Country Belgium Language French Lyricist(s) Eric van Hulse | Artist(s) Pierre Rapsat Composer(s) Pierre Rapsat Conductor Michel Bernholc | |
"Judy et Cie" ("Judy and Co.") was the Belgian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976, performed in French by Pierre Rapsat.
The song was performed sixth on the night, following Luxembourg's Jürgen Marcus with "Chansons pour ceux qui s'aiment" and preceding Ireland's Red Hurley with "When". At the close of voting, it had received 68 points, placing it 8th in a field of 18.
The melancholy ballad is about the plain and ordinary Judy, "the girl you will forget as soon as the night is over", who "behind her jewelry and mascara prays to Saint Marilyn Monroe", daydreaming of becoming as beautiful as the girls in the fashion magazines, "as thin as reeds, with empty eyes - but no wrinkles". Judy, or someone else just like her, may very well be the girl you end up marrying - but also the one "you would sacrifice for a handful of snow".
After participating in the ESC Rapsat would go on to become one of Belgium's most successful and celebrated singer-songwriters of all time, often referred to as a "modern day Jaques Brel", known for his narrative and poetic lyrics, musically combining influences from French chanson with rock, blues and reggae and in his later career also with rhythms from the Middle East and Africa. After three decades of bestselling singles, albums and tours in his native Belgium but still struggling to become fully recognised in the rest of the francophone world, the 2001 album Dazibao and the hit single "Les Rêves Sont En Nous" finally managed to become his proper breakthrough in France, Switzerland, Luxembourg and other neighbouring countries. Unknown to his audiences both in Belgium and abroad, Rapsat was at that point fighting cancer and he unexpectedly died the following year, at the age of 53.
"Judy et Cie" was succeeded as Belgian representative at the 1977 Contest by Dream Express singing "A Million in One, Two, Three".