the most important centers of country music in the United States. In 1953 he played there three times with Roy Acuff (1903–1992). There was one performance with the country singer Red Foley (1910–1968) in Springfield, Missouri. The American country singer, Tex Williams, a Western swing performer, would later release a cover of Schoepen's "Fire and Blisters" in the US (1974). 1954 tours In 1954 there followed a three-month European tour through Germany, Iceland, and Denmark, which concluded with a few months of performances in the Folies Bergère in Brussels. Syd Fox was Schoepen's manager in Iceland and Denmark. When Jacques Brel performed the opening act in the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels in January 1955, Schoepen already had the status of an international vedette in his own country. He was chosen as the best Flemish singer by the broadcasting company NIR (former VRT), for which he received the "Grand Prize for Flemish Gramophone Recording." That autumn he toured with his show for a month through Germany then a month through the Congo. 1957 tours In 1957 he again went to New York, where he was asked to make a guest-appearance on the famous Ed Sullivan Show. He recorded albums at RCA Records with the producer Steve Sholes. Sholes offered him a contract to promote his record, by visiting radio stations in the US for three months, under the name "Bobby John". This tour was intended to promote his recent releases, and in the meantime he was to produce new songs. But Schoepen, who had already been on tour almost constantly for ten years, and had contractual obligations in Europe, was increasingly looking for a place to settle down (this would become Bobbejaanland). He decided no longer to pursue his success in the US. That same month he became the last-minute Belgian representative at the second Eurovision Song Contest 1957. He was rushed by his manager Jacques Kluger from the US to Germany in order to take part in the event. This performance was memorable for having featured a whistling solo. Schoepen is also rumoured not to have known which song he was to perform at the Contest until he arrived, only rehearsing his entry a few days before performance. The song that was finally chosen was the lightly poetic "Straatdeuntje" ('Street Tune'). Belgium tied for eighth place with the Swiss. 1958 tours A year later in 1958, Kluger secured Schoepen a