Lily Castel (born Alice van Acker on 10 April 1937) is a Belgian singer, best known for her participation with

Jacques Raymond Jacques Raymond (born Jozef Remon on 13 October 1938) is a Belgian singer. He represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 with the Dutch song " Waarom?". In the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, he teamed up with Lily Castel to sing ...

in the 1971

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 ...

Background

Castel started out as a dancer before auditioning for television talent show ''Ontdek de Ster'' in 1958. She obtained regular work singing with orchestras, and through the 1960s appeared on television and performed internationally, including at the

Sopot International Song Festival The Sopot International Song Festival or Sopot Festival (later called ''Sopot Music Festival Grand Prix'', ''Sopot Top of the Top Festival'' from 2012–13 and ''Polsat Sopot Festival'' in 2014) is an annual international song contest held in S ...

. In 1970, she toured with former Eurovision singer

Lize Marke Lize Marke (born Liliane Couck, Denderleeuw, 1 December 1936) is a Belgian singer, best known for her participation in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest. Eurovision Song Contest Marke started singing professionally in 1962, and first participa ...

.interview
''Het Nieuwsblad'' – 11 July 2008 (in Dutch)

Career

Along with Jacques Raymond, Ann Christy, Nicole Josy and Hugo Deltas, Castel was one of the team members from Belgium that were to represent their country at the 10th European Song Cup Contest to be held at the venue of the Casino, Knokkele-Zoute in Brussels on July 12 -18 1968. Castel recorded the

Barbara Ruskin President Records is a British independent record label. It is one of the oldest independent record companies in the UK, originally launched in 1957 by Edward Kassner. During the 1960s and 1970s the label, and its subsidiary Jay Boy, had hi ...

song " Gentlemen Please" which was released on the Decca label in 1969.

Eurovision Song Contest

The 1971 selection process for the Belgian Eurovision entry had resulted in a comprehensive victory for the song "

Goeiemorgen, morgen Belgium was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 with the song "", composed by Paul Quintens, with lyrics by Phil van Cauwenbergh, and performed by Jacques Raymond and Lily Castel. The Belgian participating broadcaster, Dutch-speaking ...

" ("Good Morning, Morning"), performed by

Nicole & Hugo Nicole and Hugo were a Belgian singing duo of Nicole Josy (born Nicole Van Pamel; 21 October 1946 – 4 November 2022) and Hugo Sigal (born 10 November 1947 as Hugo Verbraeken). Beginnings The duo met in 1970 and became romantically involved an ...

, to be the representative for the 16th

, to take place on 3 April in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. Less than a week before the contest, however, Nicole fell ill with

jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or, less frequently, greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving ...

and the duo had to withdraw. As last-minute replacements,

BRT BRT may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Bayrak Radio Television, a Turkish Cypriot broadcaster * Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep (now ''VRT''), a Flemish broadcaster * Business Research and Training Center (BR&T), Ho Chi Minh Cit ...

drafted in Castel and Belgium's

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

Eurovision veteran

. It was a race against time for the pair, not least when they arrived in Dublin to find that the stage layout at the Gaiety Theatre was unsuitable for the routine they had rehearsed. In the circumstances they gave a creditable performance on the night, but "Goeiemorgen, morgen" could not win over the juries and finished in joint 14th place in a field of 18."Goeiemorgen morgen, morgen"
at digiloo.net

Later career

Castel remains active, having been a successful performer in concerts and variety shows for many years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castel, Lily 1937 births Living people Musicians from Ghent 20th-century Belgian women singers 20th-century Belgian singers Dutch-language singers of Belgium English-language singers from Belgium Eurovision Song Contest entrants