Kathy Kirby was an English singer who was best known for her cover of Doris Day's "Secret Love" and for her physical appearance which drew comparisons to Marilyn Monroe. She became one of the biggest stars of the early to mid-1960s, appearing in the Royal Command Variety Performance and three television series for BBC TV.
Kirby had serious mental health problems throughout her life and was effectively unable to get any help for the vast majority of it.
She represented her home country in the 1965 Contest in Naples, finishing as runner-up to Luxembourg's France Gall, and according to Gall herself, she once said that Kirby actually slapped Gall in the face for an unknown reason.
Post-Contest, she recorded more than a dozen singles, but they all failed to chart. During the 1970s her singing career was eclipsed by a turbulent personal life, but she made occasional television appearances and performed a few live concerts on the "nostalgia circuit". On 31 December 1976, she performed her hit song "Secret Love" on BBC1's A Jubilee of Music, celebrating British pop music for Queen Elizabeth II's impending Silver Jubilee.
In December 1983 she gave one last concert in Blackpool, then retired from show business altogether. She developed schizophrenia in her latter years and died on 19 May 2011, a few days after moving to Brinsworth House.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1965 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Participants | |||
 Conny Vandenbos •  Kathy Kirby •  Conchita Bautista •  Butch Moore •  Ulla Wiesner •  Udo Jürgens •  Kirsti Sparboe •  Lize Marke •  Marjorie Noël •  Ingvar Wixell •  Guy Mardel •  Simone de Oliveira •  Bobby Solo •  Birgit Brüel •  France Gall •  Viktor Klimenko •  Vice Vukov •  Yovanna Fassou Kalpaxi
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| Songs | |||
| 't Is genoeg • I Belong • ¡Qué bueno, qué bueno! • Walking the Streets in the Rain • Paradies, wo bist du? • Sag ihr, ich lass sie grüßen • Karusell • Als het weer lente is • Va dire à l'amour • Absent Friend • N'avoue jamais • Sol de inverno • Se piangi, se ridi • For din skyld • Poupée de cire, poupée de son • Aurinko laskee länteen • Čežnja • Non, à jamais sans toi
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