Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest

Netherlands
Member station	AVROTROS (2014–)[1] Former members NTS (1956–1969) NOS (1970–2009)[2] TROS (2010–2013)[2]
National selection events	National final 1956–1960 1962–1979 1981–1984 1986–1990 1992–1994 1996–2001 2003–2006 2009–2012 Internal Selection 1961 1980 2007–2008 2013–present
Participation summary
Appearances	58 (49 finals)
First appearance	1956
Best result	1st: 1957, 1959, 1969, 1975
Worst result	Last: 1956, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1968, 2011 SF Nul points: 1962, 1963
External links
songfestival.nl
Netherlands's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017

The Netherlands, presented in the contest as The Netherlands,^[3] has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 58 times since making its debut as one of the seven countries competing in the very first contest in 1956. It has missed only four contests so far (1985, 1991, 1995 and 2002). The preselection process was often done through the Nationaal Songfestival, with the winner qualifying to represent the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest. The Netherlands has won the contest four times.

With four victories, the Netherlands ranks in the top 10 most successful Eurovision countries. The country's first two victories came in the 1950s, with Corry Brokken in 1957 and Teddy Scholten in 1959. The 1960s was a mostly unsuccessful decade for the country, the exception was in 1969, when Lenny Kuhr won a third title for the Dutch with "De Troubadour", winning in a four-way tie with France, Spain and the UK. Sandra & Andres finished fourth in 1972 and Mouth & MacNeal were third in 1974, before Teach-In achieved the Netherlands fourth victory in 1975 with Ding-A-Dong. The Netherlands best result of the 1980s was fifth, achieved by both Maggie MacNeal (of Mouth & MacNeal) in 1980 and Marcha in 1987. In the 1990s, Ruth Jacott, with sixth place in 1993 and Edsilia Rombley, with fourth in 1998, achieved the Netherlands best results of the decade. The Netherlands have finished last in the contest final on four occasions, in 1958, 1962, 1963 and 1968. They also finished last in the semi-final in 2011.

Since the semi-finals were introduced in 2004, the Netherlands has reached the final on five occasions, failing to reach the final for eight years in a row, from 2005–2012. Opting for an internal selection has fared well for the Netherlands since 2013, when Anouk became the first Dutch entry in nine years to qualify for the final, where she finished ninth. In 2014, another internal selection proved to be a success, when country duo The Common Linnets, made up of members Ilse DeLange and Waylon, became the Netherlands' most successful entry since 1975, placing second. The Netherlands once again qualified for the final in 2016 (with Douwe Bob) and 2017 (with O'G3NE), finishing 11th both times.

The Netherlands has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest four times: in 1958, 1970, 1976 and 1980. The first three times were after winning the previous year, while the 1980 contest was staged in the Netherlands, after Israel (who had won in 1979) declined to organise the event for a second consecutive year. Similarly, the Netherlands had declined the right to organise the 1960 contest, as they had hosted the event just two years previously.

Non-participations

The Netherlands has missed only four contests in its Eurovision history. The first of these was at the 1985 contest, held in Gothenburg, Sweden. The contest, held on 4 May conflicted with the Dutch Remembrance of the Dead and as such the Netherlands withdrew.^[4]

In 1991 the contest was again held on 4 May, and so the Netherlands withdrew for the same reason as six years earlier.^[5]

There was no Dutch participation in the 1995 and 2002 contests, due to relegation as a result of the country's poor showings in the previous year.

The Netherlands did compete in 2000. But at 22:00 (UTC+2) on Saturday 13 May, the broadcast was cancelled because of the Enschede fireworks disaster which happened a few hours before.^[6] The points awarded by the Netherlands were taken from the back-up jury vote, as there was no televote after the program was cut short.

Contestants

Table key

NOTE: The full results for the first contest are unknown, only the winner was announced. The official Eurovision site lists all the other songs as being placed second.

Voting history

As of 2017, Netherlands' voting history is as follows:

Most points given in the grand finals only Rank Country Points 1  Belgium 173 2  France 162  Sweden 4  United Kingdom 155 5  Ireland 149 Most points received in the grand finals only Rank Country Points 1  Belgium 146 2  France 135 3  Ireland 132 4  Germany 127 5   Switzerland 122

Most points given in the semis and finals Rank Country Points 1  Belgium 229 2  Sweden 204 3  Denmark 179 4  Ireland 172 5  Israel 170 Most points received in the semis and finals Rank Country Points 1  Belgium 228 2  France 164  Ireland 4  Austria 157 5  Germany 150

Hostings

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Artistic Award

Voted by previous winners

Voted by commentators

Composer Award

Commentators

Over the years NOS/TROS commentary has been provided by several experienced radio and television presenters, including Willem Duys, Ivo Niehe, Pim Jacobs, Ati Dijckmeester and Paul de Leeuw. Willem van Beusekom provided NOS TV commentary every year from 1987 until 2005.^[9] However, on November 7, 2005 it was announced that Van Beusekom would quit his role as Dutch commentator saying "It's good to step back".^[10] He was replaced by his co-commentator Cornald Maas who commentated on the contest from 2004 until 2010.

On June 29, 2010 Maas was sacked as commentator after putting insults on Twitter about Sieneke, Joran van der Sloot and the Party for Freedom (PVV).^[11] After this, DJ Daniël Dekker, who had been commentating next to Maas, took over together with Jan Smit. In 2014, Maas returned, now himself replacing Dekker, as commentator together with Smit.

1. ^ Douwe Bob, Dutch representative in the 2016 Contest, was the second dual commentator for the second semi-final.

Photogallery

• 
  Corry Brokken at Hilversum (1958)
• 
  Conny Vandenbos at Naples (1965)
• 
  Edsilia Rombley at Helsinki (2007)
• 
  Hind at Belgrade (2008)
• 
  Sieneke at Bærum, Oslo (2010)
• 
  Anouk at Malmö (2013)
• 
  The Common Linnets at Copenhagen (2014)
• 
  Trijntje Oosterhuis at Vienna (2015)
• 
  Douwe Bob at Stockholm (2016)
• 
  O'G3NE at Kyiv (2017)
• 
  Sandra Reemer with the outfit she wore in 1979
• 
  The 1958 Eurovision scoreboard

See also

• Nationaal Songfestival
• Netherlands in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Junior version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
• Netherlands in the Eurovision Dance Contest – Dance version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
• Netherlands in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21.
• Netherlands in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger.

References

External links

• Points to and from the Netherlands eurovisioncovers.co.uk

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 2017
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 O'G3NE
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" "Slow Down" "Lights and Shadows"
Note: Entries scored out are when Netherlands did not compete