Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959 explained

Year:1959
Broadcaster:Dutch; Flemish: [[Nederlandse Televisie Stichting]]|i=no (NTS)
Country:Netherlands
Preselection:Dutch; Flemish: [[Nationaal Songfestival]] 1959|i=no
Preselection Date:17 February 1959
Entrant:Teddy Scholten
Song:Dutch; Flemish: [['n Beetje|Een beetje]]|i=no
Final Result:1st, 21 points

The Netherlands was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1959 with the song "Dutch; Flemish: [['n Beetje|Een beetje]]|i=no", composed by Dick Schallies, with lyrics by Willy van Hemert, and performed by Teddy Scholten. The Dutch participating Broadcaster, Dutch; Flemish: [[Nederlandse Televisie Stichting]]|i=no (NTS), selected its entry through a national final. The entry eventually won the Eurovision Song Contest, making the Netherlands the first country to achieve two victories in the contest.

At the Dutch national final, held on 17 February, song and performer were chosen independently of each other. The 1957 contest winner Corry Brokken failed in her bid to represent the Netherlands for a fourth consecutive year, while future Dutch representative Greetje Kauffeld was also among those taking part.

Before Eurovision

Dutch; Flemish: Nationaal Songfestival 1959|i=no

Dutch; Flemish: [[Nederlandse Televisie Stichting]]|i=no (NTS) held the national final at the AVRO Studios in Hilversum, hosted by Karin Kraaykamp. Eight songs and seven singers were involved, with all songs presented twice by different performers, once with a full orchestra and once in a more pared-down style.

The winning song was chosen by votes from regional juries, then an "expert" jury decided which of the two performers and versions of the winning song should go to Cannes. After "Dutch; Flemish: Een beetje|i=no" was announced the winner, the expert jury chose Scholten with the full orchestra version of the song. [1]

Song selection – 17 February 1959
DrawArtistSongPointsPlace
1Corry Brokken & Bruce Low"Mijn hart en ik"1103
2Greetje Kauffeld & John de Mol
3Greetje Kauffeld"Als ik denk aan geluk"387
4Dick Doorn
5Tonny van Hulst"Kleine zilv'ren ster"358
6Corry Brokken
7John de Mol"Op het plein"485
8Greetje Kauffeld
9Corry Brokken"Iedere dag met jou"436
10Bruce Low
11Dick Doorn"De regen"1482
12Teddy Scholten
13Bruce Low"Angelina"534
14Tonny van Hulst
15Teddy Scholten"Een beetje"2351
16John de Mol
Artist selection – 17 February 1959
ArtistResult
Teddy ScholtenSelected
John de MolEliminated

At Eurovision

On the evening of the final Scholten performed 5th in the running order, following and preceding . At the close of voting "Een beetje" had received 21 points, winning the contest by a 5-point margin over runners-up the . The Netherlands thus became the first country to win Eurovision twice.[2]

The Dutch conductor at the contest was Dolf van der Linden.

Rumours after the contest suggested that the jury had awarded a very high 7 points to "Een beetje" in order to reduce the chances of a French or British win, but these were never substantiated.

Voting

Every participating broadcaster assembled a jury panel of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Nationaal Archief . 30 May 2023. nationaalarchief.nl. 10648/a98df16a-d0b4-102d-bcf8-003048976d84 .
  2. http://www.esc-history.com/details.asp?key=40 ESC History - Netherlands 1959
  3. Web site: Results of the Final of Cannes 1959 . Eurovision Song Contest . 27 March 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210327212413/https://eurovision.tv/event/cannes-1959/final/results/the-netherlands . 27 March 2021 . live.