Ben Cramer (born Bernardus Kramer; 17 February 1947) is a Dutch singer who represented the Netherlands in the 1973
Eurovision Song Contest.
Music career
Early years
Cramer was born in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
. He made his television debut in 1966 with his backing group the Spaklings, and was spotted by singer Annie de Reuver, who helped him obtain a record deal. In 1967, his first single, "Zai zai zai", became a hit, reaching No. 7 on the Dutch chart. The follow-up "Dans met mij" also peaked at No. 7, and he would have a string of successful records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His most fondly-remembered record is "De Clown" from 1971.
[Muziek Centrum Nederland biography (Dutch)](_blank)
Eurovision Song Contest
In 1970, Cramer took part in the Dutch Eurovision selection with the song "Julia", which came fourth. He returned in 1973, this time singing all four songs, from which "
De oude muzikant" ("The Old Musician") was chosen as the Dutch entry for the 18th
Eurovision Song Contest, held on 7 April in
Luxembourg City
Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Gr ...
. "De oude muzikant" was seen as a rather old-fashioned song, and finished the evening in 14th place of 17 entries.
Cramer returned to
Eurovision in 1981 with two songs, "Marianne" and "Retour", in the Dutch selection, but both finished well down the field.
Cramer was associated with the
1988 Contest providing radio commentary for Dutch listeners.
Later career
Cramer continued to enjoy periodic chart success through the 1970s; his last charting single was "Alles is anders" in 1980. The 1980s were relatively quiet. In 1989, he starred as Juan Perón in the musical ''
Evita Evita may refer to:
Arts
* Evita (1996 film), ''Evita'' (1996 film), a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name
* Evita (2008 film), ''Evita'' (2008 film), a documentary about Eva Péron
* Evita (album), ''E ...
'', and went on to appear in many Dutch-language stage productions, such as ''
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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'' and ''
The Phantom of the Opera
''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...
''. He has since appeared in TV programmes such as the drama series ''Westenwind'' and the Dutch ''
Celebrity Big Brother
''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...
'', and continues his stage career.
Cramer was one of the artists who recorded the song ''Shalom from Holland'' (written by
Simon Hammelburg
Simon Hammelburg (Amsterdam, February 28, 1952 – Marbella, June 15, 2022) was a Dutch entertainer, songwriter, journalist, and Holocaust educator. He died in Marbella 15 June 2022.
Prior to the first Gulf War (1991) Hammelburg produced th ...
and Ron Klipstein) as a token of solidarity to the Israeli people, threatened by missiles from Iraq, during the first Gulf War in 1991.
In 2009, along with a number of other Dutch Eurovision veterans, Cramer was a special guest at that year's televised Eurovision selection.
References
External links
*
*
1973 at Dingadong.nl (Dutch)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cramer, Ben
Dutch male singers
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the Netherlands
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1973
Dutch male musical theatre actors
Male actors from Amsterdam
Musicians from Amsterdam
1947 births
Living people
Nationaal Songfestival contestants