The Netherlands was represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1960 The Eurovision Song Contest 1960 was the fifth edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on Tuesday 29 March 1960 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, United Kingdom, and hosted by British television presenter and actress Catherine Boyle. ...

with the song "", composed by Dick Schallies, with lyrics by

Willy van Hemert Willem Catharinus (Willy) van Hemert (29 March 1912 – 26 June 1993) was a Dutch actor and theatre and television director, but is best known as a songwriter who penned two winning Dutch songs for the Eurovision Song Contest. Biography Van Hem ...

, and performed by

Rudi Carrell Rudi Carrell (born Rudolf Wijbrand Kesselaar; 19 December 1934 – 7 July 2006) was a Dutch entertainer. Along with famous entertainers such as Johannes Heesters and Linda de Mol, he was one of the most successful Dutch personalities active ...

. The Dutch participating Broadcaster, (NTS), selected its entry through a national final. Although

Teddy Scholten Dorothea Margaretha "Teddy" Scholten (; 11 May 1926 – 8 April 2010) was a Dutch singer and television presenter. She is known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 1959 with the song " Een beetje", representing the Netherlands. Career In ...

had won the previous contest for the Netherlands, NTS declined to host the contest for a second time in two years, so 1959 runners-up the had agreed to host the 1960 contest, which was staged by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

at London's

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

. Song and singer were chosen independently of each other at the Dutch national final, held on 9 February at 21:00

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...

(

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

20:00). Other participants included future Dutch representatives

Greetje Kauffeld Greetje Kauffeld (born 26 November 1939) is a Dutch jazz singer and Schlager musician. Biography Greetje Kauffeld was born in Rotterdam. As a child she sang hits by popular American singers and participated in school choir. When she was thirtee ...

(

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

) and

Annie Palmen Annie Palmen (born Anna Maria Palmen; 19 August 1926 – 15 January 2000) was a Dutch singer, best known for her participation in the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest. Early career Palmen was born in IJmuiden. She started her career singing with ...

(

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

Before Eurovision

(NTS) received 340 submissions for the national final, more than in previous years. Eight of them were chosen for the national final. The national final was also broadcast in Curaçao on RNW, just a few days after it was held.

1960

The national final took place at the

AVRO Studios AVRO Studios is a building complex and national heritage site in Hilversum, where the radio and TV studios and the head office of the Dutch public broadcasting system, Dutch public broadcasting association AVRO (Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep or ...

Hilversum Hilversum () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is ...

. It was produced by Piet de Nuyl Jr., directed by and hosted by

Hannie Lips Hannie Lips (16 July 1924 – 19 November 2012) was a Dutch broadcaster and television announcer of among others Dutch public broadcasting association KRO. She is best known to international audiences for presenting the Third Eurovision Song C ...

. Eight songs were involved, with all songs presented twice by different performers. In the first round, half of the songs, "Carrousel", "Niet voor mij", "Regenkapje", and "Vanavond" were performed with a full orchestra, the

Metropole Orkest The Metropole Orkest () is a jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world. A hybrid orchestra, it combines jazz, big band and classical symphony orchestra styles. Comprising bet ...

under the direction of

Dolf van der Linden David Gijsbert van der Linden (22 June 1915 – 30 January 1999), known as Dolf van der Linden, was a Dutch Conductor (music), conductor of popular music with a reputation which extended beyond the borders of the Netherlands. Biography David Gij ...

, while the other fours songs, "Addio", "In mijn hart", "Wat een geluk" and "Ik leef" were presented in a more pared-down style, with an ensemble led by Eddy de Jong. In the second round, in a different running order, all songs previously presented with the orchestra were now presented with the ensemble, and vice-versa. The format was basically the same as that used in 1959, apart from the fact that this year each singer performed only once so there were 16 participants in total. As an interval act between round 1 and 2, the Metropole Orkest played "When Johnny comes marching home", and after round 2 "Jungle Drums" composed by

Ernesto Lecuona Ernesto Lecuona y Casado (; August 7, 1895 – November 29, 1963) was a Cuban composer and pianist, many of whose works have become standards of the Latin, jazz and classical repertoires. His over 600 compositions include songs and zarzuelas as ...

. The winning song was chosen by votes from twelve regional juries, each of them consisting of ten television viewers. The regional juries were located in

Boekelo Boekelo () is a village in the municipality of Enschede in the eastern Netherlands, the population is estimated at approximately 2,500. It is located just west of Usselo. The village is known for the Military Boekelo Enschede, an international ...

Boxtel Boxtel () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. The name derives from Buchestelle and is presumably a combination of 'stelle' (Dutch for stable, safe place) and (deer) deer, buck.2019. Etymolog ...

Coevorden Coevorden (; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Drenthe, in the east of Netherlands, the Netherlands. During the ...

Drachten Drachten (, ) is a town in the northern Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Smallingerland, Friesland. It had a population of around 56.098 in 2023 and is the Friesland#Urban areas, second largest town in the province of Friesland. ...

Emmeloord Emmeloord is the administrative centre of the municipality of Noordoostpolder, Flevoland, Netherlands. In 2019, it had a population of 26,055. Overview At the heart of the Noordoostpolder, where the three main drainage canals Lemstervaart, Urk ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

Gulpen Gulpen (; ) is a village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. It is approximately midway between the Dutch city of Maastricht and the German city of Aachen. Gulpen was a separate municipality until 1999, when it ...

Yerseke Yerseke (, ) is a village situated on the southern shore of the Oosterschelde (Eastern Scheldt) estuary in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Zeeland. A separate municipality until 1970, it today forms part of the municipality of Reimerswaal (munic ...

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad and received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan ...

, and

Zeist Zeist () is the Capital city, capital and largest town of the Zeist (municipality), municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht (province), Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of " ...

. Then an "expert" jury decided which of the two performers of the winning song should go to London. This expert jury consisted of (jury president), , Jo Calff,

Conny Stuart Conny Stuart (5 September 1913 – 22 August 2010), pseudonym of Cornelia van Meijgaard, was a Dutch actress, singer, and '' cabaretière''. Biography Stuart was born in Wijhe and grew up in The Hague, near the Peace Palace. Her father was the ...

, and

Andrea Domburg Andrea Domburg (21 April 1923 – 23 July 1997) was a Dutch film, stage and television actress. She was awarded the Theo d'Or in 1968 for her stage work. Her screen appearances were mostly in Dutch film and television, although she appeared in t ...

. After "Wat een geluk", written by

and , was announced as the winning song, the expert jury unanimously chose Carrell over Palmen as the singer.

At Eurovision

On the night of the final

performed 10th in the running order, following and preceding . At the close of voting "" had received 2 points, placing the Netherlands 12th of the 13 entries, ahead only of . The Dutch jury awarded its highest mark (5) to the United Kingdom. The Dutch conductor at the contest was

's bad result marked the start of a very poor Eurovision decade for the Netherlands, in which the country never placed higher than 10th again until

Lenny Kuhr Helena Hubertina Johanna "Lenny" Kuhr (born 22 February 1950) is a Dutch singer-songwriter. Career In 1967, she started a singing career in the Netherlands, performing songs in the French chanson tradition. In 1969, she represented the Neth ...

's shared victory in the 1969 contest.

Voting

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Netherlands In The Eurovision Song Contest 1960

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...