Frizzling and sizzling: Dutch girl groups at Eurovision

With the sisterly trio O’G3NE announced as representing the Netherlands at Eurovision 2017, we’re seeing something that hasn’t been part of the song contest since 2013: a girl group. It’s also been over a decade since the Netherlands last sent a female vocal group to Eurovision, but they were also the first country to ever do it, back in 1970. Let’s take a look back at Dutch girl groups at Eurovision.

1970: Hearts of Soul – “Waterman”

Hearts of Soul were the very first girl group to perform in the Eurovision Song Contest. Sisters Bianca, Stella and Patricia Maessen were of Dutch Indonesian heritage. At the time, only solo or duo performers were allowed to enter Eurovision, so Hearts of Soul had to be billed with Patricia as the lead vocalist, and her sisters as backing singers. Their dreamy song “Waterman” (“Aquarius”) placed seventh out of 12 finalists. The sisters later represented neighbouring Belgium in 1977 as Dream Express. Their song “A Million in One, Two, Three” also placed seventh.

1986: Frizzle Sizzle – “Alles heeft ritme”

It would be 16 years until the Netherlands sent their next girl group. The four-piece Frizzle Sizzle had “Alles heeft ritme” (“Everything has rhythm”), an easy-going tune that managed to still sound chilled-out and still have some big orchestral flourishes. The group’s performance was also notable for their pastel-toned costumes, showing off the layering trend of the mid ’80s. It placed 13th out of 20 finalists.

1997: Mrs. Einstein – “Niemand heeft nog tijd”

Just like Douwe Bob’s “Slow Down”, the Netherland’s 1997 entry started with a ticking clock. “Niemand heeft nog tijd” (“No one has time anymore”) looked at the fast-paced modern world, posing a problem to which “Slow Down” turned out to be the solution, 19 years later. Despite the group’s tight harmonies, “Niemand heeft nog tijd” only placed 22nd-equal out of 25.

2006: Treble – “Amambanda”

Treble was the Netherlands’ most recent girl group entry and tbh, it was a bit of a mess. “Amambanda” was mostly written in a made-up pseudo-African language, and the staging was a frantic, multi-level, drum-based catastrophe. Unsurprisingly it did not qualify for the final, placing 20th in its semi. It’s one of the Netherlands’ worst performing entries in the semi-final era, and is the poorest scoring girl group song.

Girl groups at Eurovision

A classic vocal girl group hasn’t been seen at Eurovision since Moje 3 in 2013. In our definitive ranking of modern girl groups at Eurovision (part one and part two), we determined that Russia’s Serebro was the most successful. Their saucy entry “Song #1” was third in 2007, in the peak girl group era of the mid 2000s.

In second place was Sweden’s Afro-Dite, whose divalicious “Never Let Me Go” was eighth in 2002, and third was Norway’s Charmed, whose super fun tune “My Heart Goes Boom” placed 11th in 2000.

The closest a girl group has come to winning Eurovision was the duo Bobbysocks!, whose joyful “La det swinge” gave Norway its first win in 1985. But there was only two of them. Will O’G3NE be the first girl group to earn a Eurovision victory?

Poll results: Who is your favourite girl group from modern Eurovision?

We asked wiwibloggs readers to pick their favourite girl groups at Eurovision since 1999. Not so surprisingly, Serebro was in the top spot with “Song #1”. Croatia’s Feminnem took second placed with “Lako je sve”, and Serbian trio Moje 3 were third with “Ljubav je svuda”.

The least favourite girl group was Portugal’s chaotic Nonstop, whose “Coisas de nada” was just a hot mess.

1. Serebro – “Song #1” (Russia 2007) 27.24% (234 votes)
2. Feminnem – “Lako je sve” (Croatia 2010) 11.29% (97 votes)
3. Moje 3 – “Ljubav je svuda” (Serbia 2013) 9.9% (85 votes)
4. Afro-dite – “Never Let It Go” (Sweden 2002) 8.96% (77 votes)
5. Precious – “Say It Again” (United Kingdom 1999) 6.4% (55 votes)
6. Feminnem “Call Me” (Bosnia and Herzegovina 2005) 4.42% (38 votes)
7. XXL – “100% te ljubam” (FYR Macedonia 2000) 4.42% (38 votes)
8. No Angels – “Disappear” (Germany 2008) 4.31% (37 votes)
9. Treble – “Amambanda” (Netherlands 2006) 3.61% (31 votes)
10. Las Ketchup – “Bloody Mary” (Spain 2006) 3.49% (30 votes)
11. Charmed – “My Heart Goes Boom” (Norway 2000) 3.26% (28 votes)
12. Neiokõsõ – “Tii” (Estonia 2004) 3.14% (27 votes)
13. The Rounder Girls “All to You” (Austria 2000) 3.03% (26 votes)
14. Son de Sol – “Brujería” (Spain 2005) 2.56% (22 votes)
15. Suntribe – “Let’s Get Loud” (Estonia 2005) 1.75% (15 votes)
16. Times Three – “Believe ‘n Peace” (Malta 1999) 1.16% (10 votes)
17. Nonstop – “Coisas de nada” (Portugal 2006) 1.05% (9 votes)

READ MORE EUROVISION NEWS FROM THE NETHERLANDS