Reynaert (born Joseph Reynaerts; 24 July 1955 – 5 November 2020) was a Belgian singer-songwriter, best known for his participation in the 1988

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 ...

Early career

Reynaert was born in

Seraing Seraing (; wa, Serè) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, Ougrée, and Seraing. With Liège, Herstal, Saint ...

, and started

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

at the age of 18. In 1978 he won the annual music competition in the town of

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

with the song "Cerf-volant" ("Kite"), which was released as a single. Another single, "Pas assez" ("Not Enough"), followed in 1982 and he released his first album in 1984.

Eurovision Song Contest

In 1988, Reynaert's song "

Laissez briller le soleil Belgium was represented by Reynaert, with the song "Laissez briller le soleil", at the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Dublin on 30 April. Reynaert was the winner of the Belgian national final for the contest, held in Brussels o ...

" ("Let the Sun Shine") was chosen as the Belgian representative in the 33rd

, which took place on 30 April in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. It was a reflective song that finished the evening in joint 18th place of 21 entries, having received points solely from the French jury. "Laissez briller le soleil" was released as a single but met with little success.

Later career

He was a director at Centre Culturel de Soumagne, Belgium, until his death. In the night of 4 to 5 November 2020, Reyneart died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

during the pandemic in Belgium.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reynaert 1955 births 2020 deaths People from Seraing Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Belgium Belgian male singers Belgian singer-songwriters Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1988 Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium Buskers