The (; ) was a Dutch song competition between regional public broadcasters. The format of the competition was loosely based on the Eurovision Song Contest and was first used in 1995 under its original title (). Every edition featured thirteen original songs that were performed in a live broadcast, each representing a region of the Netherlands. From the competing entries, a winner was determined through a combination of televoting and votes cast by regional juries.
History The format of the competition was first used for the Dutch Song Contest 1995. It was developed by the (ROOS) – the umbrella organisation of Dutch regional public broadcasters – and the Conamus Foundation to celebrate fifty years of regional public broadcasting in the Netherlands. In addition, it served as a substitute for the , which was not held in 1995.
Despite ambitions for it to become an annual event, the competition was not renewed for a second edition in 1996. In May 2023, twenty-eight years after the 1995 edition, the thirteen regional public broadcasters announced the launch of a reworked version of the format under the name Regio Songfestival. The inaugural edition was held on 4 November 2023, with a second and third edition held in 2024 and 2025. The annual competition was cancelled following the 2025 edition, as it failed to generate the desired impact.
Competition overview Year Date Host city Presenter(s) Winner Region Artist Song Language 1995 Utrecht Karin Bloemen "" Dutch 2023 Utrecht Stefania Liberakakis, and Bernadette Keizer " Dutch, Limburgish 2024 , Yaël Weijenberg and Bas van Mulken "" Dutch 2025 Jochem van Gelder, Linda Geerdink and Rik Bronkhorst Iwan and Jeroen "" Dutch, Low Saxon
Overall ranking RankRegionPlacingsAverage1995202320242025114512.752102324.253133235.254410455.755356106.006671147.0071211067.258813187.50998878.0010 West512798.2511 Rijnmond2613138.50127119129.7513119121110.75
Format Thirteen original songs representing different regions of the Netherlands are performed in a live television show, broadcast simultaneously by all participating broadcasters. A "region" as a participant is represented by its regional public broadcaster – one from each of the twelve provinces, with the exception of South Holland, which is represented by two broadcasters: one serving the province's northern subregions (The Hague and surroundings; presented as "West"), and one serving the southern subregions (Rotterdam and surroundings; presented as "Rijnmond").
Each participating broadcaster has sole discretion over the process it may employ to select its entry for the contest. Entrants may not have had a Top 40 hit prior to participating, and must perform in a regional language or dialect, or in Dutch./ Regional contests that have served as a broadcaster's selection process include (Omrop Fryslân) and the (RTV Drenthe).
The programme is staged by one of the regions and is broadcast from an auditorium in the selected host city. The winner is determined by a combination of votes cast by regional juries (67%) and a public televote (33%). In addition, an AI jury member, named Robin, was introduced in 2025, who evaluates entries based on the quality of their lyrics. Entries cannot receive points from their own regional jury. The participating broadcaster of the winning entry is given the honour of organising the following year's event.
2023 edition The first edition of the Regio Songfestival was held on 4 November 2023, beginning at 20:30 CET, and lasted approximately two hours. It was organised by the Netherlands' thirteen regional public broadcasters, with the (financial) support of Buma Cultuur, AVROTROS and the . The show was broadcast on television by all participating broadcasters, as well as AVROTROS on the national television channel NPO 1 Extra.
Competing entries + Participants of the Regio Songfestival 2023 Region Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s) RTV Drenthe Lisa Harms "" Low Saxon Omroep Flevoland Abtin Salem "" Dutch Omrop Fryslân "" West Frisian Melissa Pander Omroep Gelderland AleXingt! "" Dutch Alex van der Horst RTV Noord Wat Aans! "" Low Saxon L1 " Dutch, Limburgish Omroep Brabant Sam and Merijn Knoop "" Dutch Roy Koopmans NH Emma Koning "" Dutch Emma Koning RTV Oost "" Low Saxon Rijnmond RTV Rijnmond Remedy "" Dutch RTV Utrecht Melanie Ryan "" Dutch Melanie Reindertsen West Omroep West Lien "" Dutch Omroep Zeeland Smaakstof "" Dutch
Venue and presenters
RTV Utrecht, the regional public broadcaster of Utrecht, was asked to host the first edition of the Regio Songfestival due to the province's central location within the Netherlands. It was subsequently announced that the event would be staged at the , a theatre in the city of Utrecht. The venue has a capacity of 1,000 spectators.
