Carmela Corren(1938-2022)

Carmela Corren was born Carmela Bizman in Tel Aviv, Israel. Her ambition was to become a dancer, but an injury prompted her to opt for a career as a popular singer instead. After completing her mandatory military service in the Israeli Defense Forces, Carmela made her public debut on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) in New York in 1956. In 1961, she accompanied Cliff Richard on a tour of South Africa. Two years later, she was chosen by the broadcast network ORF to represent Austria in the 1963 Eurovision contest where her rendition of "Vielleicht geschieht ein Wunder" gained her a seventh placed finish. Until the late 70s, Carmela released several albums of ballads and chansons in German, English, French, Spanish and Greek under the Ariola, Vogue and Decca labels.

Carmela appeared in several films during the 1960s, including the spy thriller Voyage to Danger (1962) and the mountaineering drama Sein bester Freund (1962), starring opposite the legendary alpine ski racing champion Toni Sailer. She also acted in a few musicals and crooned popular songs in English clubs, and, with greater success, in Austrian and German TV variety specials. Between 1966 and 1970, she was married to the German music producer Horst Geiger with whom she had two children. In 1973, she resettled in Florida, having abandoned show business to raise her family.