North Holland sympathizes with Abbekerkse S10: “She is going to win!”

Lenny Kuhr won the Eurovision Song Contest 53 years ago with the song ‘De Troubadour’. “It is unimaginable when you experience that at the age of nineteen. It was of course a golden moment. That you have the potential to make a song that goes around the world and is still standing today,” says Lenny, who is still 72 at the age of 72. climbed the stages in the Netherlands and just released a new record with the hip label Excelsior.

“I recognize something authentic in S10,” says Lenny. And about ‘De Diepte’: “There is a great loneliness in the song. The power lies in the purity and simplicity. I personally find the lyrics a bit too sparse. But that ‘ahaaaa’ is of course also an expression of a feeling, just like I did with ‘lailalalailalailalaila’.”

And with that, Lenny was very successful in 1969. Lenny wishes S10 the same success. “I hope she goes far and wish her the best of luck.”

Watch the clip of Lenny Kuhr from NH Culture Club below. Text continues below the video.

Rap teacher Steven Engel

In 2017 – only five years ago – Stien den Hollander entered the Hoorn pop stage Manifesto for a rap workshop. This is given by Steven Engel. Little does the duo know that this is the start of a shiny career for S10, which will reach an absolute peak next Tuesday. She will then represent the Netherlands in the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Back to the time when S10 was just Stien. Stien den Hollander, to be precise. Raised in rural Abbekerk, later moved to Hoorn. Rapper Steven Engel from Hoorn gives rap workshops to students of Oscar Romero secondary school and records a song with Stien during that time: ‘Chimi’.

He soon realized that Stien was different from many other students. “I was immediately like, ‘Hey, she likes it’† She played a part of a song on her phone, which she had recorded with guitar. I thought, ‘Ah, that’s fun!'”

“When I last heard back, I was not disappointed. You still hear a piece in it that belongs to me, I think that’s cool. Even after it has been released,” says the rapper from Hoorn. “I might not do that right away, but it indicates that she was still super raw.”

Engel continues: “I recognized that she had an artist’s heart and that she wanted to follow that. She had ideas for ten. In terms of music, it’s in her honesty and it’s nice to see her on such a big stage as the Eurovision Song Contest.”

Watch the clip below by rap teacher Steven Engel from NH Culture Club. Text continues.

Pop choir Hoorn

Pop choir Hoorn rehearses in Hoorn every week, led by Klaas Kloppenburg. What do the members of the choir think of S10’s song? “In the beginning I thought it was so-so, but the more I hear it, the more I like it,” says one of the choir members. “She has a very nice voice and I like that she sings in Dutch,” says another. “Only I would have liked a little more text. It’s a bit too much ‘oooh’ and ‘aaaa’.” Another member disagrees. “There is a lot of feeling in that ‘ahaaa’ and ‘oehoe’, and I think it does that very well internationally,” she laughs. “I think she’s going to win!”

The choir also sings the song from S10 itself. Conductor Kloppenburg thinks it is a good song. I kind of liken it to Duncan Lawrence’s Arcade. She also sings very nicely. Very relaxed even when you go up in the air. De Diepte is now also on the reportoire of the PopkoorHoorn. Conductor Klaas and the choir also wish S10 every success.

Watch the fragment with Popkoor Hoorn from NH Culture Club below. Text continues.

Former vice principal

In 2015, Stien de Hollander attended the Oscar Romero School in Hoorn. Former vice principal Arnoud Lansdaal can still remember his former student well. At that time, Stien regularly struggled with psychological problems, such as depression. “We knew she could drop out from time to time. But because we were familiar with that as a school, I dared to give her that chance.”

“As a student, she was clearly different from most other students. Perhaps she was also a bit further in her spiritual development. She was a bit off, you could say. She was accepted, but didn’t hang out much with friends. . She made her own plan.”

She sought more contact with teachers. For example, she played a homemade song to a German teacher. “‘And my stage name is S10,’ she added. That was in the third grade.”

Lansdaal is ‘very proud’ of his pupil, who has quickly grown into an artist of international allure. A former student of ‘the Oscar’ at the Eurovision Song Contest. “She took her chances fantastic. She did that very well. And who knows what the future will bring.”

Watch the fragment with the former vice principal of S10 in NH Culture Club below. Text continues.

Abbeakers

And of course there is also sympathy for their heroine in Stien Abbekerk’s birthplace. “It is not your average Eurovision song, but therefore extra good!”, says one. “It is in Dutch, but sung with such feeling that everyone can feel it,” says another. Another villager wishes S10 all the best “Good luck from Abbekerk. Toi toi toi!”