Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963

Eurovision Song Contest 1963
Eurovision Song Contest 1963
Participating broadcaster	Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS)
Country	Netherlands
National selection
Selection process	Artist: Internal selection; Song: Nationaal Songfestival 1963
Selection date(s)	23 January 1963
Selected artist(s)	Annie Palmen
Selected song	"Een speeldoos"
Selected songwriter(s)	Pieter Goemans
Finals performance
Final result	13th, 0 points
Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest

The Netherlands was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 with the song "Een speeldoos", written by Pieter Goemans, and performed by Annie Palmen. The Dutch participating Broadcaster, Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS), selected its entry through a national final, after having previously selected the performer internally. Palmen had previously taken part in the 1960 national final.

The 1963 Dutch selection is notable for the fact that the Nationaal Songfestival could not be broadcast due to industrial action, also that the title and lyrics of the winning song were changed twice before the Eurovision final.

Before Eurovision

Nationaal Songfestival 1963

The national final was scheduled to take place at the Tivoli in Utrecht on 23 January. However, a dispute between Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS) and the members of its orchestra had led to the latter declaring strike action, so the broadcast of the final had to be abandoned. Instead, Palmen performed the three songs ("Kijk, daar is de zon", "Geen ander", and "Hoor je mij") for the jury alone and "Geen ander" was chosen as the winner.

Before the Eurovision final the lyrics and song title were changed, firstly to "Een droombeld", then again to "Een speeldoos".^[1]

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Palmen performed second in the running order, following the United Kingdom and preceding Germany. Voting was by each national jury awarding 5-4-3-2-1 points to their top five songs, and at the end of the evening "Een speeldoos" (along with the entries from Finland, Norway, and Sweden) had failed to pick up a single point, the third time the Netherlands had finished at the foot of the scoreboard. The Netherlands thus became the first country to score nul points twice, and in consecutive years. The Dutch jury awarded its 5 points to contest winners Denmark.^[2]

The Dutch entry was conducted at the contest by the musical director Eric Robinson.