Country Netherlands As Annie Palmen Composer(s) Pieter Goemans | Artist(s) Anna Maria Palmen Language Dutch Lyricist(s) Pieter Goemans | |
"Een speeldoos" ("A musical box") was the Dutch entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963, performed in Dutch by Annie Palmen.
The song describes the romance between a shepherd and a shepherdess - both of whom are figures on a music box. Palmen explains that, even when the music was played, the duo could not move any closer to each other. After the supernatural intervention of "a fairy", the two became a couple.
The song was performed second on the night, following the United Kingdom's Ronnie Carroll with "Say Wonderful Things" and preceding Germany's Heidi Brühl with "Marcel". At the close of voting, it had received the dreaded nul points, earning the Netherlands the unwanted distinction of failing to score in two consecutive years. The song shared last place in a field of 16 with Finland's Laila Halme with "Muistojeni laulu", Norway's Anita Thallaug with "Solvherv" and Sweden's Monica Zetterlund with "En gång i Stockholm".
It was succeeded as Dutch representative at the 1964 contest by Anneke Grönloh with "Jij bent mijn leven".