Belgium's Got Talent Trivia Quiz

Answer: Adolph Sax

Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (1814-1894) was born in Dinant, Belgium. His parents were instrument designers and Adolphe learnt to play several instruments. His own first invention was an improvement of the bass clarinet. He moved to Paris at the age of 24 and exhibited several new designs in 1841.
His developments of valved bugles proved more successful than those of rivals and became known as saxhorns. A few years later, he developed what was to become his most famous instrument, the saxophone. Although he patented his inventions, these were challenged in the courts and Sax was twice bankrupted. He died penniless.
Nowadays there are eight sizes of saxophones, with soprano, alto, tenor, and bass most commonly used (That little yellow cartoon girl, Lisa Simpson, plays a baritone sax.) Saxophones are classed as woodwind instruments, because they use a reed to direct air.

Answer: Jacques Brel

Jacques Brel (1929-1979) sang in French and his songs were well known in his native Belgium and translated into other languages. "If You Go Away" is an English translation of one of his best known songs, "Ne me quitte pas" ("Don't Leave Me"). Meanwhile, Canadian Terry Jacks recorded "Seasons In The Sun" and it became a worldwide chart topper in 1974.

The American Rod McKuen also translated Brel songs, and the Chicago-born folkie Tom Paxton has named him as an early influence.

Answer: Jean-Claude van Damme

Born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg, on October 18 1960, Van Damme turned a martial arts background into a successful Hollywood career.
His tinsel town debut came in "Woman Between Wolf and Dog" (1976). Among the top-grossing action movies he was involved in were "Double Impact" (1991); "Universal Soldier" (1992); and "Last Action Hero" (1993). He was also a writer, producer and director. Among the awards he won was a Golden Raspberry for "Double Team", winning that jointly with co-star Dennis Rodman in 1998.

Answer: Georges Remi

Georges Remi, also known as Herge (1907-1983) was born in Etterbeek, Belgium.
He started drawing as a youngster and his first published works came with "The Adventures of Totor" in the monthly publication Le Boy-Scout Belge (1926-1930).
In January 1929 came the publication of "The Adventures of Tin Tin". The adventures of that clever boy and his canine friend, Snowy, were to delight books lovers everywhere for generations and were turned into TV and movie shows.

Answer: Georges Simenon

Georges Simenon (1903-1989) wrote more than 200 novels under his own name and more under pseudonyms. However he was most famous for his books featuring Inspector Maigret. Maigret first appeared in "The Strange Case of Peter the Lett" (1931) and was to feature in 75 novels in all. Many of the Maigret cases were adapted for TV, radio and movies.

Answer: Peter Paul Rubens

Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) is now regarded as one of the greatest European painters of all. He was a master painter by the age of 21, bringing together the realistic tradition of Flemish painting with the freedom and themes of Italian Renaissance painting. Among his most famous paintings were "Samson and Delilah", "The Descent from the Cross", and "A View of Het Steen in the Early Morning".

Answer: Eddy Merckx

Eddy Merckx was born on June 17, 1945 in Meensel-Kiezegem. He was known as "The Cannibal" for his strength and consistency. Many observers felt he had no weaknesses in his cycling and he was particularly noted for his time trial and mountain climbing superiority.

He was the first cyclist to win all of the major scoring classifications in the Giro d'Italia (in 1968) and in the Tour de France (1969).

Answer: Plastic Bertrand

Roger Jouret was born on February 24, 1958 in Brussels and had a massive hit in 1977 with "Ca Plane Pour Moi". He started off in the music business as a drummer and formed a punk band called 'Hubble Bubble'.In 1977, he reinvented himself as Plastic Bertrand and had worldwide success with "Ca Plane Pour Moi". It entered the Billboard Charts in the USA, only the second French-language song to do so, and reached number 35.

He embarked on a sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll lifestyle. In Cannes he set fire to hotel room curtains and in New York he smashed up everything in his room with an axe and threw the debris out of the window. In 2010, a legal dispute revealed that Plastic had not actually sung on any of the songs on his first four albums. He continued to sing throughout the 80s, including a spell in an ABBA tribute show, and represented Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest. He came second from last.

Answer: Kim Clijsters

Kim Clijsters was born June 8 1983 in Bilzen, Limburg. During an illustrious career, she won 34 World Tennis Association singles titles and 11 WTA doubles titles. Clijsters won the US Open singles title in 2005. In doubles, she won the French Open and Wimbledon titles, both in 2003. Following her retirement from world tour tennis, she took part in a number of exhibition games as well as playing in in Women's Legends Doubles events.

Answer: Audrey Hepburn

Edda van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston (1929-1993) attended private schools in England and Holland, but was to experience the oppression that the Nazis meted out to Holland during WW2. After a career as a model, she moved to the USA where she started acting in 1951. Among her movies were "War and Peace" (1956);"The Unforgiven" (1960); "Charade" (1963); and "My Fair Lady" (1964).

In 1953 she won a Best Actress Academy Award for "Roman Holiday". She was nominated a further four times. In 1988 she was appointed a special ambassador to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).