World Popular Song Festival - Mariska Veres

Mariska Veres (1947-2006) was a Dutch singer who was best known as the leadsinger of the group Shocking Blue.

Mariska was born in the Hague. Her father was a famous Hungarian violin player, her mother was born in Germany of French and Russian parents. Mariska's elder sister Ilonka accompanied her father on the piano.

Mariska began her career as a singer in 1963 with the guitar band Les Mysteres. In 1968 Mariska was invited to join Shocking Blue to replace singer Fred de Wilde who had join the army. In 1969/1970 Shocking Blue gained worldwide fame with the single Venus.

In 1974 Shocking Blue split up and Mariska started her solo career. In that same year she represented the Netherlands at the World Popular Song Festival with the, in my opinion, beautiful ballad I Need You Near Me. Unfortunately the song stranded in the semi-finals. The single was only released in Japan.

In 1984 Shocking Blue was reunited and their comeback was quite successful. In 1993 Mariska started the jazz group The Shocking Jazz Quintet and recorded the album Shocking You with jazz covers of 60's and 70's hits. From 1993 to 2006 she performed in a Shocking Blue tribute band.

In 2006 Mariska died of cancer.