The Netherlands was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1965 with the song "", composed by Johnny Holshuyzen, with lyrics by Karel Prior, and performed by Conny Vandenbos. The Dutch participating Broadcaster, (NTS), selected its entry through a national final.
Five acts participated in the Dutch preselection, which consisted of five qualifying rounds, followed by the final on 13 February. All the shows were held at the Theater Concordia in Bussum, hosted by the 1959 Eurovision winner Teddy Scholten. Vandenbos had previously taken part in the Dutch preselection of 1962. Future Dutch representative Ronnie Tober (1968) was one of the other participants.
Before Eurovision
1965 Heats Five qualifying heats took place on consecutive evenings between 8 and 12 February. Each involved one of the selected acts performing three songs, with the jury winner from each act going forward to the final. The 31-member jury contained a mixture of journalists, employees of the organizing broadcaster, NTS, and randomly chosen audience members. The same format was used again in the Dutch preselections of and . The NTS jury consisted of , Pim Jacobs, , , , Ton Kool, , , Bep Ogterop, Tonny Schiferstein, and .
+ Heat 18 February 1965 Song Songwriters rowspan="2" scope="col" rowspan="2" scope="col" rowspan="2" scope="col" Total PlaceComposerLyricist 1 "Stad" Gerrit den Braber 4 2 6 12 2 2 "Ploem ploem jenka" Pieter Goemans 4 7 5 16 1 3 "Kijk maar niet om" Gerrit den Braber 2 1 0 3 3
The detailed results of Ronnie Tober's semifinal are currently unknown. + Heat 2Ronnie Tober9 February 1965 Song Songwriters Total PlaceComposerLyricist 1 "Geweldig" Pieter Goemans 16 1 2 "Kip in het water"Hans Peters 4 3 3 "Een lied wordt oud" 11 2
+ Heat 3Conny Vandenbos10 February 1965 Song Songwriters rowspan="2" scope="col" rowspan="2" scope="col" rowspan="2" scope="col" Total PlaceComposerLyricist 1 "Laat me alleen" Bert Paige 6 2 1 9 2 2 "t Is genoeg" Joke van Soest 4 6 3 13 1 3 "Van de week" Bert Paige Willy van Hemert 0 2 7 9 2
+ Heat 411 February 1965 Song Songwriters rowspan="2" scope="col" rowspan="2" scope="col" rowspan="2" scope="col" Total PlaceComposerLyricist 1 "Jij bent het lichtpunt in mijn leven" Gerrit den Braber 2 6 8 11 2 2 "Alleen" Ger Rensen 1 1 2 4 3 3 "Waar de wind de zomer vindt" P. Dertien 7 3 1 16 1
+ Heat 5Shirley12 February 1965 Song Songwriters rowspan="2" scope="col" rowspan="2" scope="col" rowspan="2" scope="col" Total PlaceComposerLyricist 1 "Blijf bij mij" Shirley 3 6 9 18 1 2 "Als een vlinder" Gerrit den Braber 5 3 2 10 2 3 "Requiem voor een clown" Pieter Goemans 2 1 0 3 3
Final The national final was held on 13 February. The winning song was again chosen by a mixed 31-member jury, each awarding 1 point to their favourite song. The winner was "", written by , composed by Joke van Soest, and performed Conny Vandenbos, who won by a 5-point margin.
+ Final13 February 1965 Artist Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Points Place 1 "Waar de wind de zomer vindt" 0 0 1 1 5 2 Conny Vandenbos "t Is genoeg" 4 5 4 13 1 3 "Ploem ploem jenka" 3 3 0 6 3 4 Ronnie Tober "Geweldig" 1 2 5 8 2 5 Shirley "Blijf bij mij" 2 0 1 3 4
At Eurovision On the night of the final Vandenbos performed first in the running order, preceding the . Voting was by each national jury awarding 5-3-1 to its top three songs, and at the close of the voting "" had received 5 points (all from ), placing the Netherlands 11th of the 18 entries. The Dutch jury awarded its 5 points to contest winners .
The Dutch conductor at the contest was Dolf van der Linden.
The Dutch jury included Annie Bosma-Banning, , and .
Voting
+ Points awarded to the Netherlands Score Country 5 points 3 points 1 point
+ Points awarded by the Netherlands Score Country 5 points 3 points 1 point
References