Netherlands in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026
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The Netherlands is set to be represented at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The Dutch participating broadcaster, AVROTROS, organise the national final Junior Songfestival 2026 in order to select its entry for the contest.
Netherlands| Netherlands in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | AVROTROS | |||
| Country | Netherlands | |||
| Selection process | Junior Songfestival 2026 | |||
| Selection date | 19 September 2026 | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
Prior to the 2025 contest, the Netherlands had participated in the contest twenty-two times since its first entry in the inaugural 2003 contest. Since then, the country has won the contest on one occasion in 2009 with the song "Click Clack" performed by Ralf Mackenbach. The Netherlands is the only country to have taken part in every edition of the contest.[1] Since 2014, as the result of a merger between the AVRO – which had previously been in charge of the Netherlands' participation in the contest – and TROS into the current AVROTROS, it is the latter who participates representing the Netherlands.[2][3] In 2025, Meadow represented the Netherlands with the song "Freeze" and finished 10th with 93 points.[4]
Before Junior Eurovision
Junior Songfestival 2026
Junior Songfestival 2026 is set to be the twenty-third edition of Junior Songfestival, the national final format developed by AVROTROS to select Dutch entries for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. The event will be held on 19 September 2026 at the RTM Stage in Rotterdam.[5][6][7]
Format
The selection took place in four stages: the received applications were first assessed by an expert committee; 45 were selected to be performed at an audition round, excerpts of which were published to the competition's official YouTube channel on 3 and 17 April, and 3 and 15 May;[8][9][10][11] at the workshop, the singers were split into four groups and had the opportunity to work with vocal coaches and choreographers, after which a number of artists advanced to the final audition, where a jury selected the nine finalists,[12][13] who were later grouped into four acts,[14] each of them receiving the lyric sheets to specially-made songs written by well-known songwriters and recording the assigned songs in the studio; at the final, the winner will be determined by a combination of votes from an kids jury (traditionally made up of past Junior Songfestival participants), a professional jury (made up of industry professionals) and an online vote – each awarding sets of 8–10 and 12 points – with the latter taking precedence in the event of a tie.
Competing entries
The submission process for interested artists aged between nine and fourteen was open between 21 September 2025 and 25 January 2026.[15] On 29 May 2026, AVROTROS revealed the first line up of finalists, with the other finalists being revealed on 5 June 2026.[12][13] The acts were revealed on 12 June 2026.[14] The songs were released daily between 7 and 10 July 2026.[16]
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Maria | "Stronger Together" |
|
| Nolan | "Crush" |
|
| The Crossovers | "Crossovers" | Willem Laseroms |
| Vajèn | "Here I Am" | Lars Koehoorn |