Karel Gott

Karel Gott (born July 14, 1939) is a Czech singer, as well as an amateur painter. He represented Austria

in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968

with the song Tausend Fenster, finishing in 13th

place.

Gott was born in Plzeň, Czechoslovakia, and has lived in Prague since age 6. He initially wanted to study art, but failed the exams at UMPRUM, the Secondary School of Art and Industry, upon which he began training as an electrician. On completing his studies, he began working as an electrician, but was soon fascinated by the new types of music flooding the city, and became interested in jazz. He experimented with playing the bass and the guitar, but eventually decided to focus on singing, studying it privately. During the 1950s he occasionally performed as an amateur singer and often participated in competitions.

In 1958, he participated in an amateur singing contest in the Prague Slavonic House, entitled "Looking for New Talent." He utterly failed to impress the judges, but soon made a name for himself in Prague jazz circles, finally getting his first engagement at the Vitala Prague Cafe that same year.

If we were to search for the reasons for Gott's long term popularity, we would find that they lie primarily in the fact that Karel Gott was the first Czech singer capable of combining vocal skills and personal attractiveness-along with the absolutely-necessary ‘tear in his voice’-, singing professionalism , and characteristic pop-music expressions and style. He has proven this versatility - which is rare to see in the world - in his diverse, sometimes even contrasting, repertoire ranging from the folk music of practically all European nations through specially selected operas, operatic arias, classical compositions, and Italian canzonettes, to jazz, musicals, rock 'n' roll, country and western, and disco. It is this versatility that every record company in the world perceives as the value of Karel Gott's artistry. His first concert in Carnegie Hall, New York at September 29th, 2000, definitely confirmed his vocal mastery and extensive talents.