| "De troubadour" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single byLenny Kuhr | |
| from the album Lenny Kuhr | |
| Language | Dutch |
| B-side | "Mais non, Monsieur" |
| Released | 1969 |
| Genre | Folk[1] |
| Length | 3:26 |
| Label | Philips |
| Composer | David Hartsema [nl] |
| Lyricist | Lenny Kuhr |
| Eurovision Song Contest 1969 entry | |
| Country | |
| Artist | |
| Language | |
| Composer | David Hartsema |
| Lyricist | Lenny Kuhr |
| Conductor | |
| Finals performance | |
| Final result | 1st |
| Final points | 18 |
| Entry chronology | |
| ◄ "Morgen" (1968) | |
| "Waterman" (1970) ► | |
| Official performance video | |
| "De troubadour" onYouTube | |
"De troubadour" ("The troubadour"), is a song recorded by Dutch singerLenny Kuhr, with music composed byDavid Hartsema [nl] and lyrics by Kuhr herself. Itrepresented the Netherlands in theEurovision Song Contest 1969, held inMadrid, and became one of the four winning songs.
Kuhr recorded the song in six languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian.
"De troubadour" music was written byDavid Hartsema [nl] and lyrics byLenny Kuhr. It is aballad inspired both musically and lyrically byfolk-song traditions. It is about atroubadour of theMiddle Ages, describing the impact the music has on his audiences.[2]
On 26 February 1969, "De troubadour" performed by Lenny Kuhr competed in the13th edition of theNationaal Songfestival, the national final organized by theNederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS) to select their song and performer for the14th edition of theEurovision Song Contest. The song won the competition so it became theDutch entry for the contest.[3]
Kuhr recorded the song in Dutch, English –as "The Troubadour"–, French –"Le troubadour"–, German –"Der Troubadour"–, Italian –"Un cantastorie"–, and Spanish –"El trovador"–.[2]
On 29 March 1969, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at theTeatro Real in Madrid hosted byTelevisión Española (TVE), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Kuhr performed "De troubadour" eighth on the night, followingUnited Kingdom's "Boom Bang-a-Bang" byLulu and precedingSweden's "Judy, min vän" byTommy Körberg.Frans de Kok conducted the live orchestra in the performance of the Dutch entry.[4]
At the close of voting, the song had received 18 points, the same number of points asSpain's "Vivo cantando" bySalomé, theFrance's "Un jour, un enfant" byFrida Boccara, and the United Kingdom's "Boom Bang-a-Bang" by Lulu. As there was no tiebreaker rule in place at the time, all four countries were declared joint winners.[5][6] Since theDutch entry in1968 was joint last, the Netherlands thus achieved the rare feat of going from (equal) last to (equal) first in the space of one year.
"De troubadour" was included in Kuhr's studio albumLenny Kuhr. Five years after the Contest, she recorded the song with revised Dutch lyrics, then retitled "De generaal" ("The general"), which was a homage to theDutch national soccer coachRinus Michels, who was nicknamed so by the players of the Dutch team.
Kuhr performed her song in the Eurovision twenty-fifth anniversary showSongs of Europe held on 22 August 1981 inMysen.[7] On 22 May 2021, the interval act "Rock the Roof" in theEurovision Song Contest 2021 grand final featured "De troubadour" performed by Kuhr in the same dress she wore in her Eurovision winning performance fifty-two years earlier.[8]
| Preceded by "La, la, la" byMassiel | Eurovision Song Contest winners co-winner with "Un jour, un enfant" byFrida Boccara, "Vivo cantando" bySalomé and "Boom Bang-a-Bang" byLulu 1969 | Succeeded by |
