Lily Castel 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 her participation with Jacques Raymond in the 1971 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...

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Early career

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

Sopot International Song Festival

The Sopot International Song Festival is an international song contest held in Sopot, Poland. It was the biggest Polish music festival altogether with the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole, and one of the biggest annual song contest in Europe...

. In 1970, she toured with former Eurovision singer Lize Marke

Lize Marke

Lize Marke is a Belgian singer, best known for her participation in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest.- Eurovision Song Contest :...

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Eurovision Song Contest

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

Goeiemorgen, Morgen

"Goeiemorgen, morgen" was the Belgian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1971, performed in Dutch by Jacques Raymond and Lily Castel....

" ("Good Morning, Morning"), performed by Nicole & Hugo

Nicole & Hugo

Nicole & Hugo are a singing duet from BelgiumNicole Josy and Hugo Sigal met in 1970. They become romantically involved and formed a singing duet. In 1971, they entered into the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest...

, to be the representative for the 16th Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1971

The Eurovision Song Contest 1971 was the sixteenth Eurovision Song Contest and the first held in Dublin, Ireland. The new voting system that was introduced in this Eurovision did have one big problem: some juries gave fewer points out than others...

, to take place on 3 April in Dublin. Less than a week before the contest however, Nicole fell ill with jaundice

Jaundice

Jaundice is a yellowish pigmentation of the skin, the conjunctival membranes over the sclerae , and other mucous membranes caused by hyperbilirubinemia . This hyperbilirubinemia subsequently causes increased levels of bilirubin in the extracellular fluid...

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

Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep

The Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie , or VRT, is a publicly-funded broadcaster of radio and television in Flanders ....

 drafted in Castel and Belgium's 1963

Eurovision Song Contest 1963

The Eurovision Song Contest 1963 was the 8th Eurovision Song Contest. France had won the contest in 1962 but were incapable of hosting in 1963, as was their right, due to financial shortcomings. As was the case in 1960 - and as would become a tradition when smaller broadcasters could not afford to...

 Eurovision veteran Jacques Raymond. 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" was not greatly appreciated by the juries and finished in joint 14th place of 18 entries.

Later career

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