Sandra Kim, born Sandra Caldarone in Montegnée (Liège, Belgium) on October 15, 1972, won the Eurovision Song Contest in Bergen (Norway) at the age of 13.5 in 1986, making her the youngest winner in the history of the festival.
J’aime la vie
Her single, “J’aime la vie,” quickly achieved double platinum status. With over 350,000 copies sold in Belgium and 1.4 million worldwide, it topped the Belgian Top 50 for weeks. The following year, she participated in the Yamaha Tokyo Festival, finishing in fourth place alongside Eros Ramazzotti. Together with the Italian singer, she embarked on a tour of Japan. A few months later, Sandra was asked to sing the theme song for the animated series “Il était une fois la vie,” composed by Michel Legrand. She then enjoyed success with numerous singles, albums, gold records, and television appearances in Belgium and internationally. Her fame extended to the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Turkey, Romania, Israel, Japan, and the United States.
Personal life
Sandra Kim is of Italian descent. Her parents came to Belgium in the 1950s.
In 2001 she married Jurgen Dlanghe.
The singer also really wanted children, but, as she said: “Mother Nature didn’t grant them to me”. And the singer is still very sad about that.
Furthermore, Sandra Kim is very discreet about her private life. The media attention is mainly focused on her work as an artist
National Career
Since 1990 she has focused mainly on her national career: she performed a patriotic song “J’aime mon pays” (I love my country) before the Belgian royal family for King Boudewijn’s 60th birthday and his 40 years on the throne.
That same year, she co-presented the music show “10 qu’on aime” on RTL-TVI. Her TV presence continued with her role as a jury member on “Pour la Gloire” in 1996 and singing “Song for Kosovo” in 1997 with Helmut Lotti and Paul Michiels. She then joined the cast of “Les Misérables” in Antwerp as Éponine.
In the early 2000s, she performed as a soloist in musical revue shows touring Flanders and the Netherlands. In 2003, to celebrate Belgium’s monarchy’s 10th anniversary, Sandra and other artists recorded “Mon Pays.” ( My country). In 2005, she performed “No n’ho l’eta” at Eurovision’s 50th anniversary gala. From 2006, she explored soul music with “The SouldivaZ,”
In 2011, she sang the Belgian national anthem in three languages at the Spa- Francorchamps F1 Grand Prix, and a documentary about Eurovision, “L’Autre vie,” ( The orher life) was produced. The following years saw her sharing her life on TV, performing for national celebrations, and releasing new singles reflecting her Italian roots.
In 2017 and 2018, she participated in Télévie and paid homage to Maurane. She collaborated on the “Bella Italia” project with Marco Z and Bejir, celebrating Italian culture. In 2022, she released the single “Gravity,” marking her 50th birthday, with a special concert and new song “Take me as I am.” In 2023, she performed at “The Masked Singer,” “Night of the Proms,” and celebrated her career milestones. She’s also involved in holiday projects and special commemorations.
