Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959
Encyclopedia
The Netherlands was represented by Teddy Scholten
Teddy Scholten
Dorothea Margaretha "Teddy" Scholten was a Dutch singer from Rijswijk, close to The Hague, Netherlands....

, with the song '"Een beetje
Een Beetje
"Een beetje" , sometimes spelled " 'n Beetje ", was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1959. Performed in Dutch by Teddy Scholten, the song was the second victory for the Netherlands in the first four years of the contest's history.The song is more up-tempo than the previous winners...

", at the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 11 March in Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. Song and singer were chosen independently of each other at the Dutch national final, held on 17 February. Scholten went on to win the 1959 contest for the Netherlands, the first time a country had scored two Eurovision victories. The 1957 contest winner Corry Brokken
Corry Brokken
Corry Brokken is a former Dutch singer.Brokken won the 1957 Eurovision Song Contest, representing the Netherlands singing "Net als toen"...

 failed in her bid to represent the Netherlands for a fourth consecutive year, while future Dutch representative Greetje Kauffeld
Greetje Kauffeld
Greetje Kauffeld is a Dutch jazz singer and Schlager musician who represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961. She led her own trio starting in 1986 and has lived in Germany for years.-External links:...

 was also among those taking part.

Final

The national final took place at the AVRO TV studios in Hilversum
Hilversum
is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Located in the region called "'t Gooi", it is the largest town in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller villages...

, 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 "Een beetje" was announced the winner, the expert jury chose Scholten with the full orchestra version of the song.
style="font-size: bigger;" | 17 February 1959
Draw Song Performer 1 Performer 2 Points Place
1 "Mijn hart en ik" Corry Brokken & Bruce Low Greetje Kauffeld & John de Mol 103 3
2 "Als ik denk aan geluk" Greetje Kauffeld Dick Doorn 27 7=
3 "Kleine zilv'ren ster" Tonny van Hulst Corry Brokken 27 7=
4 "Op het plein" John de Mol Greetje Kauffeld 28 6
5 "Iedere dag met jou" Corry Brokken Bruce Low 90 4
6 "De regen" Dick Doorn Teddy Scholten 154 2
7 "Angelina" Bruce Low Tonny van Hulst 53 5
8 "Een beetje" Teddy Scholten John de Mol 235 1

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Scholten performed 5th in the running order, following Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...

 and preceding Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. At the close of voting "Een beetje" had received 21 points, winning the contest by a 5-point margin over runners-up the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The Netherlands thus became the first country to win Eurovision twice.

Rumours after the contest suggested that the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

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.
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