It’s the final day of 2021 and as we look forward to a new year of opportunity we also look back at the Eurovision Song Contest stars that we lost during this past year. We look back and remember those who passed during 2021.
Carlos do Carmo – Represented Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 with “Uma flor de verde pinho”.
Liam Reilly – Represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 with “Somewhere in Europe”.
Pave Maijanen – Represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 with “Yamma Yamma”.
Örs Siklósi – Represented Hungary at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 as part of AWS, the singer sadly passed away after a battle with leukemia.
Sanja Ilić – Founder of the group Balkanika who represented Serbia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with “Nova Deca”.
Jean Baudlot – Represented Monaco at the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 under the stage name Laurent Vaguener.
Patrick Juvet – The French-born singer represented Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 with “Je vais me marier, Marie”.
Fredi – Two-time Eurovision participant Fredi represented Finland in 1967 and 1976 and is best remembered for his song “Pump-Pump”.
Svante Thuresson – Represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 in a duet alongside Lill Lindfors.
Franco Battiato – Competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984 with “I treni di Tozeur” alongside Alice.
Raffaella Carrà – She was one of Italy’s most prolific music and media personalities. Rafaella was a fan of Eurovision and was one of the driving forces behind Italy’s return to the competition in 2011, she was a commentator and spokesperson on the nation’s return.
John Lawton – Represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 as part of Les Humphries Singers.
Djivan Gasparyan – Folk musician and performer who joined Eva Rivas on stage at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with “Apricot Stone”.
Curt-Eric Holmquist – Conducted for Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest six times and was the Musical Director of the 1985 contest in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Carmelo Martínez – Represented Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 as part of La Década Prodigiosa.
Igor Vovkovinskiy – Ukrainian-born Igor was the tallest American At 7 feet 8 1⁄3 inches. In 2013 he appeared on the Eurovision stage alongside Zlata Ognevich.
María Mendiola – One half of the duo Baccara, the Spanish singer represented Luxembourg in 1978 with “Parlez-vous français?”, she would go on to try and represent Sweden at Eurovision 2004.
Claude Lombard – Represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 with “Quand tu reviendras”, she would return as a backing singer for Belgium in 1973.
Hayko – Was the second artist to represent Armenia at Eurovision, competing in the 2007 contest with “Anytime You Need”. He remained involved with Eurovision acting as a judge in later national selections.
Franck Olivier – Represented Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest 1985. He had previously twice attempted to represent Belgium at the contest in 1978 and 1984.
Edmundo Silva – Competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977 as part of Os Amigos with the song “Portugal no Coração”.
Laila Halme – Represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 1963, she was last involved in the contest in 1990 when her song attempted to represent Finland in Zagreb.
Emil Ramsauer – Represented Switzerland at Eurovision 2013 as part Takasa, he was 95 at the time of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 and still is the oldest person to have taken to the Eurovision stage.
Image Source: NPO/NOS/AVROTROS Nathan Reinds
