Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest

1956–1969: Nederlandse Televisie Stichting

The Netherlands was one of seven countries to participate in the contest's inaugural edition in 1956, represented by the public broadcaster Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS). From the contest's inception, NTS established an annual national final, Nationaal Songfestival, to select its Eurovision entries. Success followed quickly: in 1957, Corry Brokken won the contest in Frankfurt with "Net als toen", giving the Netherlands its first victory. As a result, NTS hosted the 1958 contest in Hilversum. The Netherlands secured a second victory just two years later at the 1959 contest in Cannes, where Teddy Scholten performed "Een beetje", a song about being unfaithful in a relationship. Because NTS had only recently hosted the 1958 edition, it declined to host again; the 1960 contest was therefore held in London.^[2][3]

This initial period of success was followed by a string of poor results, including consecutive nul-points finishes in 1962 and 1963. Despite these competitive struggles, the Dutch entries set significant milestones for diversity and representation within the contest. In 1964, the Netherlands was represented by Anneke Grönloh, the first performer of Asian origin to appear in the competition.^[4] Two years later, in 1966, Dutch representative Milly Scott became the first Black artist to participate.^[4] Following another last-place finish in 1968 with Ronnie Tober's "Morgen", the Netherlands achieved a major turning point in 1969. At the international final in Madrid, the Dutch entry, "De troubadour" by Lenny Kuhr, finished in a four-way tie for first place alongside France, the United Kingdom, and Spain. Because the contest lacked a tie-breaking mechanism at the time, all four countries were declared joint winners.^[5]

1970–2009: Nederlandse Omroep Stichting

In May 1969, NTS merged into the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), which assumed responsibility for the country's Eurovision participation beginning in 1970. Following the four-way tie of 1969, the Netherlands won a drawing of lots against France to secure the hosting rights for the 1970 contest.^[6] The event was staged at the RAI Convention Centre in Amsterdam and hosted by Willy Dobbe.^[6] The Netherlands continued to achieve strong results throughout the early 1970s; Sandra and Andres finished fourth in 1972 with "Als het om de liefde gaat", followed by a third-place finish in 1974 with "I See a Star" by Mouth and MacNeal. In 1975, Teach-In won the Nationaal Songfestival and went on to secure the country's fourth Eurovision victory in Stockholm. Their entry, "Ding-a-dong", received six 12-point scores and became the first song in Eurovision history to win the contest from the opening position of the running order.

As the reigning champions, the Netherlands hosted the 1976 contest at the Congresgebouw in The Hague, with 1957 winner Corry Brokken serving as presenter. Returning artist Sandra Reemer placed ninth with "The Party's Over". The Congresgebouw hosted the competition again in 1980 after Israel, having won two consecutive editions, declined hosting duties.^[7] The Dutch entry that year, Maggie MacNeal's "Amsterdam", achieved a fifth-place finish. In 1982, the national selection courted controversy when the song "Jij en ik" was chosen over "Fantasy Island";^[8][9] performed by Bill van Dijk, it ultimately finished third-to-last at the international final. The Netherlands withdrew from the contest for the first time in 1985, because the event coincided with the national Remembrance of the Dead. Instead, the contest was aired with Dutch commentary as part of an experimental Europa TV broadcast the following day.^[10][11]

In 1986, facing financial constraints, NOS collaborated with fellow public broadcaster Veronica, which agreed to broadcast the contest and cover the participation fees.^[12][13] The following year, Marcha finished in a joint-fifth place with "Rechtop in de wind", marking the country's first top-five result since 1980. The Netherlands withdrew for a second time in 1991, as the final again fell on Remembrance Day. In 1993 and 1994, NOS internally selected an artist, and used Nationaal Songfestival to select the song. This method yielded a sixth-place finish for Ruth Jacott and "Vrede" in 1993, but proved less successful in 1994 when Willeke Alberti's "Waar is de zon?" placed 23rd, resulting in the country's relegation from the 1995 contest.

