(; ) was an annual music competition originally organised by the Dutch public broadcaster (NTS), and later by the (NOS) and the (TROS). It was staged almost every year between 1956 and 2012 to determine the country's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The festival has produced four Eurovision winners and eight top-five placings for the Netherlands at the contest.
Due to declining interest in the competition and the Netherlands' poor performance in the Eurovision Song Contest in the late 2000s and early 2010s, it was decided that the Dutch entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 would be internally selected. As this led to the Netherlands' best Eurovision result in over ten years, has not been organised since. The children's version of the competition, , is still active.
History
From 1956 to 1969, was organised by the (NTS). From 1970 onwards, the show was produced and broadcast by the (NOS), with the exception of the 2003, 2004 and 2005 editions, which were organised by the (TROS). After the 2006 edition, the NOS stated that it no longer wanted to organise the competition. After a two-year hiatus, the TROS took over the event in 2009.
Throughout the years, different formats were used to determine which artist and/or song would represent the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition was usually held in February or March. In 1985, 1991, 1995 and 2002, was not organised, because the Netherlands would not take part in that year's Eurovision Song Contest.
In 1961, 1963, 1980, 2007 and 2008, the Dutch entry for the Eurovision Song Contest was not selected through , but was chosen internally by a special committee. The 1963 edition of had initially been scheduled to take place on 23 January, but was postponed to 11 February and ultimately cancelled due to a strike of the Metropole Orchestra. In 2007, a special edition of the show , titled , was broadcast in which Edsilia Rombley performed three potential Eurovision entries, after which she announced which song she had picked.
2009–2012: Final years After a two-year hiatus, returned in 2009 as the selection method for the Dutch Eurovision entry; this time to select a song for De Toppers, who had been internally selected by the TROS as the Dutch representatives. In 2010, this format was reversed when the song "" written by Pierre Kartner was internally selected, and the performer was chosen through . Both schlager acts failed to qualify for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest and were subject of heavy criticism in the Netherlands.
When asked in the talk show Pauw & Witteman why "acknowledged composers" are no longer involved in writing the "best possible songs" for , Eric van Tijn, composer of the winning entries "" (1993) and "" (1998), stated that "it is not an honour anymore to take part in [the competition]". He attributed the Netherlands' poor performance in the Eurovision Song Contest to the NOS and TROS's limited budgets, which did not allow established songwriters to present their songs in the best possible way, thereby making it unattractive to submit an entry.
After more disappointing Eurovision results that continued to produce in 2011 and 2012, Anouk approached TROS to represent the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. While initially TROS was pushing for another selection that year, Anouk refused to participate in it and wanted to be internally selected with full creative control over the entry. Ultimately, TROS decided to select her, and she went on to represent the country with the song "Birds". Anouk was the first Dutch entrant to qualify for a Eurovision final since , which is the longest non-qualification streak of any country to date. With this success, has not been held since. In subsequent years, the internal selection method led the Netherlands to more success, including placing second in , and winning the .
Voting
In the 1956, 1957, 1958 and 1967 editions, the winning entry was chosen through postcard voting: the public could vote by sending a postcard with the title of their favourite song to a specified address, with the song that received the most postcards being declared the winner. From 1959 onwards, juries often had a role in determining the winner of . Many editions had twelve regional juries, one for each province (and one for the Zuidelijke IJsselmeerpolders prior to becoming a separate province). Other editions had a single (international) professional jury or expert panel.
A notable voting method was used in 1975, when the audience in the Jaarbeurs was asked to put a rose in one of three vases corresponding to the three competing entries. The vase containing the most roses (the one of Teach-In) was declared the winner. Televoting was first introduced in the 1997 edition. Since then, the voting system of has often been a combination of jury voting and televoting, largely resembling the voting system of the Eurovision Song Contest.
The voting in the 2010 edition led to much controversy, as it resulted in a tie which – according to the rules – had to be broken by composer Pierre Kartner. Kartner refused to choose between the two artists as he considered them to be "equally strong", and suggested to decide by flipping a coin instead. After much insistence from presenter Yolanthe Cabau, Kartner ultimately chose Sieneke as the winner of the competition.
