Early career Benny began his singing career at the end of ...

in joint last place of the 16 entries. "Sehnsucht" is one of very few Eurovision entries never to have been recorded by the performer. Makulis was the first Greek to participate in the

, although itself first participated only 13 years later, in 1974.

Later career

Makulis moved to the United States in 1965, and in following years lived and performed in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. He moved back to his native Greece in 1985, and in 1990 took part in the selection for that year's Greek Eurovision entry, finishing fifth. He returned to Germany in the early 1990s.

Death

Makulis died following heart surgery in an Athens hospital on 28 October 2007, aged 72.Report of death at Esctoday.com
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Singles discography

(Shows highest position reached on

German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official charts for music, home video, and video games in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on be ...

) * 1956: "Auf Cuba sind die Mädchen braun" (#5) * 1959: "Gitarren klingen leise durch die Nacht" (#4) * 1960: "Nachts in Rom" (#9) * 1960: "Ein Boot, eine Mondnacht und du" (#36) * 1961: "Sweetheart Guitar" (#10) * 1962: "Ich habe im Leben nur dich" (#17) * 1962: "Keiner weiß wohin" (#43) * 1962: "Weil ich weiß, daß wir uns wiederseh'n" (#37) * 1963: "Lebe wohl, du Blume von Tahiti" (#43) * 1964: "Little Moonlight Love" (#38)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Makulis, Jimmy Singers from Athens German-language singers of Greece 1935 births 2007 deaths 20th-century Greek male singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants