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Saskia & Serge are a Dutch vocal duo consisting of singer Trudy van den Berg (born 23 April 1947, Grootebroek) and singer-guitarist Ruud Schaap (born 22 March 1946, Den Helder). They are known for their participation in the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, and have enjoyed a long and successful career in their native Netherlands, where they were awarded the title of Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau in 2004.
Van den Berg and Schaap first attracted attention when, as Trudy & Ruud, they won a talent contest organised by singer Max van Praag in 1967. The couple married in 1969 and changed their professional name to Saskia & Serge, as their gentle, folksy style began to attract favourable attention. [1]
In 1970, Saskia & Serge took part in the Dutch Eurovision selection with "Het spinnewiel" ("The Spinning-Wheel"), which was narrowly and controversially beaten into second place. [2] They returned in 1971, this time singing all six songs in the selection, and "Tijd" ("Time") was chosen to go forward to the 16th Eurovision Song Contest, held in Dublin on 3 April. [3] Although Saskia suffered a microphone malfunction at the start of the song, "Tijd" finished in joint sixth place of the 18 entries. [4] [5]
After releasing several folk-themed albums to a largely indifferent response Saskia & Serge changed direction in 1976 by releasing a successful country music-style album, We'll Give You Everything, the title track from which was a top 10 hit in The Netherlands. The album got them noticed outside the Netherlands, and they became the first Dutch artists to appear at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Further hit singles followed, including "Mama, He's a Soldier Now" which became their biggest hit, peaking at No. 6 in 1980.
Saskia & Serge have continued to release popular albums of both original material and cover versions. Their fifteenth studio album, Mooie liedjes, was released in December 2008, consisting of adaptations of well-known Dutch songs. [1]
The Netherlands has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 62 times since making its debut as one of the seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The country has missed only four contests, twice because the dates coincided with Remembrance of the Dead and twice because of being relegated due to poor results the previous year. The Netherlands hosted the contest in Hilversum (1958), Amsterdam (1970), twice in The Hague and Rotterdam.
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The Netherlands was represented by Marcha, with the song "Rechtop in de wind", at the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Brussels on 9 April. The song was the winner of the Dutch national final for the contest, held on 25 March.
The Netherlands was represented by three-sister group Hearts of Soul, with the song "Waterman", at the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Amsterdam on 21 March. "Waterman" was the winner of the Dutch national final for the contest, held on 11 February.
The Netherlands was represented by Saskia & Serge, with the song "Tijd", at the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 April in Dublin. The song was the winner of the Dutch national final for the contest, held on 24 February. Saskia & Serge were selected internally by broadcaster NOS as the 1971 performers; it is widely thought that this was done in response to the 1970 preselection in which the couple's song "Spinnewiel" was placed runner-up by the juries despite being the overwhelming favourite of the Dutch public.
The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Calm After the Storm", written by Ilse DeLange, JB Meijers, Rob Crosby, Matthew Crosby and Jake Etheridge. The song was performed by the Common Linnets, a duo consisting of DeLange and Waylon, two well-known and popular Dutch artists, and formed by DeLange as a platform for Dutch artists to create country, Americana, and bluegrass music. In November 2013 the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS announced that they had internally selected The Common Linnets to represent the Netherlands at the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark, with their song first presented to the public in March 2014.
Gertrude "Getty" Kaspers is an Austrian-born Dutch singer. She was the lead vocalist of the Dutch band Teach-In, with which she won the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 with the song "Ding-a-dong".
The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Slow Down" written by Douwe Bob, Jan Peter Hoekstra, Jeroen Overman and Matthijs van Duijvenbode. The song was performed by Douwe Bob, who was internally selected by the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS to represent the Netherlands at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Douwe Bob's appointment as the Dutch representative was announced on 22 September 2015, while the song, "Slow Down", was presented to the public on 4 March 2016.
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Doris D is a British singer and dancer who spent her career in the Netherlands.
Media related to Saskia & Serge at Wikimedia Commons
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