| "De vogels van Holland" | |
|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 1956 entry | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Artist(s) | Jetty Paerl |
| Language | Dutch |
| Composer(s) | Cor Lemaire |
| Lyricist(s) | Annie M. G. Schmidt |
| Conductor | Fernando Paggi |
| Finals performance | |
| Final result | 14th |
| Final points | - |
| Appearance chronology | |
| ◄ Voorgoed voorbij (1956) | |
| Net als toen (1957) ► | |
"De vogels van Holland" ("The birds of Holland") was the first Dutch entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1956 - the only edition of the contest at which two entries per country were allowed - performed in Dutch by Jetty Paerl. The song is particularly significant for being the first song performed in Eurovision Song Contest history.
Composed in the chanson style characteristic of the contest's early years, the song is about the titular "birds of Holland". Paerl sings that they are especially musical, learning to "twitter in their early youth / So they can celebrate spring in Holland". She goes on to explain that it is the unique nature of the Dutch climate and the faithfulness of Dutch girls that cause the birds of the country to sing. It appears, indeed, that Holland's birds actually sing lyrics, as they are contrasted with "the French birds", "the Japanese birds" and "the Chinese birds", all of which sing "tudeludelu" (a sound roughly approximating birdsong).
According to Des Mangan[1] this song set the tone for the Eurovision tradition of nonsensical lyrics, although he admits that there are other contenders for such a claim as well.
The song was performed first on the night, preceding Switzerland's Lys Assia with "Das alte Karussell". Because no scoreboard was shown or has ever been published, it is impossible to make any statement about the song's score or placing, except that it did not win. Furthermore, there are no surviving studio recordings of Paerl performing the song, a fate which befell most entries at this contest.
The song was accompanied at the 1956 contest by Corry Brokken with "Voorgoed voorbij" and was succeeded as Dutch representative at the 1957 contest by Brokken with "Net als toen".
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