On 2 October 2023, it was revealed that the show would be hosted by Greek-Dutch singer Stefania Liberakakis, alongside RTV Utrecht reporters and Bernadette Keizer. RTV Utrecht announced that Liberakakis and Ozinga would be the show's main presenters, while Keizer would serve as the green room host.
Contest overview The running order for the live show was published on 27 October 2023. The ABBA tribute band We Want ABBA!, featuring singers Mandy Huydts and , performed as an interval act.
RegionArtistSongPointsPlace1Melissa Pander""15952Leon Moorman""17233AleXingt!""41134Smaakstof""78115Lisa Harms""9686Emmy Ackermans"17717 RijnmondRemedy""14868Melanie Ryan""10279Sam and Merijn Knoop""172210Wat Aans!""172411Abtin Salem""84912Emma Koning""801013 WestLien""4912
Spokespersons The 10, 11 and 12-point scores from the juries were announced by a spokesperson from each region in the following order:
Iris Kroes
Linda Geerdink Elsa van Hermon René Steenbergen Henk Hover RijnmondEsther Hart
Tom van den Oetelaar
Maarten Faber WestDennis Weening and
Detailed voting results Place Combined Jury Public Region Points Region Points Region Points 1 177 120 78 2 172 113 72 3 172 112 65 4 172 Rijnmond 102 59 5 159 94 52 6 Rijnmond 148 87 Rijnmond 46 7 102 76 39 8 96 73 33 9 84 65 26 10 80 63 20 11 78 45 13 12 West 49 West 43 7 13 41 21 West 6 Voting procedure used: scope="col" rowspan="3" scope="col" rowspan="2" scope="col" rowspan="2" Jury vote scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="rowgroup" rowspan="13" Friesland 159 87 72 10 6 7 5 8 9 4 8 7 5 9 9 Overijssel 172 113 59 9 9 9 12 11 11 10 6 12 6 12 6 Gelderland 41 21 20 1 1 1 3 3 2 1 1 1 2 4 1 Zeeland 78 65 13 10 5 5 4 7 3 5 4 4 8 5 5 Drenthe 96 63 33 8 6 7 2 6 6 2 5 10 7 2 2 Limburg 177 112 65 7 8 11 5 9 8 12 12 8 9 1112 Rijnmond 148 102 46 5 9 8 10 7 9 11 9 11 4 811 Utrecht 102 76 26 6 4 2 3 1 12 12 7 5 10 68 North Brabant 172 120 52 11 11 10 11 8 10 10 9 9 11 1010 Groningen 172 94 78 12 12 12 12 11 5 5 3 11 3 1 7 Flevoland 84 45 39 2 3 1 4 10 2 4 7 3 2 3 4 North Holland 80 73 7 3 7 3 8 2 4 7 8 10 6 12 3 West 49 43 6 4 2 4 6 6 1 1 6 2 3 1 7
+ 12 points awarded by juries Recipient Regions giving 12 points 4 , , , 3 , , West , , 2 , Rijnmond 1
2024 edition The second edition of Regio Songfestival was held on 9 November 2024, beginning at 20:30 CET, and lasted approximately two hours. It was organised by L1, the regional public broadcaster of Limburg, following its victory in the 2023 edition. The show was broadcast on television by all participating broadcasters, as well as AVROTROS on the national television channel NPO 1 Extra.
Competing entries + Participants of the Regio Songfestival 2024 Region Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s) RTV Drenthe Marianne Veenstra" Low Saxon Omroep Flevoland Sanne-Maaike Oudshoorn "" Dutch Omrop Fryslân Fegebart "" West Frisian Omroep Gelderland "" Dutch RTV Noord "" Low Saxon L1 Maxime and Glyn "" Dutch Omroep Brabant "" Dutch NH "" Dutch RTV Oost Merlijn Dewasme "" Dutch Rijnmond RTV Rijnmond Braidy "" Dutch RTV Utrecht Thijs Swinkels "" Dutch West Omroep WestKopsmart" Schevenings Omroep Zeeland Cycz "" Dutch
Venue and presenters
The event was staged at the in Maastricht. The venue has a capacity of 915 spectators. On 4 July 2024, it was revealed that the show would be hosted by presenter and singer , alongside L1 reporters Yaël Camille Weijenberg and Riël Linssen. Linssen was later replaced by Bas van Mulken, who served as the green room host.
