Corry Brokken

Born on December 3, 1932, in the Dutch city of Breda, Corry Brokken claimed victory at the 1957 Eurovision Song Contest with her performance of “Nets Als Toen.” That success came on her second try; an earlier bid at the 1956 contest with “Voorgoed Voorbij” had fallen short. She attempted to retain the title in 1958 by presenting “Heel De Wereld,” yet finished in a shared last position, making her the sole artist in Eurovision history to finish both first and last. In the early 1960s Brokken shifted her focus to television, where she quickly became one of the Netherlands’ most familiar presenters while still releasing records. Among those releases were several substantial hits that reworked songs by Charles Aznavour, notably “Mijn Ideaal” in 1962 and “La Mamma” in 1964. Aznavour himself appeared regularly on her late-1960s program Varietézauber, joined at times by Gilbert Bécaud, Caterina Valente, and Hildegard Knef. Brokken stepped back into the Eurovision spotlight in 1976 to host the contest, but that same year she stepped away from music altogether to pursue a career in law. She qualified as a judge in 1988, yet reentered the music world in 1996; the following year she again appeared at Eurovision, this time announcing the Dutch jury’s votes. Her autobiography, Wat Mij Betreft, reached Dutch bookstores in 2000.