Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Walk Along" written by Tobias Karlsson and Anouk Teeuwe. The song was performed by Trijntje Oosterhuis, who was internally selected by the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS to represent the Netherlands at the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. Songwriter Anouk Teeuwe represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Birds" where she placed ninth in the grand final of the competition. Trijntje Oosterhuis' appointment as the Dutch representative was announced on 10 November 2014, while the song, "Walk Along", was presented to the public on 11 December 2014.

Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Country	Netherlands
National selection
Selection process	Internal selection
Selection date(s)	Artist: 10 November 2014 Song: 11 December 2014
Selected entrant	Trijntje Oosterhuis
Selected song	"Walk Along"
Selected songwriter(s)	Tobias Karlsson Anouk Teeuwe
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (14th)
Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2014 • 2015 • 2016►

The Netherlands was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 19 May 2015. Performing during the show in position 4, "Walk Along" was not announced among top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that the Netherlands placed fourteenth out of the 16 participating countries in the semi-final with 33 points.

Background

Main article: Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2015 contest, the Netherlands had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-five 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 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 only three 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]

The Dutch national broadcaster, AVROTROS, broadcasts the event within the Netherlands and organises the selection process for the nation's entry.^[8] 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 "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 2015, the broadcaster opted to continue selecting the Dutch entry through an internal selection.^[9]

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

 

Trijntje Oosterhuis was internally selected to represent the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Following the Common Linnets' second place in 2014 with the song "Calm After the Storm", the Dutch broadcaster revealed in August 2014 that they would continue to internally select both the artist and song for the Eurovision Song Contest, while later revealing in October 2014 that an announcement would be expected in November 2014 after several artists had already been in contact with the broadcaster in regards to participating.^[10][11] Artists that were rumoured in Dutch media to be in talks with AVROTROS included singers Dotan and Alain Clark.^[12][13]

On 1 November 2014, Dutch media reported that AVROTROS had selected singer Trijntje Oosterhuis to represent the Netherlands at the 2015 contest, possibly as part of the group Ladies of Soul which also included former Dutch Eurovision entrants Edsilia Rombley (1998 and 2007) and Glennis Grace (2005).^[14][15] Oosterhuis was confirmed as the Dutch entrant on 10 November 2014 during the NPO Radio 2 programme Gouden Uren, hosted by Daniël Dekker. The selection of Trijntje Oosterhuis as the Dutch representative occurred through a selection commission consisting of television host and author Cornald Maas, radio DJ Daniël Dekker and AVROTROS media-director Remco van Leen.^[16]

On 11 December 2014, Trijntje Oosterhuis' Eurovision entry, "Walk Along", was presented to the public during Gouden Uren,^[17][18] followed by a live performance of the song the following day during a broadcast of The Voice of Holland on RTL 4 where she also one of the coaches for the competition.^[19][20] The official video for the song was released on 13 March 2015. "Walk Along" was written by Tobias Karlsson and Anouk Teeuwe, the latter of whom previously represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. Anouk revealed earlier during an interview on the Dutch talk show College Tour on 7 November 2014 that she had written Oosterhuis' Eurovision song, of which Oosterhuis described as an "incredible fresh song that people wouldn't expect from Anouk or her" during her 8 November interview on Gouden Uren.^[21]

Promotion

In the lead up to the Eurovision Song Contest, Trijntje Oosterhuis' promotional activities occurred entirely within the Netherlands where she performed at live events, radio shows and talk shows. On 9 April, Oosterhuis performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam and hosted by Cornald Maas and Edsilia Rombley.^[22]

At Eurovision

 

Trijntje Oosterhuis during a press meet and greet

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (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. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation.^[23] The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.^[24] On 26 January 2015, 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. The Netherlands was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 19 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.^[25]

Once all the competing songs for the 2015 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. The Netherlands was set to perform in position 4, following the entry from Belgium and before the entry from Finland.^[26]

The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast on NPO 1 and BVN as well as via radio on NPO Radio 2. All broadcasts featured commentary by Cornald Maas and Jan Smit.^[27][28] The Dutch spokesperson, who announced the Dutch votes during the final, was 1998 and 2007 Dutch Eurovision entrant Edsilia Rombley.^[29]

Semi-final

 

Trijntje Oosterhuis at a dress rehearsal for the first semi-final

Trijntje Oosterhuis took part in technical rehearsals on 11 and 15 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 18 and 19 May.^[30][31] This included the jury show on 18 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.^[32]

