In 1951, Paerl married Dutch illustrator Cees Bantzinger. In 1956, she finished in second place in the "Nationaal Songfestival 1956" with the song "De vogels van Holland", written by Annie M.G. Schmidt and composed by Cor Lemaire. This gave her the right, together with Corry Brokken, to represent the Netherlands in the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Being the first performer of the evening, Paerl wrote history as the first singer ever to perform in the Eurovision Song Contest. At the time the contest was only broadcast via radio, and only the winning song was announced.