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David van der Linden, conductor of the Metropole Orchestra between 1945 and 1980 and one of the Netherlands’ leading musicians during the post-war years, was one of the ‘usual suspects’ of the early years of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Between 1957 and 1971, he conducted thirteen Netherlands national finals and an equal number of Dutch entries in the international contest, of which two were victorious: ‘Net als toen’ (1957) and ‘Een beetje’ (1959). Moreover, he was musical director of the festivals organized in the Netherlands in 1958 and 1970.

This is the reason why he came to a total of eighteen conducted songs in the contest, as four delegations in 1958 did not bring a guest conductor – as a result of which Van der Linden himself stepped in – and neither did the Irish entrant of 1970, Dana Scallon. She won the festival with ‘All Kinds of Everything’. Thus, Dolf van der Linden can be considered one of the most successful conductors in the contest ever, having been part of the winning team on three occasions.[1]

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