The Dutch performance featured Trijntje Oosterhuis performing together with four backing vocalists. During the first technical rehearsal, Oosterhuis wore a black dress with a revealing opened front designed by Prince Charming (Tycho Boeker), however it received considerable media coverage in the Netherlands sparking both positive and negative reactions from the Dutch press and public alike.^[33][34] In regards to the commentaries on her dress, the singer stated: "I've heard people are talking about it, but I find it strange and don't really understand it. I'm just not used to people talking about such things. I hope they will talk about the song again".^[31] Oosterhuis would later opt to change her outfit to a black parachute-like pantsuit.^[35][36] The performance was opened with a zoomed-in view of the singer's eyes covered by a veil, which she tore off at the first chorus. The stage colours transitioned between white, blue, green and red with the LED screens displaying a walking shadow figure.^[30][31] The four backing vocalists that joined Trijntje Oosterhuis were: Patt Riley, Michelle Oudeman, Lesley van der Aa and Jenny Lane.^[37] The staging director for the performance was Hans Pannecoucke, who also worked with the Dutch entrant in 2014 in a similar role.^[38]

At the end of the show, the Netherlands was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final.^[39] It was later revealed that the Netherlands placed fourteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 33 points.^[40]

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final.^[41]

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that the Netherlands had placed fifteenth with the public televote and fifth with the jury vote in the first semi-final. In the public vote, the Netherlands scored 23 points, while with the jury vote, the Netherlands scored 70 points.^[42]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to the Netherlands and awarded by the Netherlands in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to the Netherlands

Points awarded to the Netherlands (Semi-final 1)^[43]

Score	Country
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points	Denmark
6 points	Belgium
5 points	Estonia
4 points
3 points	Finland   Romania   Spain
2 points	France   Georgia
1 point	Albania   Macedonia

Points awarded by the Netherlands

Points awarded by the Netherlands (Semi-final 1)^[43] Score Country 12 points   Belgium 10 points   Russia 8 points   Estonia 7 points   Serbia 6 points   Greece 5 points   Armenia 4 points   Hungary 3 points   Denmark 2 points   Romania 1 point   Georgia

Points awarded by the Netherlands (Final)^[44] Score Country 12 points   Belgium 10 points   Sweden 8 points   Australia 7 points   Italy 6 points   Russia 5 points   Israel 4 points   Estonia 3 points   Norway 2 points   Latvia 1 point   Serbia

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Dutch jury:^[41]

• Carolina Dijkhuizen [nl] (jury chairperson) – singer, musical actress
• Florent Luyckx [nl] – media professional
• Maurice Wijnen [nl] – creative director
• Gijs Staverman [nl] – radio DJ, host
• Dominique Rijpma van Hulst (Do) – singer

Detailed voting results from the Netherlands (Semi-final 1)^[45]

Draw	Country	C. Dijkhuizen	F. Luyckx	M. Wijnen	G. Staverman	Do	Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Points
01	Moldova	11	10	10	9	13	12	14	14
02	Armenia	10	14	7	10	11	11	2	6	5
03	Belgium	1	3	2	1	2	1	1	1	12
04	Netherlands
05	Finland	15	12	15	15	15	15	7	11
06	Greece	2	2	3	4	1	2	9	5	6
07	Estonia	7	5	5	3	6	5	4	3	8
08	Macedonia	14	15	14	11	14	14	13	15
09	Serbia	8	9	6	6	7	7	3	4	7
10	Hungary	9	8	8	12	10	9	6	7	4
11	Belarus	6	11	13	8	12	10	15	13
12	Russia	4	1	1	5	5	3	5	2	10
13	Denmark	5	4	4	2	4	4	11	8	3
14	Albania	13	13	12	13	8	13	12	12
15	Romania	12	7	11	7	9	8	8	9	2
16	Georgia	3	6	9	14	3	6	10	10	1

Detailed voting results from the Netherlands (Final)^[46]

Draw	Country	C. Dijkhuizen	F. Luyckx	M. Wijnen	G. Staverman	Do	Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Points
01	Slovenia	13	16	14	21	14	15	25	22
02	France	12	13	6	16	11	11	21	14
03	Israel	8	8	7	6	7	6	8	6	5
04	Estonia	11	9	8	7	10	8	9	7	4
05	United Kingdom	18	17	16	17	24	19	26	26
06	Armenia	24	26	21	26	26	26	5	12
07	Lithuania	17	21	18	25	4	17	16	15
08	Serbia	21	22	12	9	23	18	10	10	1
09	Norway	10	7	11	8	9	7	12	8	3
10	Sweden	1	2	1	2	2	1	3	2	10
11	Cyprus	14	15	10	13	20	13	22	18
12	Australia	2	3	2	4	1	2	4	3	8
13	Belgium	3	4	3	1	3	3	1	1	12
14	Austria	25	20	22	11	17	20	27	27
15	Greece	5	19	9	19	8	12	24	20
16	Montenegro	16	11	13	15	22	14	23	21
17	Germany	22	24	26	18	25	24	20	25
18	Poland	26	25	24	22	21	25	7	13
19	Latvia	9	1	20	3	15	9	11	9	2
20	Romania	23	18	25	14	16	21	13	17
21	Spain	15	12	17	20	18	16	17	16
22	Hungary	19	14	23	24	19	22	14	19
23	Georgia	7	10	15	12	6	10	19	11
24	Azerbaijan	20	23	19	27	13	23	18	23
25	Russia	4	5	5	10	5	4	6	5	6
26	Albania	27	27	27	23	27	27	15	24
27	Italy	6	6	4	5	12	5	2	4	7

