Stella Maessen (born 6 August 1953 in

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterda ...

, North Holland) is a Dutch singer, best known for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contests of 1970, 1977 and 1982.

Hearts of Soul

In 1969 Maessen and her older sisters Patricia and Bianca formed a group, calling themselves

Hearts of Soul The Hearts of Soul, also known as Dream Express and LBS, were a Dutch-Belgian musical group that originally consisted of the Indonesian-born Dutch sisters Bianca (born 30 June 1950), Patricia (12 May 1952 – 15 May 1996) and Stella Maessen (b ...

. Following several single releases, and a No. 11 chart hit with "Fat Jack", they took part in the 1970 Dutch Eurovision selection, where their song "

Waterman Waterman may refer to: * Waterman (occupation), a river worker who transferred passengers across and along the city centre rivers in Britain * The Chesapeake Bay term for commercial fishermen, particularly those who seek oysters and the blue crab ...

" ("Aquarius") earned a narrow victory, qualifying them for the 15th Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 21 March on home ground in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. Technically, groups of more than two singers were still barred from Eurovision at that time, so to get around this they billed themselves as 'Patricia and the Hearts of Soul', implying that Stella and Bianca were backing singers to Patricia's lead. In a small field of 12, "Waterman" placed seventh.

Dream Express

In 1973, the Maessens moved to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, where they became in-demand backing vocalists. Bianca had married a Belgian singer, Luc Smets, and the four decided to form a group called Dream Express, enjoying immediate success with a single, also called "Dream Express", which reached No. 2 on the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium ...

chart in 1976. In 1977, Dream Express entered, and won, the Belgian Eurovision selection with the song "

A Million in One, Two, Three Belgium was represented by Dream Express, with the song "A Million in One, Two, Three", at the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in London on 7 May. Before Eurovision Eurosong The selection consisted of three semi-finals, followe ...

". Sung in English, it was a very contemporary track which was widely regarded as one of the favourites for that year's

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pri ...

, held in London on 7 May. Its seventh-place finish of 17 entrants was therefore considered something of a disappointment. Patricia left Dream Express soon afterwards, and the others carried on as LBS before disbanding in 1981.

Solo

In 1981, now billed simply as Stella, Maessen participated in the Belgian selection as a solo artist with the song "Veel te veel" ("Much Too Many"), which reached the final but failed to win. She returned in 1982 with the French language song " Si tu aimes ma musique" ("If You Like My Music"), which was successful and went on to the 27th

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa wate ...

, England on 24 April. Although that year's contest proved to be a one-horse race (with a runaway

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

victory), Maessen managed a creditable fourth place of 18 entries, also achieving the rare distinction of receiving points from every other participating country.ESC History – 1982
/ref> Maessen continued performing and recording until 1988, when her last single, "Flashlight", was released. In November 2010 Stella released a new single with her two sisters Bianca and Doreen Maessen as Hearts of Soul: "Suddenly You".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maessen, Stella 1953 births Living people People from Zandvoort Dutch women singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the Netherlands Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Belgium Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1970 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1977 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1982 Indo people Dutch people of Indonesian descent