"Een speeldoos" was the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963

Eurovision Song Contest 1963

The Eurovision Song Contest 1963 was the 8th Eurovision Song Contest. France had won the contest in 1962 but were incapable of hosting in 1963, as was their right, due to financial shortcomings. As was the case in 1960 - and as would become a tradition when smaller broadcasters could not afford to...

, performed in Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 by Annie Palmen

Annie Palmen

Annie Palmen was a Dutch singer, best known for her participation in the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest.- Early career :Palmen was born in IJmuiden...

.

The song describes the romance between a shepherd and a shepherdess - both of whom are figures on a music box. Palmen explains that, even when the music was played, the duo could not move any closer to each other. After the supernatural intervention of "a fairy", the two became a couple.

The song was performed second on the night, following the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

's Ronnie Carroll

Ronnie Carroll

Ronnie Carroll is a Northern Irish singer and entertainer.-Career:...

 with "Say Wonderful Things

Say Wonderful Things (song)

"Say Wonderful Things" is a popular song with music by Philip Green and lyrics by Norman Newell, published in 1963. It was the United Kingdom's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963, held in London. The singer was Ronnie Carroll, who also represented the UK the year before...

" and preceding Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

's Heidi Brühl

Heidi Brühl

Heidi Rosemarie Brühl was a German singer and actress who came to prominence as a young teenager and had a prolific career in film and television...

 with "Marcel

Marcel (song)

"Marcel" was the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963, performed in German by Heidi Brühl.The song was performed third on the night, following the Netherlands' Annie Palmen with "Een speeldoos" and preceding Austria's Carmela Corren with "Vielleicht geschieht ein Wunder"...

". At the close of voting, it had received the dreaded nul points, earning the Netherlands the unwanted distinction of failing to score in two consecutive years. The song shared last place in a field of 16 with Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

's Laila Halme

Laila Halme

Laila Halme, , is a Finnish singer who performed on Eurovision in 1963 with the song "Muistojeni laulu" . She landed a tied 12th place with 0 Points.- References :...

 with "Muistojeni laulu

Muistojeni Laulu

"Muistojeni laulu" was the Finnish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963, performed in Finnish by Laila Halme....

", Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

's Anita Thallaug

Anita Thallaug

Anita Thallaug is a Norwegian actress and singer. She has featured in musicals, cinema and TV programs. Under the name Vesla Rolfsen, at the age of seven, she was performing at the Spider theatre in Oslo....

 with "Solvherv

Solvherv

"Solvherv" was the Norwegian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963, performed in Norwegian by Anita Thallaug.The song is in the chanson style, popular in the early years of the Contest...

" and Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

's Monica Zetterlund

Monica Zetterlund

Eva Monica Zetterlund was a Swedish singer and actress.-Biography:Zetterlund was a singer particularly noted for her jazz work. She began by learning the classic jazz songs from radio and records, initially not knowing the language and what they sang about in English...

 with "En gång i Stockholm

En gång i Stockholm

"En gång i Stockholm" was the Swedish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963, performed in Swedish by one of Scandinavia's leading jazz singers, Monica Zetterlund ....

".

It was succeeded as Dutch representative

Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest

The Netherlands was one of the seven countries competing in the very first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. It has missed only four contests so far...

 at the 1964 contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1964

The Eurovision Song Contest 1964 was the ninth Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark after the Danish victory the previous year. Sweden did not participate because of a boycott by singers. They did however broadcast it...

 by Anneke Grönloh

Anneke Grönloh

Louise Johanna Grönloh, is a female Dutch singer.-Life:Anneke was born in Tondano, North Celebes, Dutch East Indies and spent her early years in the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies in a Japanese concentration camp...

 with "Jij bent mijn leven

Jij Bent Mijn Leven

"Jij bent mijn leven" was the Dutch entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964, performed in Dutch by Anneke Grönloh.The song is sung from the perspective of a woman whose lover has been unfaithful. She tells him that she is fully aware of his infidelity, but she chooses to ignore it "because you...

".