Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960
Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960
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Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960

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Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960

The Netherlands was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 with the song "Wat een geluk", composed by Dick Schallies, with lyrics by Willy van Hemert, and performed by Rudi Carrell. The Dutch participating Broadcaster, Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS), selected its entry through a national final.

Although Teddy Scholten 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 United Kingdom had agreed to host the 1960 contest, which was staged by the BBC at London's Royal Festival Hall.

Song and singer were chosen independently of each other at the Dutch national final, held on 9 February at 21:00 CET (UTC 20:00). Other participants included future Dutch representatives Greetje Kauffeld (1961) and Annie Palmen (1963).

Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (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.

The national final took place at the AVRO Studios in Hilversum. It was produced by Piet de Nuyl Jr., directed by Leen Timp [nl] and hosted by Hannie Lips. 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 under the direction of Dolf van der Linden, 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.

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, Boxtel, Coevorden, Drachten, Emmeloord, Rotterdam, Groningen, Gulpen, Yerseke, Nijmegen, Zaandam, and Zeist. Then an "expert" jury decided which of the two performers of the winning song should go to London. This expert jury consisted of René van Vooren [nl] (jury president), Gijs Stappershoef [nl], Jo Calff, Conny Stuart, and Andrea Domburg.

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