7 August 1984: Ann Christy dead

Ann Christy (born Christianne Leenaerts, 22 September 1945 in Antwerp, died 7 August 1984 in Meise) was a Belgian singer who enjoyed success in her native country. She began a singing career with The Adams Orchestra, whose drummer, Marc Hoyois, she later married. Her first solo  recordings met with little success. During this period she toured in Belgium and France with Salvatore Adamo. In 1968 she won the Knokke Cup singing contest. Her first attempt to represent Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest came in 1970 with the song 'Le temps, le vent', which failed to progress past the national semi-final stage. She did better the following year, when 'Dag vreemde man' finished in second place. A third attempt in 1973, when each of five chosen acts performed two songs, ended in third place for 'Bye Bye'.

In 1975 she was finally successful, winning the national final with the song 'Gelukkig zijn'. Christy sang the first half of the song in Dutch and the second half in English, and although the song had been tipped to do well, it ended the evening in a very disappointing 15th place out of 19 entries.
Christy was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1982, and died exactly 33 years ago today, aged just 38.