The voting week for the Drenthe 1000 kicked off today. The reporters from RTV Drenthe make their first tour of the places in Drenthe where music lovers submit their most highly rated songs.
We start the voting week at the Zuidergraafplaats in Assen. In the pouring rain and sheltering under an umbrella, the mood is still high at Klaas, one of the eight volunteers who maintain the cemetery. Klaas is an avid fan of the Drenthe 1000. “I have been following it for years. As long as it has been there, I have submitted my favorite songs every year.”
Today, the volunteers in the funeral home, on the northwest corner of the cemetery, choose their music for the Drenthe 1000. Letter by letter, Klaas types on a tablet the name of the song that he really shouldn’t miss this year. “The choice is always difficult, but my personal favorite is Herman van Veen with A friend may not cry.”
The difference in musical taste remains food for discussion this morning. A number of cemetery maintainers are unanimous in their choice Window of My Eyes from Cuby + Blizzards, while volunteer Gerk casts his eyes on Blood of Eden by Peter Gabriel.
Half an hour further away, the students of De Hoeksteen primary school in Hoogeveen also hope to get their tastemakers in the Drentse 1000. “It is a nice experience for the students when RTV Drenthe comes to your school,” says teacher Levy IJtsma.
The school spends a lot of time on music lessons, which all ninety students participate in boomwhackers play. These are colored plastic tubes, each with a different tone, with which the students make music together. “This is how we learn the music with notes, step by step,” says Lynn from group 8.
Today the festive spirit is in full swing. After a cream cake has been cut, the school can jointly submit twenty songs. Lynn and Rowan drop their musical choices on høk numbers by party duo Beatcrooks and the Normal classic Door thundering.
Merle from group 5 also likes Drenthe records “sometimes”, but now she prefers them Gold from Suzan and Freek. “It’s just fun and tasty in Dutch.”
Master Levy, who is also the drummer in Jason Staal’s band, hopes that he can give his musical companion a nice place in the Drenthe lists. “Never leave the top 10 again,” he says determinedly.
In Coevorden they think very differently about this. In the town hall, the council chamber is converted into De Hofpoort theater every weekend. “It has been a lot of effort for the technology guys to transform everything into a theater for fifteen years, so we now want to put them in the spotlight,” says theater director Saskia Kluwen.
The cake cannot be missed in the theater either. “That’s always delicious!” says Bram. As one of the technology guys, he has the honor today to submit a song for the Drenthe 1000. “I am born and raised in Drenthe. To be honest, I have more interest in Groningen music, but Drenthe songs from Skik are of course also all-time classics.”
Kluwen also admits that he doesn’t listen to much Drenthe music himself. “Then I soon end up with Daniël Lohues. And in January we will also have jazz singer Martijje from Grolloo on our stage. She has a beautiful voice and her songs are also very moving.”
The deciding vote goes to Bram, who opts for “a real Coevorden song”. “It became Mark and Nick’s De Ganzen,” says the technology boy, who happily sings along to a verse and the chorus. “It’s about the Ganzenmarkt, and Ganzenmarkt is Coevorden.”
The Coevorden song is still missing from the voting list this year, but if it is submitted more often as a suggestion, it can storm the Drenthe hit list at the next edition.
Finally, Illona and Henk from the Koekange Village Association are making their contribution. “We have the radio on every day, especially with pirate music,” says Illona. According to her state Village pub van Jan en Zwaan known as the number of the village. “That characterizes our village”
“We’ve been there before Hemmellied been on Radio Drenthe, with Harm and Leonie. We then managed to get Harm through the studio in polonaise,” laughs Illona. “He said that he was participating in a polonaise for the first time. And every week we still pass by as a preview Hemmellied. It remains fun,” says Henk.
Ilona has made a call in the group app of the four streets in Koekange and invited everyone to come and vote for the Drenthe 1000 today. “We are a small village, but we do everything together. Nice to do something with you in the village.”