References

1. "Eurovision Song Contest 1956". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
2. "Eurovision Song Contest 1957". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
3. "Eurovision Song Contest 1959". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
4. "Eurovision Song Contest 1969". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
5. "Eurovision Song Contest 1975". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
6. "Eurovision Song Contest 2011 Semi-Final (2)". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
7. "History by Country - The Netherlands". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
8. Jiandani, Sanjay (3 June 2014). "The Netherlands: AvroTros confirms participation in Eurovision 2015". ESCToday. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
9. Knoops, Roy (19 August 2014). "The Netherlands: AvroTros in search for candidate 2015". ESCToday. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
10. Knoops, Roy (24 October 2014). "The Netherlands: Broadcaster AvroTros negotiating with Alain Clark and other artists". ESCToday. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
11. Jiandani, Sanjay (5 October 2014). "The Netherlands: Announcement in November". ESCToday. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
12. "Alain Clark naar Songfestival". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 19 August 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
13. "Dotan wil naar Songfestival". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 21 August 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
14. van Lith, Nick (1 November 2014). "Netherlands: Avrotros about to announce their entrant?". escXtra.com. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
15. Storvik-Green, Simon (10 November 2014). "Confirmed: Trijntje Oosterhuis to represent the Netherlands in Vienna". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
16. Raatgever, Stefan (11 November 2014). "Trijntje over Songfestival: Het is nu of nooit voor mij". ad.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 September 2022.
17. Storvik-Green, Simon (4 December 2014). "Dutch entry to be revealed on 11th December". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
18. Storvik-Green, Simon (11 December 2014). "The Netherlands: Trijntje to sing "Walk Along" in Vienna". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
19. Knoops, Roy (6 December 2014). "The Netherlands: Trijntje will perform Eurovision-entry in The Voice". ESCToday. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
20. Juhász, Ervin (12 December 2014). "Watch Trijntje Oosterhuis performing "Walk Along" live for the first time!". ESC Bubble. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
21. Błażewicz, Maciej (8 November 2014). "Trijntje Oosterhuis to represent the Netherlands in Vienna?". ESC Bubble. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
22. Petersen, Christian (9 April 2015). "Eurovision in Concert 2015". Eurovisionworld. Retrieved 7 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
23. Siim, Jarmo (10 February 2015). "Australia to compete in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
24. Brey, Marco (25 January 2015). "Tomorrow: The semi-final allocation draw". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
25. Escudero, Victor M. (26 January 2015). "Allocation Draw results: Who's in which Semi-Final?". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
26. Siim, Jarmo (23 March 2015). "Running order of Semi-Finals revealed". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
27. "Het Eurovisie Songfestival op NPO 1" (in Dutch). NPO. 6 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
28. "NPO Radio 2-programma Aan de slag vanuit Wenen" (in Dutch). NPO. 6 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
29. Roxburgh, Gordon (23 May 2015). ""Good evening Vienna" - Voting order revealed". eurovision.tv. EBU. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
30. Leon, Jakov I. (11 May 2015). "Trijntje goes for black dress with open front". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
31. Leon, Jakov I. (15 May 2015). "Trijntje ignores the fuss about dress, wants to focus on her song". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
32. Roxburgh, Gordon (18 May 2015). "Juries...start voting!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
33. "Buitenland lacht zich suf om Trijntje Oosterhuis". telegraaf.nl (in Dutch). De Telegraaf. 11 May 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
34. Moerman, Sophie (11 May 2015). "Twitter gaat los over jurk Trijntje Oosterhuis". metronieuws.nl (in Dutch). Metro. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
35. "Trijntje Oosterhuis 'verbijsterd' over reacties op jurk". nu.nl (in Dutch). NU.nl. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
36. "Ontwerper jurk Trijntje Oosterhuis verbaasd". telegraaf.nl (in Dutch). De Telegraaf. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
37. "Trijntje Oosterhuis: Walk along". eurovisionartists.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 December 2015.
38. van der Mee, Tonny (2 January 2016). "Douwe Bob 'gaat iets heel gaafs doen op Songfestival'". ad.nl (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
39. Roxburgh, Gordon (19 May 2015). "We have our first ten finalists". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
40. "First Semi-Final of Vienna 2015". European Broadcasting Union. from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
41. Bakker, Sietse (1 May 2015). "Exclusive: Here are this year's national juries!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
42. Adams, Willy Lee (25 May 2015). "Semi final split results: Who the jury hurt at Eurovision 2015". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
43. "Results of the First Semi-Final of Vienna 2015". European Broadcasting Union. from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
44. "Results of the Grand Final of Vienna 2015". European Broadcasting Union. from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
45. . European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
46. . European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2021.