Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979

The Netherlands was represented by Xandra, with the song "Colorado", at the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 31 March in Jerusalem. The song was the winner of the Dutch national final for the contest, held on 7 February. Although it was claimed at the time that Xandra was the name of a six-piece band, in reality it was merely a name adopted by Eurovision veteran Sandra Reemer, who had previously represented the Netherlands in 1972 and 1976. The cover sleeves on the various domestic and international record issues of "Colorado" for example all pictured Reemer on her own without any "band members".

Eurovision Song Contest 1979
Country Netherlands
National selection
Selection processArtist: Internal selection
Song: Nationaal Songfestival 1979
Selection date(s)7 February 1979
Selected artist(s)Xandra
Selected song"Colorado"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Rob Bolland
  • Ferdi Bolland
  • Gerard Cox
Finals performance
Final result12th, 51 points
Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1978 1979 1980►

Before Eurovision

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Nationaal Songfestival 1979

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The final was held at the RAI Congrescentrum in Amsterdam, hosted by Martine Bijl. Five songs took part, all performed by Xandra, with the winner being decided by eleven juries who each had 50 points to distribute between the songs. Ten of the juries consisted of people from various professions (politicians, musical conductors, carnival workers, nurses, chefs, local mayors, media presenters, actors, footballers and firefighters) while the eleventh was made up of members of the Sandra Reemer fan club.[1]

Final – 7 February 1979
Draw Song Points Place
1 "Lieveling" 109 2
2 "Lila Lavendel" 66 5
3 "Intercity" 104 3
4 "Waar ben je heen" 68 4
5 "Colorado" 203 1

At Eurovision

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On the night of the final Xandra performed 14th in the running order, following Luxembourg and preceding Sweden. At the close of voting, "Colorado" had received 51 points from 10 countries, placing the Netherlands 12th of the 19 entries.[2] The Dutch jury awarded its 12 points to France.[3]

The Dutch conductor at the contest was Harry van Hoof.

Voting

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References

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  1. ^ ESC National Finals database 1979
  2. ^ "Final of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  3. ^ ESC History - Netherlands 1979
  4. ^ a b "Results of the Final of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
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