Past editions + Table key ◇ Contest cancelled YearDate of finalVenuePresenter(s)Entries195624 AprilAVRO Studios, Hilversum819573 FebruaryAVRO Studios, HilversumKarin Kraaykamp8195811 FebruaryAVRO Studios, HilversumTanja Koen11195917 FebruaryAVRO Studios, HilversumKarin Kraaykamp819609 FebruaryAVRO Studios, HilversumHannie Lips and Piet te Nuyl Jr.8196227 FebruaryTheater Concordia, BussumHannie Lips and 7196311 February ◇Theater Concordia, Bussum ◇3 ◇196424 FebruaryTivoli, Utrecht3196513 FebruaryTheater Concordia, BussumTeddy Scholten1519665 FebruaryTivoli, UtrechtTeddy Scholten1519676196828 FebruaryTivoli, UtrechtElles Berger4196926 FebruaryCircustheater, The HaguePim Jacobs10197011 FebruaryCongresgebouw, The HaguePim Jacobs10197124 FebruaryNOS Studios, HilversumWilly Dobbe6197222 FebruaryTheater Carré, Amsterdam3197328 FebruaryTheater Carré, Amsterdam and Viola van Emmenes4197427 FebruaryJaarbeurs, UtrechtWillem Duys3197526 FebruaryJaarbeurs, UtrechtWillem Duys3197618 FebruaryCongresgebouw, The HagueWillem Duys519772 FebruaryCongresgebouw, The Hague10197822 FebruaryCongresgebouw, The HagueWillem Duys819797 FebruaryRAI, AmsterdamMartine Bijl5198111 MarchTheater Zuidplein, Rotterdam and Elles Berger10198224 FebruaryCircustheater, The HagueLenny Kuhr3198323 FebruaryCongresgebouw, The HagueIvo Niehe10198414 MarchNOS Studios, Hilversum1019861 AprilDe Flint, AmersfoortPim Jacobs10198725 MarchRoyal Conservatory, The HagueAstrid Joosten6198823 MarchCongresgebouw, The HagueAstrid Joosten6198910 MarchRAI, AmsterdamLinda de Mol13199010 MarchCongresgebouw, The Hague20199229 MarchNOS Studios, HilversumBas Westerweel10199326 MarchEscape, AmsterdamPaul de Leeuw8199426 MarchAT&T Danstheater, The HaguePaul de Leeuw819963 MarchCinevideo Studio, AlmereIvo Niehe15199723 FebruaryMarcanti Plaza, AmsterdamBart Peeters and Joop van Zijl619988 MarchRAI, AmsterdamPaul de Leeuw and Linda de Mol8199914 MarchStudio 22, HilversumPaul de Leeuw and Linda de Mol10200027 FebruaryRotterdam Ahoy, RotterdamPaul de Leeuw820013 MarchRotterdam Ahoy, RotterdamPaul de Leeuw820031 March32200422 FebruaryPepsi Stage, AmsterdamNance Coolen and Humberto Tan24200513 FebruaryPepsi Stage, AmsterdamNance Coolen and 24200612 MarchHeineken Music Hall, AmsterdamPaul de Leeuw920091 FebruaryStudio 22, HilversumJack van Gelder620107 FebruaryStudio Baarn, BaarnYolanthe Cabau5201130 JanuaryStudio 21, HilversumYolanthe Cabau5201226 FebruaryStudio 24, HilversumJan Smit and Vivienne van den Assem6
Winners +Table keyWinnerThird placeLast placeArtist/song internally selected YearArtistSongSongwriter(s) 1956 Corry Brokken"" Unknown 1957 Corry Brokken""1 1958 Corry Brokken""9 ◁ 1959 Teddy Scholten"1 1960 Rudi Carrell""12 1962De Spelbrekers""13 ◁ 1964Anneke Grönloh †""10 1965Conny Vandenbos"11 1966Milly Scott""15 1967Thérèse Steinmetz †""14 1968Ronnie Tober""16 ◁ 1969Lenny Kuhr""1 1970Hearts of Soul""7 1971Saskia and Serge †""6 1972Sandra and Andres †""4 1973Ben Cramer †""14 1974Mouth and MacNeal †""3 1975Teach-In""1 1976Sandra Reemer"The Party's Over"9 1977Heddy Lester""12 1978"13 1979Xandra †"Colorado"12 1981Linda Williams""9 1982Bill van Dijk""16 1983Bernadette"Sing Me a Song"7 1984Maribelle""13 1986Frizzle Sizzle""13 1987Marcha †""5 1988Gerard Joling †"Shangri-la"9 1989Justine Pelmelay""15 1990Maywood""15 1992Humphrey Campbell""9 1993Ruth Jacott †""6 1994Willeke Alberti †""23 1996Maxine and Franklin Brown""7 1997Mrs. Einstein †""22 1998Edsilia Rombley""4 1999Marlayne"One Good Reason"8 2000Linda Wagenmakers"No Goodbyes"13 2001Michelle"Out On My Own"18 2003Esther Hart"One More Night"13 2004Re-union"Without You"20 2005Glennis Grace"My Impossible Dream" 2006Treble"Amambanda" 2009De Toppers †"Shine" 2010Sieneke"" † 20113JS †"" 2012Joan Franka"You and Me"
Musical styles and artists
In the early years of the competition, entries used to be entirely in Dutch, even though the Eurovision rules did not dictate any language restrictions until 1966. The rule that a country's entries must be performed in one of its national languages was first abolished in 1973, which led to the 1974 en 1975 winners "" and "" being performed in English at the Eurovision Song Contest (as "I See a Star" and "Ding-a-dong"). In 1976, "The Party's Over" by Sandra Reemer was the first song in a language other than Dutch to win .
The Eurovision Song Contest's language rule was reintroduced in 1977 and abolished once again in 1999, after which the majority of entries at each year's were performed in English. The 2000 edition marked the first time an entry in West Frisian, "" by Gina de Wit, was selected to take part in the competition. In 2003, the operatic pop entry "" by Arwin Kluft was the first to be fully in Italian. In 2006, the lyrics of the winning song "Amambanda" by Treble were partly in an imaginary language.
Throughout the years, the competition also diversified in terms of musical styles. In its early years, Dutch chansons and jazz songs dominated in the competition. Later, there was also room for more experimental entries, such as the rumba song "" by Milly Scott (1st, 1966). In the 1980s, the synth-pop genre gained popularity in with entries such as "" (1st, 1987) and "Shangri-la" (1st, 1988), and by the late 1990s and the early 2000s, mid-to-uptempo dance-pop had become a successful genre in the competition. Entries in this genre included "No Goodbyes" by Linda Wagenmakers (1st, 2000), "So Much Love" by Ebonique (2nd, 2001), and "One More Night" by Esther Hart (1st, 2003). In the same period, the a cappella genre made its debut with the entries "" (3rd, 2001) and "Celeste" (5th, 2004).
While many established artists, such as Patricia Paay (1969), Bonnie St. Claire (1970, 1977, 1982), and Gordon (1990, 2003), have participated in , the competition has also been a stage for new talent. Notable newcomers included Justine Pelmelay (1989), Marlayne (1999), Ben and Dean Saunders (2003), and Waylon (2005).
See also Dansk Melodi Grand Prix Liet International Melodi Grand Prix Melodifestivalen Regio Songfestival Sanremo Music Festival
References
External links