| Year: | 1989 |
| Country: | Netherlands |
| Preselection: | Nationaal Songfestival 1989 |
| Preselection Date: | 10 March 1989 |
| Entrant: | Justine Pelmelay |
| Song: | Blijf zoals je bent |
| Final Result: | 15th, 45 points |
The Netherlands was represented by Justine Pelmelay, with the song "Blijf zoals je bent", at the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Lausanne, Switzerland on 13 May. Pelmelay was the winner of the Dutch national final for the contest, held on 10 March.
The final was held at the RAI Congrescentrum in Amsterdam, hosted by Linda de Mol. Thirteen songs took part with the winner being decided by juries in the twelve Dutch provinces, who awarded points from 13 down to 1. Pelmelay emerged a comfortable winner by a margin of 21 points.[1]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shannah | "Wacht op mij" | 123 | 2 | |
| 2 | Full Colour | "Symphonie" | 98 | 5 | |
| 3 | Ingrid Souren | "Het zal nooit meer zo zijn" | 108 | 3 | |
| 4 | Bam to Bam Bam | "Lammedammadoendan" | 48 | 10 | |
| 5 | Helen Marshell | "Johnny" | 29 | 13 | |
| 6 | Gerald Borst | "De nachtprinses" | 90 | 7 | |
| 7 | The Sisters | "Als ik je zie" | 91 | 6 | |
| 8 | Angelina van Dijk | "Kijk toch om je heen" | 48 | 10 | |
| 9 | The Ballroom Blitz | "Samen zijn" | 108 | 3 | |
| 10 | Justine Pelmelay | "Blijf zoals je bent" | 144 | 1 | |
| 11 | Brian Well | "Net als vroeger" | 39 | 12 | |
| 12 | Gina | "Elke dag" | 76 | 9 | |
| 13 | Two Hearts | "Johnny & Mandy" | 90 | 7 |
| Detailed Regional Jury Votes | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Song | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | "Wacht op mij" | 7 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 123 | |
| 2 | "Symphonie" | 9 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 98 | |
| 3 | "Het zal nooit meer zo zijn" | 12 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 108 | |
| 4 | "Lammedammadoendan" | 4 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 48 | |
| 5 | "Johnny" | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 29 | |
| 6 | "De nachtprinses" | 8 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 10 | 90 | |
| 7 | "Als ik je zie" | 6 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 91 | |
| 8 | "Kijk toch om je heen" | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 48 | |
| 9 | "Samen zijn" | 11 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 12 | 108 | |
| 10 | "Blijf zoals je bent" | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 13 | 144 | |
| 11 | "Net als vroeger" | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 39 | |
| 12 | "Elke dag" | 10 | 8 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 76 | |
| 13 | "Johnny & Mandy" | 5 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 90 | |
On the night of the final Pelmelay performed 4th in the running order, following Ireland and preceding Turkey. After a strong performance, Pelmelay's voice famously cracked on the final long note of the song, a fact she acknowledged with a wry facial expression as the song ended. At the close of voting "Blijf zoals je bent" had received 45 points from ten countries, placing the Netherlands 15th of the 22 entries.[2] The Dutch jury awarded its 12 points to Denmark.[3]
The Dutch conductor at the contest was Harry van Hoof.