Thor Salden

Thor Salden (born 28 November 1997,[2] stage name: Thor!) from Schoten was the winning contestant in the Belgian pre-selections of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006 and he represented Belgium in the international final on 2 December 2006 in Bucharest, Romania where he reached seventh place in a field of fifteen. At the time of the preselections he was the youngest contestant at eight years old.[3] He won both the first semi-final on 17 September 2006 and the final on 1 October 2006. In the opening show he performed together with Attic and Clouseau.[4]

Thor!
Birth name	Thor Salden
Also known as	Thor!
Born	28 November 1997 Antwerp
Origin	Schoten, Belgium
Genres	Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Polydor, EMI[1]

His winning song "Een Tocht Door Het Donker" ("A Journey Through The Dark"), produced by Peter Gillis[5] about a walk in the woods with his grandfather, was released as a single on 13 October 2006 and entered several national music charts. Initially the song reached No. 1 in the Ultratop 50, No. 2 in Belgium's national download music chart and No. 8 in the Radio 2 Top 30. After 16 weeks in the Ultratop 50, Thor received a golden record on 30 January 2007 as a result of over 15,000 single sales and legal downloads of the song, making him the youngest Belgian artist to receive this award.[6][7]

One of Thor's dreams is to sing a duet with X!NK who won the Belgian preselections in 2003.[1]

Events in Schoten

On 25 October 2006 Thor and three other young people were invited to Schoten city hall where they signed "the golden book" and received an official deed for their accomplishments. The occasion was celebrated with a song to the tune of Thor's winning Junior Eurovision entry.[8] Schoten city council also announced their plans surrounding the international Junior Eurovision final.[9]

On 2 December 2006 the announced plans were put into action. For the occasion, residents of his home town could watch the international final of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest on big video screens in the market square and in the 'Forum' hall thanks to support from the VRT. Local inns worked together to provide things like soup, lemonade and glühwein for the occasion while the city council provided fire baskets and oversight. Children could make a "journey through the dark" from Thor's school to the market square.[10]

After the contest

On 22 December 2006 Thor auctioned off the T-shirt with the Superman logo he wore during the Junior Eurovision Song Contest for the Studio Brussel charity Music for life.[11]

References

1. "Thor!". The Boy Choir & Soloist Directory. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
2. Thor's birthday blog message on the Belgian Junior Eurovision website (in Dutch) Archived 5 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
3. "k ga niet verwaand worden". Het Nieuwsblad. 3 October 2006. (subscription required) (in Dutch)
4. "Show details" (in Dutch). Belgian Junior Eurovision. Archived from the original on 15 November 2006.
5. "Peter Gillis profile" (in Dutch). Belgian Junior Eurovision. Archived from the original on 6 February 2007.
6. "Thor! krijgt gouden award voor 'Een tocht door het donker'". Gazet van Antwerpen (in Dutch). 31 January 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
7. "Gouden award voor Thor!". TV-Visie.nl (in Dutch). 31 January 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
8. Auman, Jan (26 October 2006). "Ti ti ti ti Schoten is fier!". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 15 May 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
9. "Thor plechtig ontvangen op gemeentehuis Schoten" (in Dutch). Radio 2. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
10. "Call for support". (in Dutch)
11. "Music for Life: nog meer hulp" (in Dutch). RadioVisie. 21 December 2006. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2010. (Dutch)

External links

• "Rode loper, reuzenscherm en loflied voor Eurosong-winnaar Thor Salden" (in Dutch). 28 May 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2009. (Dutch)