Contest overview The running order for the live show was published on 11 October 2024. Singer performed the song "" as an interval act.
RegionArtistSongPointsPlace1Thijs Swinkels""78112Marianne Veenstra"10183Merlijn Dewasme""17124Cycz""9295 WestKopsmart"11076Dominique de Bont""16937Maxime and Glyn""81108Renee Rose""15149Fegebart""134610Sanne-Maaike Oudshoorn""6012 11 Emma Luca ""193112 RijnmondBraidy""491313Trap Aan!""1415
Spokespersons The 10, 11 and 12-point scores from the juries were announced by a spokesperson from each region in the following order:
René Steenbergen
Elsa van Hermon West Tom van den Oetelaar Maxime Cabo Maarten Faber Sipke Jan Bousema Roy Blokzijl Eric van den Berg RijnmondJoan Franka Rik Baptist
Detailed voting results Place Combined Jury Public Region Points Region Points Region Points 1 193 121 78 2 171 11072 3 169 106 65 4 151 105 59 5 141 95 52 6 134 West 84 46 7 West 110 81 39 8 101 72 33 9 92 63 West 26 10 81 48 20 11 78 47 13 12 60 Rijnmond 42 Rijnmond 7 13 Rijnmond 49 40 6 Voting procedure used: scope="col" rowspan="3" scope="col" rowspan="2" scope="col" rowspan="2" Jury vote scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="rowgroup" rowspan="13" Utrecht78726 9 5 10 4 5 7 5 1 11 8 43 Drenthe1018120 7 8 5 6 9 8 9 12 3 7 34 Overijssel17110665 11 6 8 9 6 9 8 11 9 10 910 Zeeland924052 5 4 2 5 1 1 1 4 1 6 55 West1108426 8 12 10 2 10 2 7 8 2 11 111 North Brabant16911059 10 7 9 9 8 10 12 9 7 9 119 Limburg814833 4 3 4 3 1 2 2 7 5 5 102 North Holland15110546 9 5 6 12 10 11 12 6 10 12 66 Friesland1349539 3 10 12 4 12 8 4 10 6 2 1212 Flevoland604713 6 1 3 6 7 3 3 4 5 1 71 Gelderland19312172 12 11 11 11 11 12 11 11 3 12 88 Rijnmond49427 1 2 1 7 3 4 5 3 2 4 3 7 Groningen1416378 2 8 7 1 2 7 6 6 10 8 4 2 + 12 points awarded by juries Recipient Regions giving 12 points 4 , , Rijnmond, West 3 , , , , , 1 West
2025 edition The third edition of Regio Songfestival was held on 1 November 2025 at 20:30 CET, and lasted approximately two hours. It was organised by Omroep Gelderland after their win in the previous year's edition. The show was broadcast on television by all participating broadcasters, as well as AVROTROS on the national television channel NPO 1 Extra.
Competing entries + Participants of the Regio Songfestival 2025 Region Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s) RTV Drenthe De Broers Roo "" Low Saxon Omroep Flevoland Luca Ferron "" Dutch Omrop Fryslân Anke Stilma "" West Frisian Omroep Gelderland Droadneagels "" Low Saxon RTV Noord Iwan and Jeroen "" Dutch, Low Saxon L1 Fourtune "" Dutch Omroep Brabant Rosa Spruit"" Dutch Rosa Spruit NH Kelsey Verbrugge "" Dutch RTV Oost Poelepetaten "" Low Saxon Morten Boerman Rijnmond RTV Rijnmond Flora "" Dutch Denise Nathalie Voss RTV Utrecht Dyde "" Dutch West Omroep West Driewieler "" Dutch Omroep Zeeland Tarzan & the Beachwaiters "" Dutch
Venue and presenters
On 26 April 2025, it was announced that the contest would be staged at the in Arnhem. On 3 June 2025, Omroep Gelderland unveiled that Jochem van Gelder, Linda Geerdink and Rik Bronkhorst would host the event, all three being TV and radio presenters at the broadcaster.
Contest overview The running order for the live show was published on 8 October 2025. Sieneke performed her 2010 Eurovision entry "" as an interval act.