Youngest winner of the Eurovision Song Contest

Sandra Kim (Belgium, b. Sandra Caldarone, 15 October 1972) was 13 years 200 days old when she won the 31st Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Bergen, Norway, on 3 May 1986 – despite calls for her to be disqualified owing to her age. Switzerland, who finished second, lodged a complaint after the lyrics of Kim’s winning song, “J’aime la vie” (“I Love Life”), stated: “Me, I’m 15”. However, the protest fell on deaf ears. Kim’s record will remain unbroken while the current rules of the ESC are in force; in 1990, the European Broadcasting Union stipulated that performers had to be at least 16 years old to take part.

Before 1986, Italy’s Gigliola Cinquetti (b. 20 December 1947) had been the youngest ESC winner, with the ironically titled “Non ho l'età” (“I’m Not Old Enough”) on 21 March 1964. Cinquetti was 16 years 92 days old at the time of her triumph – a landslide victory that saw her pick up eight maximum scores (then five points) from the 15 voting juries on her way to 49 points (almost three times the score of the second-placed entry).

Since the rules were changed in 1990 – a move that would eventually lead to the creation of Junior Eurovision in 2003 – the youngest ESC winner has been Germany’s Lena (b. 23 May 1991), who was 19 years 6 days old when she won the 2010 contest on 29 May with “Satellite”. Denmark’s Emmelie de Forest (b. 28 February 1993) won the ESC with “Only Teardrops” on 18 May 2013 at the age of 20 years 79 days.

Speaking in 2017, Kim said: “I’ve never wondered if it was a good idea to let people under the age of 16 participate. At that time it didn’t bother me to perform as a little girl and I wouldn’t change a thing about the entire experience. I was naïve, spontaneous and I’m quite sure this was what people loved the most about the entire performance: a little girl coming on stage wearing her pink bow tie, enjoying the performance with her little dance moves and singing about loving life.”