Tonia 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 in the 1966 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 career

Tonia released her first single, "Mon p'tit copain de vacances", in 1963, and went on to release numerous further singles. She would often record both Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 and French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 cover version

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

s of popular German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 songs.

Eurovision Song Contest

In the 1966 Belgian Eurovision selection, Tonia performed four songs and the winner, "Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel

Un Peu De Poivre, Un Peu De Sel

"Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel" was the Belgian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, performed in French by Tonia....

" ("A Little Pepper, A Little Salt"), was chosen by postcard voting as the representative for the 11th Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1966

The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition and was held on 5 March 1966 in Luxembourg, Luxembourg. The rule stating that a country could only sing in any of its national languages was originally created in this year. This was possibly created due to the 1965 Swedish entry, "Absent...

 which took place on 5 March in Luxembourg City

Luxembourg (city)

The city of Luxembourg , also known as Luxembourg City , is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg...

. "Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel" finished in fourth place of 18 entries, Belgium's highest placing in Eurovision to that date, which would not be bettered until 1978. In 1968, Tonia again participated in the Belgian selection with the song "Il y avait", but failed to place in the top two.

In 1973, Tonia took part in the German

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

 Eurovision national final

Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1973

Germany was represented by Danish singer Gitte, with the song "Junger Tag", at the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 7 April in Luxembourg City. "Junger Tag" was the winner of the German national final, Ein Lied für Luxemburg, held on 21 February.-Final:The final was held at the TV...

 with two songs, and narrowly missed out on a second Eurovision appearance when her song '"Sebastian" finished in second place, just one point behind the winning song "Junger Tag

Junger Tag

Junger Tag was the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1973, performed in German by Danish singer Gitte Hænning...

" by Gitte Hænning

Gitte Hænning

Gitte Hænning is a Danish singer and film actress, who rose to fame as a child star in the 1950s.Because her name was relatively unique, she was known primarily without a surname in Europe. She moved to Sweden in 1958. Her first hit in Swedish was "Tror du jag ljuger" from 1961...

. Tonia's other song, "Mir gefällt diese Welt", came seventh.

Later career

After her 1966 Eurovision appearance, Tonia turned her attention to the German market, where she enjoyed a measure of success for several years. By the mid-1970s her career was winding down and releases became sporadic. Her last recordings date from the early 1980s, although a compilation CD of her most successful tracks was released in 1990.

Tonia has been married twice, to musicians Albert Mertens (divorced) and Paul Bourdiaudhy.

Discography

Singles

• 1963 "Mon p'tit copain de vacances"
• 1963 "Avant de t'embrasser"
• 1963 "L'école est finie"
• 1963 "Trois mousquetaires"
• 1964 "La fin d'un amour n'est pas un drame"
• 1964 "Pour mon anniversaire je voudrais un beatle"
• 1965 "Wie heeft"
• 1965 "Ce n'est pas loin, domani"
• 1965 "Toujours les beaux jours"
• 1965 "Ist denn alles aus?"
• 1966 "Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel"
• 1966 "Un grand bateau"
• 1966 "Vorbei sind die Tränen"
• 1967 "Un tout petit pantin"
• 1967 "Joli petit poisson"
• 1967 "Der Gedanke an Dich"
• 1967 "Bonsoir, Chéri"
• 1968 "Karussell"
• 1968 "Weiter, immer weiter"
• 1969 "Texascowboypferdesattelverkäuferin"
• 1969 "Wenn die Nachtigall singt"
• 1971 "Ich will leben nur mit Dir"
• 1972 "Ein grünes Kleeblatt"
• 1973 "Sebastian"
• 1974 "Iedere Nacht is..."
• 1976 "Jahrmarkt der Eitelkeit"
• 1977 "Schönes Theater"
• 1980 "Warum rufst Du mich nicht an?"
• 1982 "Ich will nach Afrika"

Albums

• 1981 This Is My Day
• 1990 Les plus grand succès de Tonia