Born in late April of 1960, with a career kicking off in the mid 1980’s, Gerard Joling has a long career behind him. He is still going strong however.
His first singles from 1985 Love Is In Your Eyes and Ticket To The Tropics reached a 4th and a first place on the Dutch charts. The album became number one. In other words; he got a fantastic start on his career. Over the years, he has released close to 20 solo albums with several of them peaking at the top of the Dutch charts. No More Boleros from 1989, being a hit that would also make him noticed abroad.
In the early 2000’s, Gerard Joling’s releases didn’t do so well. Maak Me Gek (Make me crazy, edt.) from 2007 changed that. Both the single and the album once again served him a number one hit.
Gerard Joling has over the years developed into a TV personality that regularly appear on Dutch TV. He is a TV presenter as well as judge in various talent shows. He is still popular as a singer too, and his extravagant personality has made him one everyone knows, whether they love or dislike him.
Joling was to return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 as part of De Toppers, but that didn’t happen. The extremely popular trio consisted of René Froger, Gordon and Joling. Gordon and Joling were almost constantly fighting, and five months before the contest, it resulted in a break-up. Gerard Joling left the trio and was replaced with Jeroen van der Boom. After Eurovision, he returned to De Toppers, Gordon left – and came back – and currently they are 4.
He is a well known name in the Netherlands, and most Dutch will have an opinion about him. They might however not necessarily immediately connect him to this 1988 entry. ‘Shangri-La’ did however finish in a respectable 9th place. Read more
