About me

It was Saturday, March 22, 1975 when my parents and I went to visit my sister Gré and my brother-in-law Hans in Den Helder. In the 1970s, this street was still located in a prominent neighborhood, which deteriorated into a slum a few decades later and has now been demolished and rebuilt into the new ‘Duindal’ district. It was a gray Saturday with a few strong gusts of wind every now and then when my parents and I went to visit the other side of Den Helder by bike. I don’t remember much about that night, I was just an eight year old boy.

What I do remember is that the television was on in the background. The broadcast was, as I later understood, the Eurovision Song Contest. My memory tells me that the voting was quiet exciting. The first time I witnessed this phenomenon we won the contest. The pop group from Enschede, Teach-In won with Ding-a-Dong, and I assumed at that time that the Netherlands would always win this competition.
Boy, was I wrong!

I can’t say that on this evening in 1975, I was immediately struck with the Eurovision virus, but it did catch my attention the following year. This was broadcast on Saturday April 3, 1976. I was staying with a relative that day and England was my favorite. The pop group Broterhood of Man already scored a tentative hit in the Netherlands with Save Your Kisses for Me. At the end of the broadcast, I personally preferred France’s entry; Catherine Ferry with Un, Deux, Trois. This is how I continued to follow the Eurovision Song Contest in the years that followed. I still have some vinyl singles from that time.

As I grew up in the years that followed, my love for the song festival cooled down a bit, but whenever it was broadcast I’d sit in front of the television with a notepad on my lap to write down my points and personal comments. I don’t consider myself an avid fanatic who can immediately tell you who finished twelfth in 1987 (this was Sweden, by the way. I just looked it up).

Over the last fifteen years I have been following the Eurovision Song Festival more enthusiastically. The television program from years ago is not the same as the broadcasts of recent times. But for me the excitement remains!

On this blog I will try to log all kinds of news, concerning the Eurovision Song Contest and some ‘Eurovision articles’ of what I think is noteworthy. Sometimes I will spread my opinion in some blogs. If you don’t agree, that’s okay. It’s just my opinion, not the truth.
Have fun!