Micha Marah

Biography

Micha Marah released her first single in 1969, entitled “De majoretten”. She was barely 16 years old at the time. Two years later, in 1971, Marah became nationally known thanks to her participation in Canzonissima, the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest of that year. She presented four songs. One of them, “Tamboerke” reached the hit parade and became Marah’s first hit. The follow up was “Die heerlijke wereld”, a Dutch version of the Spanish Eurovision entry of 1971.. She also participated in the famous song festival Knokke Cup and had several hits. In 1975 she tried once again her chances for the Eurovision Song Contest. In 1979, Marah was internally selected by the BRT to represent Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest. During the Belgian preselection on March 3, 1979 she sang three songs: “Mijn dagboek”, “Comment ça va” and “Hey nana”. The latter was chosen for Eurovision. Marah, however, disliked the song and threatened to withdraw. The situation almost escalated when she wanted to classify “Hey nana” as plagiarism with the intention of disqualifying it. Backing vocal Nancy Dee was approached to replace Micha. Eventually Micha Marah traveled to Israel. After the contest she never wanted to sing Hey nana again. Her version did not appear on record either. Composer Charles Dumolin did release his version.
In 1983 Micha released an LP with children’s songs. This turned out to be a success and more followed. She was also seen as a TV presenter. In the eighties and nineties she presented radio programs. In September 1993, on the occasion of her 40th birthday, she released a single with the appropriate title “Veertig jaar”.
Marah continued to release singles and albums until 2000, also in the English language. She was inspired by Irish folk songs and released an album with adaptations in 1998.