Dave Benton
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Dave Benton | |
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 Dave Benton in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Efrén Eugene Benita |
| Born | 31 January 1951 Oranjestad, Aruba |
| Genres | Pop |
Dave Benton (born 31 January 1951, birth name Efrén Eugene Benita) is a pop musician from Aruba who lives in Estonia. He is one of the winners of the Eurovision Song Contest 2001. At the age of 50 years and 101 days at the time of his victory, Benton is the oldest singer ever to win Eurovision.[1]
Biography[]
Born Efrén Eugene Benita in 1951 on the Caribbean island of Aruba, he went to local schools. He was fluent in English, Dutch, Spanish and Papiamento, the creole language of the island. He married and had a daughter. In his 20s, he separated from his wife and moved to the United States. As a drummer and a backing vocalist, he worked with The Drifters, Tom Jones, Billy Ocean, José Feliciano and The Platters.
While living in the Netherlands in the 1980s, he met his future wife Maris, an Estonian, on a cruise ship. They settled in Estonia in 1997 and have two daughters, Sissi and Lisa.
Benton has had a varied musical career in Northern European countries. He speaks eight languages: English, Spanish, Papiamento, Dutch, French, German, Portuguese, and Estonian[citation needed]. He performed in the German production of the musical City Lights, after which he was asked to replace Engelbert Humperdinck on his Australian tour.
Benton has released and produced quite a few albums already, one of which in his native tongue, Papiamento. He has had more of a career as a performing artist.
In 2001 he performed with budding Estonian rock singer Tanel Padar and boyband 2XL to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with their song "Everybody".
Other information[]
- Benton was a contestant at the 1981 OTI Festival (Ibero-American equivalent of the Eurovision contest) held in Mexico City; he represented the Netherlands Antilles with the song "Vaya un amigo" as Efrén Benita. He finished in 20th place at this contest.
- Benton won the Eurovision Song Contest for Estonia, before he had learned to speak Estonian.
- In 2010, Benton participated as a celebrity contestant on the fourth season of Tantsud tähtedega, an Estonian version of Dancing with the Stars. His professional dancing partner was Valeria Fetissova.
- He is a grandfather. His oldest daughter Nathaly, from his first marriage, has a girl called Tanisia.
References[]
- ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official Celebration. Carlton Books, 2015. ISBN 978-1-78097-638-9. Pages 32-33
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dave Benton. |
- Dave Benton at Yahoo! Music
- Dave Benton at Estonian Bands Database
- Dave Benton at IMDb
- Aruba-born Dave Benton Joins with Tanel Padar for Top 2001 Eurovision Honors, Caribia Digest
- Dave Benton: 'I was asked in Estonia and Finland'
- Estonians record previews, Dave Benton is back!, Eurovision TV
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- Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
- 1951 births
- Living people
- Aruban musicians
- Estonian pop singers
- Eurovision Song Contest winners
- Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Estonia
- Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2001
- Estonian male singers
- Dutch people of Aruban descent
- Aruban emigrants to Estonia
- Estonian people of Aruban descent
- Papiamento-language singers
- People from Oranjestad, Aruba