Those of you who follow us regularly will know that we, at Eurovision Ireland, have been looking at the highs and lows of each country in the years they have taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest. Today, we are focusing on our friends from the land of windmills and tulips, The Netherlands.

The Netherlands at Eurovision

The Netherlands was one of the founder countries of the contest , being among one of the first participants of the contest in 1956. They have won the contest five times and hosted the contest five times . Whilst being relatively successful during their earlier years , the years since the introduction of the semi finals have been a bit of a mixed bag of fortunes for the country. From 2005 until 2012, the country missed out on a place in the Grand Final. Their first entry was by Jetty Paerl , singing “De vogels van Holland”, finishing in an impressive second place, losing out to Lys Assia from Switzerland, with “Refrain”.

The Highs of The Netherlands.

Following their second place at the 1956 contest, Corry Brokken won for the nation with her song “Net als Toen”. Corry would become quite a familiar face at Eurovision in future years, returning to defend her title in 1958 and hosting the 1976 contest in The Hague .

Corry returned to defend her title at the 1958 contest but could only achieve 9th place .However the Dutch didn’t have to wait long for their second win. In 1959 Teddy Scholten sang to victory with “Een Beetje”.

The Dutch then had to wait until 1969 when Lenny Kuhr sang “De Troubadour” at the contest in Madrid. Unfortunately for Lenny, she had to share victory with three other countries , in the now famous year , where for the first time in the contest’s history , there was a tie for first place between four countries and in those days, no planned formula for determining who would win in these circumstances.Nevertheless, Lenny’s song remains one of the most well-known and loved songs from The Netherlands to date.

Following Lenny’s win in 1969, the Dutch again didn’t have to wait too many years until their next victory . In the 1975 contest in Stockholm, Sweden, Teach -In won the contest with their song Ding -Dinge Dong . The song still remains one of the most memorable of the Dutch entries to this day and Teach -In made an appearance at the interval in the 2021 contest when it was held in Rotterdam.

The Dutch then had to wait 44 years for their next victory , which came in 2019 when Duncan Laurence won the contest in Tel Aviv, Israel, with an emotional performance of “Arcade”.

The Netherlands also came close to a win in 2014 when The Common Linnets ( Waylon and Ilse de Lange) with their country inspired song “Calm after the Storm” finished in second place,losing out to Austria.

The Netherlands have also achieved more top five spots , aside from those we have already mentioned . In 1972 Sandra and Andres came 4th with “Als het om de liefde gaat”.

In 1974, Mouth and Macneal with their song “I see a star” entered the contest in Brighton. They managed to win over juries with a quirky performance and finished in 3rd place.

In 1980, Maggie Macneal took the country to 5th place with the song “Amsterdam”which is another of The Netherland’s well -loved and most remembered entries of all time .

In 1987 ,at the contest in Brussels, Belgium, the Dutch managed a top 5 placing again when Marcha came 5th with Rechtop in de Wind.

The Dutch then had to wait until 1998 for their next top 5 placing when Edsilia Rombley represented the country in Birmingham ,UK . With the catchy song “Hemel en Arde”, the Dutch were in contention for the win for quite a while during the voting. However ,they finished in 4th place .

Although it finished in 6th place, just outside the top 5 we really can’t go without a mention for the 1993 entry . Ruth Jacott represented The Netherlands with her very pop friendly song “Vrede”. There are probably many who still feel today that she deserved a top 5 placing. To this day, “Vrede” remains one of the most remembered and popular of Dutch entries and Ruth’s performance is featured in many Eurovision history features .

The Lows at Eurovision for The Netherlands

It’s hard to believe that a country with the success that it has had at Eurovision would have so many low moments too but sadly for The Netherlands, there have been . When the Semi Finals were introduced in 2004,from 2005-2012, the Dutch failed to qualify for the Grand Final every year. In 2006, Treble with Amambanda finished 20th in the Semi Final .

Sadly for Edsilia Rombley , who returned to Eurovision hoping to improve on her 4th place in 1998, she didn’t even make it to the final and despite a fine performance of “On Top of the World “, she finished 21st in the Semi final , which would be the last year that there would be just one semi final.

In 2009 De Toppers finished in 17th place with just 11 points ,with “Shine”

There have also been low placings when The Netherlands have reached the Grand Final . In 2004, Re-union finished 20th , with their song, “Without You”.

Representing the Netherlands when they hosted the contest in Rotterdam , Jeangu Macrooy had high hopes of a respectable placing for the home country with his song “Birth of a New Age “. Unfortunately, he finished 23rd with just 11 points, all of those being from the jury vote!

How did the Dutch do in 2023?

Unfortunately at this year’s contest in Liverpool, UK . Mia and Dion failed to make it to the Grand Final with their song “Burning Daylight”.They finished 13th in their semi final with 7 points.

So that completes our review of the Highs and Lows for The Netherlands at Eurovision. What do you think? Are there any of your favourites from The Netherlands that you feel we should have included as a high or low ?

Let us know what you think by leaving us a comment and you can find us on our Facebook and X ( Twitter) feeds.

Author: Sarah Rudman

Source & visual Sources : Eurovision.TV, Eurovision Song Contest Wiki Fandom, You Tube