Michèle Torr | |
|---|---|
 Michèle Torr in 2006 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Michelle Cléberte Tort (1947-04-07)7 April 1947 (age 78) |
| Origin | Pertuis, France |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Author |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Labels | Sony Music France Mercury Records Disc'AZ Records |
| Website | micheletorr.com |
Michèle Torr (bornMichelle Cléberte Tort 7 April 1947) is a French singer and author, best known innon-Francophone countries for her participation in theEurovision Song Contest forLuxembourg in1966 and forMonaco in1977.
Born inPertuis, Vaucluse, Torr won her first singing contest at age fifteen, in 1962, winning the first year'sOn Chante dans mon Quartier contest in Avignon. Michèle was a tall beautiful woman with actress-like expression, and easily wins the audience over by singing theÉdith Piaf songExodus.Mireille Mathieu was runner-up that year withLes cloches de Lisbonne byMaria Candido. Then in 1963, at age sixteen, Michèle won a recording contract with the Mercury label, and opened forJacques Brel at theParis Olympia. She released three EPs (four songs each) throughout 1964, which were aimed at radio and juke-box play. Torr's release ofDans mes bras, oublie ta peine in 1964 was a big hit. Further releases of both original French material, and French covers of British and American hits, proved to be hit and miss. This setting the tone for Torr's career throughout the 60's, as she tried to find her niche. The Mercury contract ended in 1972.
In 1966, Torr was invited to perform theLuxembourgish entry,Ce soir je t'attendais, at the eleventhEurovision Song Contest. This was permitted as there has never been a requirement at Eurovision for the singer to be native to the country they represent; indeed Luxembourg only very rarely chose aLuxembourger as their performer. As Luxembourg had won the1965 contest, the 1966 contest was held inLuxembourg City on 5 March. Torr wound up finishing joint-tenth out of eighteen participants, alongside the entries from Finland and Germany.
Eleven years later, in 1977, Torr again took part in Eurovision, this time representingMonaco with the songUne petite française. The1977 contest took place in London on 7 May, and Torr improved on her previous result, finishing fourth of eighteen participants.[1]
In between her two Eurovision appearances, Torr had also taken part in the French Eurovision pre-selection in 1970 with two songs, but had not progressed beyond the semi-final stage.
Torr had continued to record and release singles during the early and mid 1970s likeUne vague bleue, a big hit, but she achieved the biggest successes of her career at the end of the decade withEmmène-moi danser ce soir,La séparation andDiscomotion. Through the 1980s she continued to release successful singles and albums and was a regular on television. Her career stalled in the 1990s, with much less new material being released, although compilations of earlier work kept her in the public eye.
On 3 March 2008, she released her albumCes années-là on the Sony BMG Import label.
On 12 November 2012, she released an album of religious songsChanter c'est Prier on the Sony Music France S.M.A.R.T. label.
As of 2015, She continues to tour worldwide on the French music nostalgia circuit, with almost a concert a month.
| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by | Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977 | Succeeded by |
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