Sad news has shocked both The Netherlands and the Eurovision community today: Sandra Reemer has passed away today at 66 years old in a hospital in Amsterdam.
Sandra had been battling breast cancer for quite some time, something she only revealed a few months ago, shocking her close friends. Chemotherapy didn’t go as well as expected and even her close friends say Sandra never really shared the severeness of her situation, which is why the news of her death today comes as a shock.
Sandra was a famous TV host and singer in The Netherlands and people from outside of the The Netherlands would know her best from her participations in the Eurovision Song Contest. Sandra has represented The Netherlands three times: in 1972 with Andres with ‘Als ‘t om de liefde gaat’ (When It’s About Love), in 1976 with ‘The Party’s Over’ and for a third time in 1979 (as Xandra) with Colorado. She shares this record of representing The Netherlands three times with Eurovision winner Corry Brokken and she even went to Eurovision for The Netherlands a fourth thime: in 1983 as a backing singer for Bernadette.
Condolences are coming in from all directions. Celebrities and non-celebrities alike are expressing their sorrow, among which Cornald Maas, Dutch commentator at Eurovision:
#SandraReemer – elegant, met ‘t hart op de goeie plek, en met ‘t lef om Nederland 3 x (met succes) op #songfestival te vertegenwoordigen
— Cornald Maas (@cornaldm) 6 de junio de 2017
(Translation: #SandraReemer – Elegant, with her heart at the right place, and with the guts to (succesfully) represent The Netherlands at [the] #EurovisionSongContest 3 times)
Rest in peace, Sandra.
