Cornelia Maria "Corry" Brokken (3 December 1932 – 31 May 2016) was a Dutch singer, television presenter and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Un ...

. In 1957, she won the second edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song " Net als toen", representing the Netherlands. Throughout her career, she scored a number of hits, sang in the popular ''Sleeswijk Revue'' with Snip en Snap, and had her own

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

. She was also the presenter of the

Eurovision Song Contest 1976 The Eurovision Song Contest 1976 was the 21st edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in The Hague, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the with the song " Ding-a-dong" by Teach-In. Organised by the European Br ...

, which was held in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

, Netherlands, following the victory of Teach-In the year before. She ended her career as a singer in 1973 to study law, after which she became a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

and ultimately a judge.

Biography

Eurovision Song Contest

In 1956, Brokken won the '' Nationaal Songfestival 1956'' with the song "

Voorgoed voorbij The Netherlands held a national final to select the two entrants that Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS), the Dutch broadcaster, would send to the inaugural Eurovision Song Contest in Lugano, Switzerland. The final was held on 24 April 1956. ...

", which gave her the right to represent the Netherlands in the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest alongside runner-up Jetty Paerl. In 1957, she won the ''

Nationaal Songfestival (; ) was an annual music competition, which was originally organised by the Dutch public broadcaster (NTS), and later by the (NOS) and (TROS). It was staged almost every year between 1956 and 2012 to determine the country's entry for the E ...

'' for the second time in a row, and represented the Netherlands again in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957. Her entry " Net als toen", written by Willy van Hemert and composed by Guus Jansen, received most points from the international juries and gave the Netherlands its first win in the competition. In 1958, Brokken won the ''Nationaal Songfestival'' once again, this time with the song "

Heel de wereld The Netherlands was represented by Corry Brokken, with the song '" Heel de wereld", at the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 12 March in Hilversum. "Heel de wereld" was chosen at the Dutch national final on 11 February. Brokken ha ...

". In the international final, held in

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hil ...

, Netherlands, her entry finished in last place with only one point. In the book ''The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History'',

John Kennedy O'Connor John Kennedy O'Connor (born 1964) is a television and radio broadcaster, author and entertainment commentator. He was born in North London, but is a naturalized citizen of the United States. He has written, reported and broadcast for numerous m ...

notes that Corry is the only singer ever to have finished both first and last in the contest.

After Eurovision

Brokken was one of the most popular female singers in the Netherlands during the 1950s and 1960s, performing in the ''Sleeswijk Revue'' alongside Snip en Snap and scoring hits, some of which were translated chansons by

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( , ; born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, hy, Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան, ; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his dist ...

. In 1976, Brokken served as the presenter of the Eurovision Song Contest, and in 1997, she announced the results of the Dutch vote for that year's contest. By that time she was no longer active as a singer. She had ended her musical career in 1973 to study law, after which she became a

. She was later installed as a judge in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

. In the 1990s she returned to the entertainment industry, performing on stage and recording a new album. She also wrote a

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

for the weekly women's magazine '' Margriet''. Brokken died on 30 May 2016 at the age of 83.

Personal

Brokken was married three times and has a daughter, Nancy Sleeswijk.

Discography

Singles

" (1956) *" Net als toen" (1957) *"

" (1958)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brokken, Corry 1932 births 2016 deaths Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the Netherlands Dutch women singers 20th-century Dutch judges Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1956 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1957 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1958 Eurovision Song Contest winners People from Breda Philips Records artists Nationaal Songfestival contestants