Author: Arthur Moolenburgh
Introduction:
At September 19th 2008 was decided that The Netherlands will be represented by “The Toppers” at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, to be held in Moscow.
De Toppers consist of 3 male singers: René Froger, Gordon and Gerard Joling. All of them were having a carreer as a solo-singer before they decided to start with De Toppers. At a concert of René Froger in 2004, Gerard Joling and Gordon were present as guests and this cooperation was so succesful that the 3 singers decided to continue as The Toppers. From 2005 on, they held a couple of concerts in the Amsterdam Arena. Since then they come together every year, each concert (3 to 6) visited by 60,000 specatators.
The repertoire of ‘De Toppers’ are covers and classics from in and outside the Netherlands: André Hazes, Golden Earring, Abba as well as Eurovision covers and medley of several artists. De Toppers don’t have their own repertoire.
Small biographies:
Gerard Joling (1960): Became famous after becoming 3rd in the Soundmixshow in 1985. After that he had hits like: ‘Tickets to the tropics’ and ‘Love is in your eyes’ and ‘No more boleros’. Represented the Netherlands at Eurovision in 1988 singing Shangri-la. From the beginning of the 90s on Gerard Joling focussed more on presenting at Dutch television: Karaoke at 4, De Waarheid, Shownieuws and together with Gordon: Joling en Gordon over de vloer. Now he is presenting ‘So you wanna be a popstar’. His latest album ‘Bloedheet’ reached 5th position in Dutch charts.
Gordon (1968): After being rejected at the Soundmixshow and become second last in the Eurovision preselection of 1989, Gordon became popular by the big audience with his single hit: ‘Kon ik maar even bij je zijn’. Since then Gordon released different songs in Dutch and later on during the 90s he changed to a more R&B-style. Gordon also works as DJ and TV presenter (Joling en Gordon over de vloer, 5 tegen 5 and Thuis, Gillend naar huis). In july 2008 he started a internetradiostation (Oz Radio) for gaypeople.
René Froger (1960): Grown up in the centre of Amsterdam where his father was running a café. Following his parents as singer he has his first hit in 1988: Winter in America (cover of Doug Ashdown). A year later he reached the first position in Dutch charts with: ‘Alles kan een mens gelukkig maken’. Different from Joling and Gordon, Froger did not present for radio or TV. Since October 2008 he can be seen in a reality soap where he lives with his family from a minimum budget for the period of one month.
Selection:
At February 1st, a preselection will be held at national television. Until November 23rd songs can be submitted to the NOS. Everyone is invited to write a song. De Toppers will choose the best songs which will be sung at the national final. At the end, the public decide the winners. Details about the format of the national final are not yet known.
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