Biography

Singer

In 1966, Scott was asked to participate in the Nationaal Songfestival, the Dutch national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. She went on to win the national final with the song "Fernando en Filippo", written by Gerrit den Braber and composed by Kees de Bruyn. This gave her the right to represent the Netherlands in the eleventh edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held in Luxembourg City. Her entry received a total of two points from the international juries, placing fifteenth out of eighteen songs.

She is recognised as the first black singer to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest.

In 1953, at the age of 19, Scott was asked by Dutch comedian Toon Hermans to perform in one of his shows. According to Hermans, the name Milly suited her better than her birth name Marion. Following her mother's advice not to use her real surname, she then came up with the stage name Milly Scott.[3] After performing in front of a big audience for the first time, she quickly built up a career as a jazz singer, with Lou van Rees as her impresario.

At the age of 14, she began singing in amateur bands and was eventually given a scholarship to study at the conservatory in Amsterdam. However, she dropped out due to the intense racism and bullying she experienced during her studies.