Fud Leclerc's Fourth Entry Sets a Belgian Record

MAY 15 1960 · 12:05

Fud Leclerc · "Mon amour pour toi" · Belgium · 1960 Placement: 6 · Score: 9 · Language: French · Composers: Jack Say · Venue: Royal Festival Hall · Host: London, United Kingdom · Type: performance innovation · Broadcast: pre color Leclerc — Brussels chanteur, neat goatee, dinner jacket — delivers his fourth Eurovision song in six years. The melody is a melancholy French love ballad; his baritone is unhurried. 9 points, 6th place. The record for individual appearances at Eurovision — four — would stand until Udo Jürgens matched it in the 1960s and Valentina Monetta broke it in the 2010s. Context Belgium's RTBF leaned heavily on Leclerc during the pre-1960 era because he was reliable, Francophone, and comfortable with live orchestra. He had represented Belgium in 1956, 1958, 1960 and would return in 1962. Jack Say, the composer, wrote for multiple Belgian Eurovision entries. Legacy Leclerc's four-appearance record defined the 'serial Eurovision performer' archetype. He died in 2010 in Paris. 'Mon amour pour toi' is regarded by French chanson historians as the most musically accomplished of his four entries. Valentina Monetta would break his record in 2017 with five San Marino appearances.