Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Prior to the 2019 contest, the Netherlands had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-nine 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 six 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] In 2018 Waylon ended 18th with the song "Outlaw in 'Em".

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 2019, the broadcaster opted to select the Dutch entry through an internal selection as usual.[8]

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. On 28 January 2019, 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. Netherlands was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 16 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[13]

Once all the competing songs for the 2019 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Netherlands was set to perform in position 16, following the entry from Norway and preceding the entry from North Macedonia.[14]

The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast on NPO 1 with commentary by Jan Smit and Cornald Maas.[15] The Dutch spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Dutch jury during the final, was Emma Wortelboer.[16]

Performance

Duncan Laurence performs Arcade at a dress rehearsal for semi-final 2 of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.

The live performance features Laurence dressed in blue and playing an electric piano alone on stage with a single spotlight focused on him. He said it was to re-create the emotions and feelings he had when he first wrote the song.[20] The backdrop consisted of blue atmospheric visuals similar to those of the music video, with a white light descending from the ceiling during the second chorus and bridge to symbolize the hope he lost and sought to find again.[21] Offstage backing vocals were provided by Kris Rietveld, Marcel Swerissen and Sarina Voorn.

Points awarded by the Netherlands

Semi-final 2 Score Televote Jury 12 points  Norway  Sweden 10 points  Sweden  Malta 8 points   Switzerland   Switzerland 7 points  Azerbaijan  Russia 6 points  North Macedonia  Moldova 5 points  Armenia  Croatia 4 points  Denmark  North Macedonia 3 points  Russia  Denmark 2 points  Lithuania  Armenia 1 point  Malta  Azerbaijan

Final Score Televote Jury 12 points  Norway  Sweden 10 points  Italy   Switzerland 8 points  Sweden  Malta 7 points  Iceland  Denmark 6 points   Switzerland  Italy 5 points  Denmark  Russia 4 points  Azerbaijan  Czech Republic 3 points  Spain  North Macedonia 2 points  Australia  Australia 1 point  North Macedonia  Cyprus

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Dutch jury:[22]

• Elise van der Horst – Chairperson – singer, songwriter
• Holger Schwedt – producer
• Ruud de Wild – radio DJ, host
• Henkjan Smits – host, talent scount, producer
• Sabrina Starke – singer, songwriter

Split voting results from the Netherlands (Semi-final 2)
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		E. van der Horst	H. Schwedt	R. de Wild	H. Smits	S. Starke	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Armenia	8	8	7	15	5	9	2	6	5
02	Ireland	13	11	5	10	13	11		15
03	Moldova	7	10	3	8	3	5	6	16
04	Switzerland	2	6	4	4	14	3	8	3	8
05	Latvia	11	14	15	17	11	15		13
06	Romania	9	12	14	13	15	14		14
07	Denmark	10	9	2	5	10	8	3	7	4
08	Sweden	1	1	1	1	2	1	12	2	10
09	Austria	17	15	16	16	12	17		17
10	Croatia	3	2	12	6	16	6	5	12
11	Malta	4	4	10	2	1	2	10	10	1
12	Lithuania	14	13	8	7	9	12		9	2
13	Russia	5	3	13	3	8	4	7	8	3
14	Albania	16	17	9	14	17	16		11
15	Norway	12	16	17	12	7	13		1	12
16	Netherlands
17	North Macedonia	6	5	6	11	4	7	4	5	6
18	Azerbaijan	15	7	11	9	6	10	1	4	7

Split voting results from the Netherlands (final)
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		E. van der Horst	H. Schwedt	R. de Wild	H. Smits	S. Starke	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Malta	4	2	19	3	4	3	8	17
02	Albania	19	18	22	22	25	23		20
03	Czech Republic	5	16	9	6	6	7	4	13
04	Germany	13	17	6	21	8	12		21
05	Russia	3	4	11	7	11	6	5	11
06	Denmark	8	5	1	4	10	4	7	6	5
07	San Marino	24	24	25	25	24	25		12
08	North Macedonia	6	10	8	8	9	8	3	10	1
09	Sweden	1	3	2	2	1	1	12	3	8
10	Slovenia	20	22	24	24	18	24		15
11	Cyprus	7	7	20	17	5	10	1	22
12	Netherlands
13	Greece	25	25	14	23	23	22		25
14	Israel	21	23	15	20	22	21		18
15	Norway	12	13	21	16	19	18		1	12
16	United Kingdom	16	15	12	14	12	16		23
17	Iceland	17	19	23	15	21	20		4	7
18	Estonia	23	14	18	19	17	19		14
19	Belarus	18	11	10	12	16	15		24
20	Azerbaijan	14	8	17	11	13	14		7	4
21	France	15	12	16	13	7	13		16
22	Italy	10	9	3	9	2	5	6	2	10
23	Serbia	11	20	5	10	14	11		19
24	Switzerland	2	1	4	1	3	2	10	5	6
25	Australia	9	6	13	5	15	9	2	9	2
26	Spain	22	21	7	18	20	17		8	3

• Netherlands in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Media related to Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 at Wikimedia Commons

• Official AVROTROS Eurovision site