3JS (, ; ) is a Dutch band from

Volendam Volendam () is a fishing town in the municipality of Edam-Volendam, province of North Holland, Netherlands. As of 1 January 2021, it has a population of 22,715. It is twinned with Coventry, England. History Originally, Volendam was the location o ...

, currently consisting of Jan Dulles, Jaap Kwakman and Robin Küller. The band rose to fame in 2007 after the success of their debut album ''Watermensen'', which they had recorded with their friends Jan Smit and

Nick & Simon Nick & Simon are a Dutch singer-songwriter duo composed of Simon Keizer and Nick Schilder. They became popular in their home country the Netherlands in 2006. Their album ''Luister'' (''Listen'') reached double platinum status in four months. I ...

. In 2011, the band represented the Netherlands in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

with the song " Never Alone".

History

The name "3JS" is based on the first names of the band's original members: Jan Dulles, Jaap Kwakman and Jaap de Witte. The three original members have known each other since 1996. From 2002 they performed locally under their current name, 3JS.

2007–2008: ''Watermensen''

On 8 June 2007, the band released its first studio album, ''Watermensen'' ( en, Water people). The album was recorded entirely in-house. All compositions are self made and the production took them for its own account. The album brought the modest hits "Kom", "Net alsof", "Een met de bomen", "Watermensen" and "Wiegelied". On 6 July 2007, the album reached number six in the

Mega Album Top 100 The Dutch Album Top 100 or Album Top 100 is a weekly hit list of music albums, compiled by Dutch Charts. List shows the 100 best-selling music albums of the moment in the Netherlands. The list has passed through various name changes and has expand ...

and lasted 87 weeks in the top 100. In the summer of 2007, a television programme under the name ''3JS komen eraan'' about the band aired on the local channel,

RTV Noord-Holland RTV may refer to: Broadcasting * RTV (Bangladeshi TV channel), a satellite television channel * RTV (Indonesian TV network), an Indonesian television network * RTV-7, a Dutch television network with programming from the Dutch Caribbean * RTV NH, ...

for eight weeks. The programme starred Jan Smit, with the band members regular guests on the programme. On 21 January 2008, the band along with

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and

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were given an original

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

. This prize is awarded by Stichting Nederlandse Muziek, for songs that are distinguished by lyrics and original compositions. A day later they won the 2007

Zilveren Harp The Zilveren Harp (Silver Harp) is a Dutch award given annually to promising musical talent. The award is very prestigious and winners are chosen by a different jury each year. The Zilveren Harp is given by the foundation "Buma Cultuur", which aims ...

. Both awards were won for their debut album ''Watermensen''.

2008–2010: ''Kamers van m'n hart'' and ''Dromers en dwazen''

In October 2008, the group released their second album, ''Kamers van m'n hart'' ( en, Chambers of my heart). The first single, "Hou van mij", was a top 10 hit, which reached number four in the

Single Top 100 The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Du ...

. The album was as well received as its predecessor, with the album reaching number 4 in its first week on the

, and lasting forty weeks in the charts. The third album by 3JS, entitled ''Dromers en dwazen'' ( en, Dreamers and fools) was released in the spring of 2010. The group will release their first single from the album, "Loop met me over zee" ( en, Walk with me by the sea), on 27 October 2010.

2011: Eurovision Song Contest

During a radio show, the band announced that they were the Netherlands representative at the

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, with the Dutch broadcaster,

Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting Tros or TROS may refer to: * 18281 Tros, an asteroid * Transformer read-only storage, a type of read-only memory * TROS, a Dutch broadcasting union, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting * Tros (mythology), a figure in Greek ...

(TROS) also announcing the bands candidacy. With the band saying: "It's about the song again", after the Dutch poor results in recent years. The band produced five songs before the end 2010, which were performed at the national final (''

Nationaal Songfestival (; ) was an annual music competition, which was originally organised by the Dutch public broadcaster (NTS), and later by the (NOS) and (TROS). It was staged almost every year between 1956 and 2012 to determine the country's entry for the Eu ...

'') in early 2011, during which the public and a professional jury voted for their favourite song. At the Eurovision Song Contest, the band took last place in the semi-final with only 13 points in total.

2012–present

In 2013, Jaap de Witte announced that he would leave the band. He was replaced by his son Jan de Witte. In 2019, the band announced that Jan de Witte would leave the band. He was replaced by Robin Johannes Küller."Gitarist Jan de Witte stopt per direct met 3Js."
''AD'', April 19, 2019, accessed Januari 7, 2020.

Timeline

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

3js.nl
{{Authority control Musical groups from North Holland Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the Netherlands Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2011