De Spelbrekers was selected to represent Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1962
Nationaal Songfestival 1962
The national final was held at the Theater Concordia in Bussum, hosted by Hannie Lips and Elisabeth Mooy. Seven songs took part and the winning song was chosen by 12 regional juries, each with 60 points to divide between the songs. "Katinka" emerged the clear winner by a 28-point margin. Future Dutch representative Conny Vandenbos (1965) was one of the other participants.[1]
On the night of the final De Spelbrekers performed 8th in the running order, following Germany and preceding eventual contest winners France. Voting was by each national jury awarding 3, 2 and 1 points to their top three songs, and at the end of the evening "Katinka" (along with the entries from Austria, Belgium, and Spain) had failed to pick up a single point, the second time the Netherlands had finished at the foot of the scoreboard. 1962 was the first contest in which any entry failed to score, but the "honour" of being Eurovision's first ever nul-pointer is generally awarded to Belgium's Fud Leclerc, as he had performed earliest of the four in the running order. The Dutch jury awarded its 3 points to Monaco.[2]
Despite its poor showing at Eurovision, "Katinka" was a big domestic hit and remains one of the better-remembered Dutch Eurovision entries from the contest's early years.
Voting
The Netherlands did not receive any points at the Eurovision Song Contest 1962.[3]
