Un Jour, Un Enfant
Encyclopedia
"Un jour, un enfant" was one of four winning songs in the Eurovision Song Contest 1969
, this one being sung in French
by Frida Boccara
representing France
. The other three winners were Salomé
representing Spain
with "Vivo cantando
", Lulu
representing the United Kingdom
with "Boom Bang-a-Bang
" and Lenny Kuhr
representing the Netherlands
with "De troubadour
".
The song was performed fourteenth on the night, following Germany
's Siw Malmkvist
with "Primaballerina
" and preceding Portugal
's Simone de Oliveira
with "Desfolhada portuguesa
". At the close of voting, it had received 18 points, placing equal first in a field of 16.
The song is a classical ballad
, describing the wonders of the world as seen by a child. Boccara recorded the song in five languages, French, English
(as "Through the Eyes of a Child"), German
("Es schlägt ein Herz für dich", translated: "A Heart Beats for You"), Spanish
("Un día, un niño", translated: "A Day, a Child") and Italian
("Canzone di un amore perduto", translated: "Song of a Lost Love").
The song was succeeded as (joint) Contest winner in 1970 by Dana
singing "All Kinds of Everything
" for Ireland
.
It was succeeded as French representative
at the 1970 contest
by Guy Bonnet
with "Marie-Blanche
".
Eurovision Song Contest 1969
The Eurovision Song Contest 1969 was the 14th in the series. It was the first time that the contest resulted in a tie for first place, with four countries each gaining 18 votes. Since there was at the time no rule to cover such an eventuality, all four countries were declared joint winners...
, this one being sung in 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...
by Frida Boccara
Frida Boccara
Frida Boccara was a French singer.Frida Boccara was born in Casablanca, Morocco. She submitted the song "Autrefois" to the French Eurovision Song Contest selection panel in 1964 but she was unsuccessful...
representing 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...
. The other three winners were Salomé
Salomé (singer)
Salomé , born Maria Rosa Marco Poquet, is a Spanish Catalan singer.Salomé was born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. At the Eurovision Song Contest held in Madrid in 1969, she performed "Vivo Cantando", composed by Maria José Cerato with words by Aniano Alcalde...
representing Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
with "Vivo cantando
Vivo Cantando
"Vivo cantando" was one of four songs which tied for first place in the Eurovision Song Contest 1969. Performed in Spanish by Salomé for Spain, the song was joint winner with the United Kingdom's "Boom Bang-a-Bang" performed by Lulu, "De troubadour" by Lenny Kuhr representing the Netherlands, and...
", Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
representing the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
with "Boom Bang-a-Bang
Boom Bang-a-Bang
"Boom Bang-a-Bang" was the United Kingdom entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1969It was sung by Lulu, and was co-written by Alan Moorhouse and Peter Warne aka Michael Julien, the latter of who also wrote "Kiss Me, Honey Honey, Kiss Me" for Shirley Bassey....
" and Lenny Kuhr
Lenny Kuhr
Lenny Kuhr is a Dutch singer-songwriter.In 1967 she started a singing career in the Netherlands, performing songs in the French chanson tradition. In 1969 she represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest with her own composition De Troubadour...
representing the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
with "De troubadour
De Troubadour
"De troubadour" , sung in Dutch by Lenny Kuhr representing the Netherlands, was – together with "Boom Bang-a-Bang", "Un jour, un enfant", and "Vivo cantando" from, respectively, the United Kingdom, France, and Spain – one of the four winners of the Eurovision Song Contest 1969.In a ballad inspired...
".
The song was performed fourteenth on the night, following Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's Siw Malmkvist
Siw Malmkvist
Siw "Siwan" Gunnel Margareta Malmkvist is a Swedish singer who is popular in Scandinavia and Germany...
with "Primaballerina
Primaballerina
"Primaballerina" is a 1969 song performed by Swedish singer Siw Malmkvist and written by Hans Blum. It was the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1969...
