Jan Smit (born 31 December 1985) is a Dutch singer, television host, and actor. Smit mostly sings songs in the Dutch language, in a genre known as palingsound. In addition to his solo career, in 2015 Smit joined the schlager trio Klubbb3, and in 2017 The Toppers. As a TV presenter, he has worked on programs like the "Beste Zangers" (Best Singers in the Netherlands) and "Sterren Muziekfeest op het Plein" (Music Festival on the square.) Since 1999, Smit has been serving as an ambassador for the SOS Children's Villages.
Career.
1996–2004: International success as Jantje Smit.
Jantje Smit began his music career in Volendam where he sang in a boys' choir called "De Zangertjes van Volendam". Smit was discovered at the age of ten, when the famous Dutch band BZN asked him to participate in a duet with one of their lead singers, Carola Smit. They recorded the song "Mama" which was very successful. 
Because of this success, he was asked to record a solo song, which was produced by three members of BZN, titled "Ik Zing Dit Lied Voor Jou Alleen" (I sing this song just for you). The song entered the Dutch charts at number one, something that had never before happened in the history of the Dutch Charts ("Nederlandse Top 40"). In the following two years, Jantje Smit had five more hits including "Pappie, Waar Blijf Je Nou" (Daddy, where are you now). All songs were written by BZN members Jan Keizer (singer), Jack Veerman and Jan Tuijp.
Smit was also able to achieve success outside of the Netherlands, in Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy and France. For a while Smit focused on and performed more often in Germany, where working legislation for minors was less strict, therefore allowing him to perform more. In the Netherlands minors can only perform a couple of times a year. While performing in Germany, he became one of the best-selling Dutch acts abroad. He released ten records sung in German. In 2001 Smit, BZN and their producers received the "Exportprijs" for being the bestselling Dutch artists abroad.
2005: Just Jan Smit.
In 2005 Smit changed his stage name from Jantje Smit to Jan Smit. Starting on 25 March 2005, he appeared in his own reality show "Gewoon Jan Smit" (Just Jan Smit), which was a reality TV show and followed his everyday life. Later that year, the show won the "Gouden Televizier-Ring" {Golden Televizier Ring). Smit started focusing more on being a presenter, and alongside Belle Pérez, he presented the TROS program "Muziekfeest op het Plein" (Music Festival on the Square). In the next few years Smit's popularity kept growing, as he scored hit after hit. Songs like "Als de Nacht Verdwijnt" (When the Night Disappears), and "Laura", which reached number one in the "Single Top 100".
On 15 March 2006, Jan Smit was awarded the Edison Award in the "Amsterdam Melkweg" as Best National Singer for his album "Jansmit.com". On 8 September 2006 the second season of "Gewoon Jan Smit" (Just Jan Smit) launched. In this season, unlike the first one, most of the attention focused on the singer's environment.
In 2006 Jan Smit had his third and fourth number one hits on the Dutch charts. "Als de Morgen is Gekomen" (When the morning has arrived), stayed on top of the chart for 6 weeks, and in December "Cupido" also reached number one.
In September 2006, C &amp; A stores started including a clothing line named after Jan Smit. The collection was called "J-style" and revolved around some of his personal clothing choices.
In 2007, Smit had his fifth number one hit with "Op Weg Naar Geluk" (On the road to happiness). At the end of September 2007, Smit returned to television with a new reality TV show titled "Jan Smit, de Zomer Voorbij" (Jan Smit, After the Summer).
In the autumn of 2007 Jan Smit released a new single titled "Dan Volg Je Haar Benen" (Then you follow her legs). The single hit the charts in November, and became his sixth number one hit in the Netherlands. The single also contained a song called "Calypso", which is a duet with US singer John Denver. In 2008, Smit went on tour in the Netherlands. The tour was called "Jan Smit Komt Naar Je Toe" (Jan Smit comes to you).
2007: Vocal problems.
In mid-October it was announced that Smit could not perform at least until the end of November. He had health issue with his vocal cords. All performances were cancelled until 29 November. Because of his health issues, Smit missed his scheduled performances at Symphonica in Rosso and the TMF Awards, but he did appear to receive the award for best Dutch pop-act at this event. In November Smit underwent a surgery, and he was not allowed to sing for half a year. This meant that both his work as a presenter for TROS pocket and his new album were put on hold. The tour "Jasn Smit komt naar je toe" (Jan Smit comes to you) was also rescheduled.
After eight months out of the public eye, Smit made his comeback at the "Museumpleinconcert" (Museum Square Concert) on "Koninginnedag" (Queen's Day) in 2008.
2008–2015: The Bombardment and 15th anniversary.
On 14 July 2008 Smit released his single "Stilte in de Storm" (Silence in the storm) which entered the Single Top 100 at the top spot. It was his seventh number-one song. In the fall of 2008 he was featured in a new season of "Jan Smit, de Zomer Voorbij" (Jan Smit, After the Summer), and was chosen as team captain in the program "Te Leuk Om Waar Te Zijn" (Too cute to be Real). On 8 November 2008, "Als je Lacht" (When you smile) was released and became his 8th number 1 hit in the Netherlands was. On 28 February 2009 his 9th number 1 hit was "Je Naar in de Sterren" (Your name in starlight).
Although Smit's popularity kept growing in The Netherlands, his popularity in Germany waned. Smit blamed this on the fact that the German audience prefers true Schlager music or pop music, while Smit's style is something in between, which the Germans were not keen on. In the meantime, Smith stopped presenting television programs. In July 2009 he released a duet with Surinamese singer Damaru (singer) titled "Mi Rowsu (Tuintje in mijn hart)", released to benefit SOS Children's Villages. The song reached the number one spot in both The Netherlands as well as Suriname.
