Teddy Scholten

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Teddy Scholten, born Dorothea Margaretha van Zwieteren, was a Dutch singer and presenter. She was born in The Hague in 1926 and grew up in Rijswijk, the daughter of an amateur actor. In 1944 she met the singer Henk Scholten, whom she married in 1947. In 1950 she was invited by The Coca-Cola Company to appear in a show in the United States, which made her one of the first Dutch pop artists to perform there. She sang on the radio programme De bonte dinsdagavondtrein and from 1955 to 1960 was a guest star on the AVRO television show De Snip en Snap Revue.

Music and breakthrough

In 1959 she won the Nationaal Songfestival with Een beetje, written by Willy van Hemert and Dick Schallies. With it she represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest in Cannes. She won with 21 points from the international juries, the second Dutch victory. She also recorded the song in French, German, Italian and Swedish. In 1961 she had a hit with her husband with Bom-be-die-bom, a translation of Goodness Gracious Me from the film The Millionairess. With Henk she recorded several albums, often of children's songs. In 1965 and 1966 she herself presented the Nationaal Songfestival. She died in 2010.

Influence

Her songs are light, neat entertainment music from the time before the beat boom, with orchestral accompaniment and a clear singing voice. For Dutch pop history she is above all the face of the early Eurovision period, when the festival became a television event for the whole family.

Listening