Nationaal Songfestival returned in 1996 with a revamped format featuring five semi-finals. The eventual winners, Maxine and Franklin Brown, placed seventh in Oslo with "De eerste keer". Two years later, Edsilia Rombley secured fourth place with "Hemel en aarde", achieving the Netherlands' best Eurovision result since 1975. However, fortunes declined into the new millennium; Michelle's 18th-place finish with "Out on My Own" in 2001 led to a forced relegation from the 2002 contest. The Netherlands returned in 2003 with Esther Hart, who placed 13th with "One More Night" and was honoured with the Marcel Bezençon Artistic Award. This brief recovery was cut short by the introduction of the semi-final format in 2004; following Glennis Grace's failure to qualify with "My Impossible Dream" in 2005, the Netherlands entered a lengthy non-qualification streak.^[14]

2010–present: TROS and AVROTROS

In 2010, TROS succeeded NOS as participating broadcaster, after NOS decided that handling the country's Eurovision participation no longer aligned with its core public broadcasting tasks.^[15] That year, Sieneke was selected to perform the song "Ik ben verliefd (Sha-la-lie)", but failed to qualify for the final. 3JS had the lowest score of all participants in the 2011 contest, and in 2012, Joan Franka also failed to qualify. The Netherlands missed out on the final eight years in a row, making it the country with the longest period of non-qualification in the contest.^[16]

To reverse this trend, TROS shifted its strategy in 2013 by internally selecting rock singer Anouk. Granted full artistic freedom,^[17] Anouk performed "Birds", advancing to the final and securing the Netherlands' first top 10 finish since 1999. Building on this success, TROS – which merged into AVROTROS the next year – continued to select its entry internally. In 2014, the Common Linnets won their semi-final and finished second overall with "Calm After the Storm". Aside from a 2015 non-qualification by Trijntje Oosterhuis, the Netherlands achieved steady success over the next three years, qualifying with Douwe Bob (11th), Ogene (11th), and Waylon (18th). The resurgence culminated in 2019, when Duncan Laurence secured the country's fifth victory – and first in 44 years – with the song "Arcade".^[14]

Rotterdam was chosen to host the 2020 contest, which was ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and replaced by the non-competitive broadcast Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light from Hilversum.^[18] Rotterdam Ahoy staged the rescheduled event in 2021, hosted by Chantal Janzen, Jan Smit, Edsilia Rombley, and Nikkie de Jager. Automatic finalist Jeangu Macrooy placed 23rd with "Birth of a New Age", notably introducing the Sranan Tongo language to the contest.^[19] The country's momentum continued in 2022 when S10 finished 11th with "De diepte", the first Dutch-language entry since 2010.^[20] However, the qualification streak was ended the following year, when Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper failed to advance from the semi-finals. In 2024, Joost Klein placed second in his semi-final with "Europapa", but was disqualified prior to the final following an altercation with a production staff member.^[21]

The most recent Dutch participation in 2025 saw Claude finishing 12th with the song "C'est la vie". On 4 December 2025, AVROTROS announced that it would not take part in the 2026 contest, citing the inclusion of Israel amidst the ongoing Gaza war.^[22] The contest was instead broadcast by NOS and NTR.^[23] AVROTROS later stated that it would await an evaluation of the 2026 edition before making a decision on participation in 2027.^[24]

Marcel Bezençon Awards

More information Year, Category ...

Year	Category	Song	Composer(s)	Performer	Final		Host city	Ref.
					Place	Points
2003	Artistic Award[d]	"One More Night"	Tjeerd van Zanen Alan Michael	Esther Hart	13	45	Riga	[37]
2014	Artistic Award[e]	"Calm After the Storm"	Ilse de Lange JB Meijers Rob Crosby Matthew Crosby Jake Etheridge	The Common Linnets	2	238	Copenhagen	[38]
	Composer Award
2019	Press Award	"Arcade"	Duncan de Moor Joel Sjöö Wouter Hardy Will Knox	Duncan Laurence	1	498	Tel Aviv	[39]

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Barbara Dex Award

More information Year, Performer ...

Year	Performer	Host city	Ref.
2015	Trijntje Oosterhuis	Vienna	[40]

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Spokespersons and conductors

Heads of delegation

Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.^[91]

Television

Radio

Special shows