History
Early days
Huisman, former drummer of 1970s band Lucifer and spin-off group Match, toured the early 1980s with his Hitkrant Drive-In Show; this prototype-version of the Playback-show was a joint venture with weekly pop-magazine Hitkrant in which he had a column. In 1983, Huisman brought the format on television during the summer-evening slot as KRO's Zomeravondshow; contestants performed on a hit-or-miss basis.
Breakthrough
In 1984 the name was changed to Playbackshow and contestants were now given full performance time. Soon afterwards Huisman decided to do a spin-off with real vocals; thus the Soundmixshow was born with artists being judged by a jury of three professionals notably Jacques d'Ancona and Barry Stevens; the latter's "Vooral doorgaan!" ("Keep up the good work!") became a catchphrase.
The Soundmixshow meant a breakthrough for several young Dutch artists, as it was a platform with a relative low threshold and a broad audience. The Soundmixshow was first produced by Endemol for Katholieke Radio Omroep (KRO) and afterwards for RTL 4 from 1990 until 2002. [4]
In the finals of 1988, Huisman asked viewers to phone a specific number for televoting. However, this caused such a big amount of phone calls, that the whole telephone grid was down for a while, and even the emergency services (police, ambulance, firefighters) were out of reach in some parts of the country. [4]
Other spin-offs
From the latter half of the 1980s till the early 1990s, Huisman presented the Miniplaybackshow as a platform for children; a Minisoundmixshow was announced, but it never happened.
There was also a Seniorenplaybackshow with elder contestants, and more successfully the Sterrensoundmixshow (Celebrity Stars In Their Eyes). [2]
In 2002, the Soundmixshow was the platform for a debate between politicians just before the parliamental elections.
Aftermath
In 2002, the format was discontinued in favor of Idols and other talent contests. Huisman reunited with former Soundmixshow-contestants on KRO's anniversary-programme in 2010. He used the backdrop whilst playing himself in a children's movie chronicling the events of two aspiring popstars. In 2014, Huisman appeared on the Showtime programme to revisit his time as presenter of Soundmixshow.
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