| RE-UNION: PAUL DE CORTE & FABRIZIO PENNISI
The band 'Re-union' consists of Paul de Corte and Fabrizio Pennisi. Music is a thread in both of these singers' lives. Paul de Corte and Fabrizio Pennisi met at the beginning of 2001 when they both sang in the Dutch boy band 'All of Us'. Both Paul de Corte and Fabrizio Pennisi had by then already acquired a great deal of experience in music.
Paul de Corte (28 February 1979) started singing when he was as young as twelve, in a local youth choir. After a few years, he made the switch to a pop choir. He also started taking singing lessons, to enhance his musical education. In 1999, Paul started his own pop choir, 'You name it', and also sang in the cover band 'Expose Yourself'. Paul's busy singing career did however take its toll. His voice started giving him problems, and in 2000 he could barely sing at all for an entire year. Fortunately, Paul's voice fully recovered so that he could resume his singing career.
Fabrizio Pennisi (29 September 1979), born in Sicily, Italy, grew up in a very musical environment. His father, a singer and guitar player, gave Fabrizio a guitar when he was only four years old and taught him his first chords. His love for music was born then and there and very soon Fabrizio was travelling with his father and performing in restaurants, clubs, and, according to Sicilian tradition, at weddings and parties. At 14, Fabrizio and his whole family moved to Belgium. He and his father and brother (who also played the guitar) spent every spare moment they had making music. They were soon performing again in restaurants and various venues in Belgium and The Netherlands. Everywhere they came, they would manage to move people with their beautiful voices and mostly Italian repertoire.
In 1998, the Dutch boy band 'All of Us' was formed and Fabrizio Pennisi became one of the five lead singers. The band's first big performance was at the National Song Contest 1999 with the song 'Maybe Love'. Despite a disappointing result, a record deal and many concerts in The Netherlands followed, and in 2000 they scored their first number-one hit: 'Brand New Start'. When the structure of the band changed in 2001, Paul de Corte came to join the ranks. 'All of Us' performed in The Netherlands and abroad until the band split up in October 2002.
Paul de Corte and Fabrizio Pennisi, now good friends, each went their own musical way. In addition to his solo career, Paul sang in various bands and was a backing vocalist for many artists. He also studied the piano to further develop his musical skills. Paul took part in another National Song Contest when he was asked to do the backing vocals for the group 'The Beanuts' in the preliminary round of the National Song Contest 2003.
Fabrizio continued to play the guitar and was performing with his father again. In order to make a living he opened a local pub, where, besides pulling beers, he entertained the punters with his music.
At the end of 2003, Paul de Corte and Fabrizio Pennisi were approached by composer Ed van Otterdijk and songwriter Angeline van Otterdijk and asked to take part in the National Song Contest 2004. Both singers immediately responded enthusiastically to this renewed musical collaboration. When they recorded the demo of 'Without You', a new musical duo with the fitting name 'Re-union', was born. In February of this year, Re-union won the National Song Contest 2004 with the song 'Without You'. |
