Frédéric Etherlinck is a Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 singer, best known for his participation in the 1995 Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

.

Early life

Etherlinck was born in Brussels but soon after his birth his family emigrated to Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, where they lived until 1977. They then lived in Nice

Nice

Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 for three years before returning to Brussels. Etherlinck later became a singer and drummer, performing in bars and cabarets in the Brussels area.

Eurovision Song Contest

In 1995, Etherlinck took part in the Belgian Eurovision Song Contest selection

Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995

Belgium was represented by Frédéric Etherlinck, with the song '"La voix est libre", at the 1995 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Dublin on 13 May. Etherlinck was the winner of the Belgian national final for the contest, held in Brussels on 12 March....

 with the song "La voix est libre

La Voix Est Libre

"La voix est libre" was the Belgian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995, performed in French by Frédéric Etherlinck....

" ("The Voice is Free"). In the most evenly-balanced selection in Belgium's Eurovision history, with only 13 points separating the top six songs, he emerged the narrow victor and went on to represent Belgium in the 40th Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1995

The Eurovision Song Contest 1995 was the 40th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 13 May 1995 in the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. The presenter was Mary Kennedy. This contest broke the chain of victories that Ireland enjoyed in 1992, 1993, and 1994...

 held on 13 May in Dublin. "La voix est libre" did not prove successful in the contest, ending the evening in 20th place out of 23 entries.

Later career

"La voix est libre" reached #21 on the Wallonian singles chart

Ultratop 40

Ultratop 40 singles, often just Ultratop 40, is the weekly chart of best-selling singles in Wallonia and Brussels Capital Region, the french-speaking parts of Belgium. Its equivalent covering the Flanders region is Ultratop 50. Both charts are produced and published by the Ultratop organization...

, but further success proved elusive. Etherlinck released an album entitled Les années lumières (Light Years) which failed to sell, since when little has been heard of him.