On 3 September 2009 Smit presented for the TROS the first episode of the program "Ik Weet Wat Jij Deed" (I know what you did). In addition, the third season of "Jan Smit, de Zomer Voorbij" (Jan Smit, After the Summer) premiered on 20 September 2009. This time the series was shot in Italy. Smit's next single "Leef Nu Het Kan" (Live while you can) entered the Single Top 100 at the number one spot on 6 March 2010. After The Beatles and Marco Borsato, Smit is the artist that has been the longest at number 1 in The Netherlands in the history of the weekly charts (1960–present). In April 2010, Smit was elected to be the Dutch mascot for Amarula. Smit's single "Terug in de Tijd" (Back in the Days) of his album "Leef" (Live) entered the charts on 19 June 2010 and reached the second position a week later, its highest position. His next song, "Zie Wel Hoe Ik Thuis Kom" (I will figure out how to get home) reached number one on 25 September 2010 in the Dutch Single Top 100. On 15 January 2011 his song "Niemand Zo Trots Als Wij" (No one as proud as we are) entered the charts at number one. On 30 September 2011 Smit released "Hou Je Dan Nog Steeds Van Mijn" (Do you still love me) and a month later the collection "15 Jaar Hits" (15 years of hits). The single again reached the highest position in the Top 100 after just one week. During the RTL-4 program "Koffietijd" Smit received a gold record for selling 10,000 copies. Eddy Veerman released a biography, titled "Het Geheim van de Smit" (The Secret of Smit).
From 2011, he and Cornald Maas commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of the AVROTROS.
In 2012 Jan Smit celebrated his 15th anniversary of being in show business. In August, he released the album "Vrienden" (Friends), which was awarded a platinum record. Smit also had three number one hits in 2012: 1. "Echte Vrienden" (True Friends), a duet with Gerard Joling, 2. the song "Altijd Naar" (Always There) and 3. "Sla Je Armen Om Me Heen" (Wrap your arms around me), a duet with Roos van Erkel. As part of the anniversary celebration Smit performed five concerts in Rotterdam Ahoy, with guest appearances by Gerard Joling, Yes-R, Carola Smit and Damaru. In 2012 a biography was published chronicling Jan Smit's life. Towards the end of 2012 he starred in the film "Het Bombardement" (The Bombardment). On the day the film was released both critics and audiences panned the movie, but it was noted that Smits acting debut "was the least of the problems of the whole movie". However, since more than one hundred thousand people went to see the film in the cinema it still managed to be awarded with a golden film status.
Since 2012 Smit has been the presenter of "De Beste Zangers van Nederland" (The Best Singers of The Netherlands). Each episode features a central singer, whom selects songs for other participants to sing. The featured singers does not perform themselves, but instead judges the other singers. On 4 June 2016 there was a special edition of the program, the featured guest was not one of the singers, but Smit himself. This episode was a tribute to Jan Smit because he was celebrating his 20-year anniversary of being in show business. In 2012 Smit launched the record label "Vosound Records" together with Jaap Buijs. Other artists on the label are Smit's sister Monique Smit, Tim Douwsma and Gerard Joling. Additionally in 2012 Smit was awarded the "TrosKompas Oeuvre Award".
At the end of February 2013 Smit published the DVD and double CD and DVD "Live in Ahoy, Jubilee Concert 2012". On 17 March 2013 Jan returned to German television after a seven-year absence. In the ARD program "Das Frühlingsfest der 100,000 Blüten" Smit presented his single "Bleiben wie du bist" (Stay who you are). After the TV appearance the single was available to download for free download for 48 hours. After six minutes, the site crashed due to the amount of requests. A list of hit songs called ""Volendammer Top 1000" was created by a large number of local television and radio stations in Northern Holland, in which Smit had more than 70 entries.
As in 2011, Smith had three nights at the Amsterdam Arena during Toppers in Concert 2013. In 2014, Smith played a supporting role in Cops Maastricht.
In 2015 Jaap Buijs died. Because of this Smit skipped a season of hit show "De Zomer Voorbij" (Passed the Summer) as well as presenting "Muziekfeest of het Plein" (Music Festival on the Square) in Heerenveen (broadcast on 14 and 18 August) which instead was presented by Frans Duijts since this episode was recorded in the week Jaap Buijs died and Jan Smit did not consider it appropriate to stand on a square full of people in party-mode. In November 2015 Smit released a new Christmas album. The album titled "Kerst Voor Iedereen" (Christmas For Everyone) contains eight Christmas classics and four new Christmas songs.
2016–present: KLUBBB3, Toppers and Eurovision Song Contest.
Solo career.
In 2016 Smit celebrated being in show business for 20 years. He started touring the country in September with his "Elfsteden Tour" (Eleven City Tour). In 2017 he released the DVD "Live in HMH". His jubilee album "20" made it to number 1 in the Album Top 100. He was set to present the show "Gouden Televizier-Ring Gala", but he withdrew from the engagement because he was nominated for one of the awards for his contribution to Beste Zangers. In March 2018 he appeared for the first time in his career at the "Sportpaleis" in Antwerp. He released his new album "Met Andere Woorden" (In Other Words) on 20 September 2018. For this album he invited several famous Dutch artists to write song for him, including Jan Keizer (singer), Barry Hay, Guus Meeuwis, BLØF