JO CARLIER

Born: September 4th, 1930, Bois-de-Breux, Liège (Belgium)

Died: April 25th, 2001, Liège (Belgium)

Nationality: Belgian

In due course, the short impression below will be replaced with a more extensive career overview

BIOGRAPHY

At fourteen, Jo Carlier started studying the trumpet at the conservatory. He made his debut as an instrumentalist in the orchestra of Jean Dari from Liege. Later, Carlier became an orchestra leader himself and for many years he was the musical director of the International Festival of French Chanson in Spa, accompanying the likes of Maxime Le Forestier, Francis Cabrel, and Alain Souchon. Furthermore, either as an instrumentalist or as a conductor, he worked with Jacques Dutronc, Gilbert Bécaud, Jean Vallée, Johnny Hallyday, Jacques Brel, Ray Ventura, and Juliette Gréco. Jo Carlier retired in 1988.

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

Jo Carlier first appearance in the Eurovision Song Contest was in 1984, when he conducted the Belgian entry ‘Avanti la vie’, composed and arranged by Henri Seroka and sung by Jacques Zegers. Two years later, Carlier led the orchestra during the winning performance of Sandra Kim in Bergen, Norway; Belgium’s victory in 1986 with ‘J’aime la vie’ remains the country’s only win in the Eurovision Song Contest to date. The orchestration to the song was written by Jean-Paul Lebens and Carlier’s old Flemish friend Freddy Sunder, who had regularly been a member of Carlier’s orchestra in Spa. 

When the festival came to Belgium in 1987, Carlier was commissioned to hand-pick an orchestra to accompany the participating songs. The Belgian entry being from the Dutch-speaking part of the country, it was conducted by Freddy Sunder; Carlier himself stood in front of his orchestra during the Cypriot entry ‘Aspro-mavro’ as well as during the rendition of host Viktor Lazlo’s song ‘Breathless’, which opened the show.

EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR

1984 Luxembourg

Country – Belgium

Song title – "Avanti la vie"

Rendition – Jacques Zegers

Lyrics – Jacques Zegers

Composition – Henri Seroka

Studio arrangement – Henri Seroka

Live orchestration – Henri Seroka

Conductor – Jo Carlier

Score – 5th place (70 votes)

1986 Bergen

Country – Belgium

Song title – "J’aime la vie"
Rendition – Sandra Kim 

Lyrics – Rosario Marino Atria

Composition – Angelo Crisci / Jean-Paul Furnémont

Studio arrangement – Jean-Paul Lebens 

Live orchestration – Jean-Paul Lebens / Freddy Sunder 

Conductor – Jo Carlier

Score – 1st place (176 votes)

1987 Brussels

Country – Cyprus

Song title – "Aspro-mavro"

Rendition – Alexia Vasiliou

Lyrics – Maria Papapavlou

Composition – Andreas Papapavlou

Studio arrangement – Lars O. Carlsson / Costas Charitodiplomenos

Live orchestration – Lars O. Carlsson / Costas Charitodiplomenos

Conductor – Jo Carlier (MD)

Score – 7th place (80 votes)