" and preceding Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
's Simone de Oliveira
Simone de Oliveira
Simone de Oliveira, GCIH is a Portuguese singer and actress. Simone was born and raised in Lisbon. Her Portuguese father had black African roots in São Tomé and Príncipe , and her mother was Belgian. She started singing in high school...
with "Desfolhada portuguesa
Desfolhada Portuguesa
Desfolhada portuguesa , or simply Desfolhada , was the Portuguese entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1969, performed in Portuguese by Simone de Oliveira....
". At the close of voting, it had received 18 points, placing equal first in a field of 16.
The song is a classical ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
, describing the wonders of the world as seen by a child. Boccara recorded the song in five languages, French, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
(as "Through the Eyes of a Child"), 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....
("Es schlägt ein Herz für dich", translated: "A Heart Beats for You"), Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
("Un día, un niño", translated: "A Day, a Child") and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
("Canzone di un amore perduto", translated: "Song of a Lost Love").
The song was succeeded as (joint) Contest winner in 1970 by Dana
Dana Rosemary Scallon
Dana Rosemary Scallon , known in her singing career simply as Dana, is an Irish singer and former Member of the European Parliament ....
singing "All Kinds of Everything
All Kinds Of Everything
"All Kinds of Everything" is a song written by Derry Lindsay and Jackie Smith which as performed by Dana won the Eurovision Song Contest 1970. "All Kinds of Everything" represented a return to the ballad form from the more energetic performances which had dominated Eurovision the previous years...
" for Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
.
It was succeeded as French representative
France in the Eurovision Song Contest
France is one of the most successful countries in the Eurovision Song Contest and has entered the competition fifty-four times since their debut at the very first contest in 1956. France is one of only seven countries to be present at the very first contest, and has only been absent from two...
at the 1970 contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1970
The Eurovision Song Contest 1970 was the 15th Eurovision Song Contest, held on 21 March 1970 at the RAI Congrescentrum in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Amsterdam contest is regarded as one of the most significant in Eurovision history for a number of reasons....
by Guy Bonnet
Guy Bonnet
Guy Bonnet is an author, composer, and singer, born in Avignon, France in 1945. He wrote the lyrics and composed the music for the French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 . In 1970 he participated in the Eurovision song contest for France with "Marie-Blanche" coming 4th out of twelve...
with "Marie-Blanche
Marie-Blanche
"Marie-Blanche" was the French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1970, performed in French by Guy Bonnet. Bonnet had made his debut in the Contest in 1968, when he co-wrote the lyrics to Isabelle Aubret's "La source"....
".
Cover versions
- ABBAABBAABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
's Agnetha FältskogAgnetha FältskogAgnetha Åse Fältskog is a Swedish recording artist. She achieved success in Sweden after the release of her début album Agnetha Fältskog in 1968, and reached international stardom as a member of the pop group ABBA, which to date has sold over 375 million records worldwide, making it the fourth...
covered the song in SwedishSwedish languageSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
on her 1970 solo album "Som jag ärSom Jag ÄrSom jag är is the third solo album by Swedish pop singer and ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog, released in late 1970.-Album Information:...
", under the title "Sov gott, min lilla vän" (translated: "Sleep Well, My Little Friend"). - An instrumental version of the song by Paul MauriatPaul MauriatPaul Mauriat was a French orchestra leader, specializing in light music. He is best known in the United States for his million selling remake of André Popp's "Love is Blue", which was #1 for 5 weeks in 1968...
was used as a theme for the Philippine television drama anthology Lovingly Yours, HelenLovingly Yours, HelenLovingly Yours, Helen is a Sunday afternoon program aired on GMA-7 from 1980 to 1996."Lovingly Yours, Helen" evolved into a television drama anthology from a daily counseling program on radio with the same title, originally aired on GMA's AM station DZBB. It was presented by the late...
in 1981.