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1969 - Why The Netherlands should be the winner!

01 April 2012 at 06:02 CEST

A toss of the coin determined that The Netherlands would stage the 15th edition of the contest the following year in Amsterdam, when only 12 countries took part.

With innovative ideas employed such as the travelogue opening film; the postcards between the songs; and the clever mobile set, many credit the Dutch broadcaster NOS for ensuring the longterm future of the contest. Perhaps it would be a fitting reward to give themthe title for 1969.

The Netherlands received the highest individual vote of thenight when France awarded them a hefty six votes and lifted them from fourth place to first on the scoreboard. Although not strictly a race to the winning post, The Netherlands were the first of the four counties to reach the winning score of 18 votes on the night.

Watch The Netherlands 1969

More about Lenny Kuhr

Lenny Kuhr was born on the 22nd of February, 1950 in Eindhoven, making her the youngest of the four winners. It was in 1967 that she started her career as a singer in The Netherlands, just two years before her win in the contest.

In the 1970's she enjoyed more success in France than in her homeland, and topped the charts there in 1972 with the song Jesus Christo. However she enjoyed her biggest success in The Netherlands in 1980 with the song Visite.

Like several other winning artists she was to re-record her song, this time with revised lyrics as De Generaal, in homage to the Dutch national football coach, Rinus Michaels, who was nick named De Generaal. In 1982 she hosted the Dutch national final for the Eurovision Song Contest.

She continues to release records and still performs, although without major chart suceess.