Jetty Paerl - De Vogels Van Holland (1956)

Jetty Paerl (27 May 1921 - 23 August 2013)

In 1956 she represented the Netherlands as the first performer in the first Eurovision Song Contest with the song "De Vogels Van Holland" (The Birds of Holland) written by Annie M.G. Schmidt and composed by Cor Lemaire and was also the first competitor to debut on the Eurovision Song Contest. At the time the contest was only broadcast via radio, and only the winning song was announced.

Paerl was a Dutch singer, who was most famous in the 1950s and 1960s. She was married to Dutch artist Cees Bantzinger. She was born in Amsterdam.

During the World War II, she lived in London, as the Netherlands was occupied by Nazi Germany. There she participated in the broadcasts of Radio Oranje, the Dutch government in exile, and was known as Jetje van Radio Oranje ("Jetty of Radio orange"). She appears in episode 18 of the 1970s BBC documentary The World at War.

My favourite song from the first Eurovision.

R.I.P. Jetty :(