Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016

Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Country	Netherlands
National selection
Selection process	Internal Selection
Selection date(s)	Artist: 22 September 2015 Song: 4 March 2016
Selected entrant	Douwe Bob
Selected songwriter(s)	Douwe Bob Jan Peter Hoekstra Jeroen Overman Matthijs van Duijvenbode
Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2015 • 2016

The Netherlands will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with a song written by Douwe Bob, Jan Peter Hoekstra, Jeroen Overman and Matthijs van Duijvenbode. The song will be performed by Douwe Bob, who was selected by the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS in September 2015 to represent the Netherlands at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. The song that Douwe Bob will perform at the contest will be presented on 2 March 2016.

Background

Prior to the 2016 contest, the Netherlands had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-six times since their début as one of seven countries to take part in the inaugural contest in 1956.^[1] Since then, the country has won the contest four times: in 1957 with the song "Net als toen" performed by Corry Brokken;^[2] in 1959 with the song "'n Beetje" performed by Teddy Scholten;^[3] in 1969 as one of four countries to tie for first place with "De troubadour" performed by Lenny Kuhr;^[4] and finally in 1975 with "Ding-a-Dong" performed by the group Teach-In.^[5] Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, the Netherlands had featured in only three finals. The Dutch least successful result has been last place, which they have achieved on five occasions, most recently in the second semi-final of the 2011 contest.^[6] The Netherlands has also received nul points on two occasions; in 1962 and 1963.^[7]

The Dutch national broadcaster, AVROTROS, broadcasts the event within the Netherlands and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The Netherlands has used various methods to select the Dutch entry in the past, such as the Nationaal Songfestival, a live televised national final to choose the performer, song or both to compete at Eurovision. However, internal selections have also been held on occasion. Since 2013, the broadcaster has internally selected the Dutch entry for the contest. In 2013, the internal selection of Anouk performing "Birds" managed to take the country to the final for the first time in eight years and placed ninth overall. In 2014, the internal selection of The Common Linnets performing the song "Calm After the Storm" qualified the nation to the final once again and placed second, making it the most successful Dutch result in the contest since their victory in 1975. For 2016, the broadcaster opted to continue selecting the Dutch entry through an internal selection.^[8]

Before Eurovision

Douwe Bob

Internal selection

Following Trijntje Oosterhuis' failure to qualify to the final of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Walk Along", the Dutch broadcaster issued a statement to the current affairs programme EenVandaag where they revealed that the broadcaster would continue to internally select both the artist and song for the Eurovision Song Contest and that several artists had already been in contact with the broadcaster in regards to participating.^[8] Artists that were rumoured in Dutch media to be in talks with AVROTROS included singer Dotan and the winners of the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland Iris Kroes, who won the second series, and O'G3NE, who won the fifth series.^[9][10][11]

On 20 September 2015, Dutch media reported that AVROTROS had selected singer Douwe Bob to represent the Netherlands at the 2016 contest.^[12][13] Douwe Bob was confirmed as the Dutch entrant on 22 September 2015 during the Dutch talk show De Wereld Draait Door.^[14] The selection of Douwe Bob as the Dutch representative occurred through a unanimous decision by a selection commission consisting of singer and television host Jan Smit, television host and author Cornald Maas, radio DJ Daniël Dekker and AVROTROS media-director Remco van Leen.^[15] During his interview on De Wereld Draait Door, Douwe Bob revealed that the selected song was an uptempo track that he recorded in Andalusia while working on material for an upcoming album.^[15]

On 8 December 2015, Douwe Bob was a guest on the radio 100% NL programme Goeiemorgen Lex where he revealed that the Dutch Eurovision song would be presented on 2 March 2016.^[16] The presentation of the song was later moved to 4 March 2016.^[17] During an interview for the media platform 3VOOR12 on 15 January 2016, Douwe Bob announced that his Eurovision song was written by Jan Peter Hoekstra, Jeroen Overman, Matthijs van Duijvenbode and Douwe Bob himself.^[18]

Preparation

On 2 January 2016, it was announced that Douwe Bob would work with director Hans Pannecoucke to develop the staging concept for his performance at the Eurovision Song Contest. Pannecoucke worked with the Dutch entrants in 2014 and 2015 in a similar role.^[19]

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.^[20] On 25 January 2016, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. The Netherlands was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2016, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.^[21]

References

External links

• Official AVROTROS Eurovision site

Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest   Participation 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016   Artists 1950s Jetty Paerl (1956) Corry Brokken (1956) Corry Brokken Corry Brokken Teddy Scholten 1960s Rudi Carrell Greetje Kauffeld De Spelbrekers Annie Palmen Anneke Grönloh Conny Vandenbos Milly Scott Thérèse Steinmetz Ronnie Tober Lenny Kuhr 1970s Hearts of Soul Saskia & Serge Sandra & Andres Ben Cramer Mouth & MacNeal Teach-In Sandra Reemer Heddy Lester Harmony Xandra 1980s Maggie MacNeal Linda Williams Bill van Dijk Bernadette Maribelle 1985 Frizzle Sizzle Marcha Gerard Joling Justine Pelmelay 1990s Maywood 1991 Humphrey Campbell Ruth Jacott Willeke Alberti 1995 Maxine & Franklin Brown Mrs. Einstein Edsilia Rombley Marlayne 2000s Linda Wagenmakers Michelle 2002 Esther Hart Re-Union Glennis Grace Treble Edsilia Rombley Hind De Toppers 2010s Sieneke 3JS Joan Franka Anouk The Common Linnets Trijntje Oosterhuis Douwe Bob   Songs 1950s "De vogels van Holland" (1956) "Voorgoed voorbij" (1956) "Net als toen" "Heel de wereld" "Een beetje" 1960s "Wat een geluk" "Wat een dag" "Katinka" "Een speeldoos" "Jij bent mijn leven" "'t Is genoeg" "Fernando en Filippo" "Ring-dinge-ding" "Morgen" "De troubadour" 1970s "Waterman" "Tijd" "Als het om de liefde gaat" "De oude muzikant" "I See A Star" "Ding-A-Dong" "The Party's Over" "De mallemolen" "'t Is OK" "Colorado" 1980s "Amsterdam" "Het is een wonder" "Jij en ik" "Sing Me a Song" "Ik hou van jou" 1985 "Alles heeft ritme" "Rechtop in de wind" "Shangri-La" "Blijf zoals je bent" 1990s "Ik wil alles met je delen" 1991 "Wijs me de weg" "Vrede" "Waar is de zon?" 1995 "De eerste keer" "Niemand heeft nog tijd" "Hemel en aarde" "One Good Reason" 2000s "No Goodbyes" "Out On My Own" 2002 "One More Night" "Without You" "My Impossible Dream" "Amambanda" "On Top of the World" "Your Heart Belongs to Me" "Shine" 2010s "Ik ben verliefd (Sha-la-lie)" "Never Alone" "You and Me" "Birds" "Calm After the Storm" "Walk Along" (Note: Entries scored out are when Netherlands did not compete)