Dave Benton

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Dave Benton (born January 31, 1951, real name Efren Eugene Benita) is an Estonian pop musician and 2001 winner of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Benton was born on the Caribbean island of Aruba in 1951 and in his 20s 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 Estonian wife Maris on a cruise ship, then settled in Estonia in 1997. He has had a varied musical career in Northern European countries. He now lives in Estonia with his wife and two daughters, Sissi and Lisa. He performed in the German production of the musical 'City Lights'.

Though he has released and produced quite a few albums already, one of which in his native tongue, Papiamento, his career to date shows him to be more of a performing artist rather than a recording one.

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.

[edit] Trivia

Benton won the Eurovision Song Contest for Estonia but at the time, he did not speak Estonian.
He is also a grandfather. His oldest daughter from his first marriage, Nathaly, gave birth recently to a little girl called Tanisia.

Preceded by: The Olsen Brothers	Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with Tanel Padar and 2XL	Succeeded by: Marie N

Eurovision winners
1950s	Lys Assia \| Corry Brokken \| André Claveau \| Teddy Scholten
1960s	Jacqueline Boyer \| Jean-Claude Pascal \| Isabelle Aubret \| Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann \| Gigliola Cinquetti \| France Gall \| Udo Jürgens \| Sandie Shaw \| Massiel \| Frida Boccara \| Lenny Kuhr \| Lulu \| Salomé
1970s	Dana \| Séverine \| Vicky Leandros \| Anne-Marie David \| ABBA \| Teach-In \| Brotherhood of Man \| Marie Myriam \| Izhar Cohen & Alphabeta \| Gali Atari & Milk and Honey
1980s	Johnny Logan \| Bucks Fizz \| Nicole \| Corinne Hermès \| Herreys \| Bobbysocks \| Sandra Kim \| Johnny Logan \| Celine Dion \| Riva
1990s	Toto Cutugno \| Carola \| Linda Martin \| Niamh Kavanagh \| Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan \| Secret Garden \| Eimear Quinn \| Katrina and the Waves \| Dana International \| Charlotte Nilsson
2000s	Olsen Brothers \| Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL \| Marie N \| Sertab Erener \| Ruslana \| Elena Paparizou \| Lordi