Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 explained

Year:1999
Country:Netherlands
Preselection:Nationaal Songfestival 1999
Preselection Date:14 March 1999
Entrant:Marlayne
Song:One Good Reason
Final Result:8th, 71 points

The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 with the song "One Good Reason" written by Tjeerd van Zanen and Alan Michael. The song was performed by Marlayne. The Dutch broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) organised the national final Nationaal Songfestival 1999 in order to select the Dutch entry for the 1999 contest in Jerusalem, Israel. Ten entries competed in the national final on 14 March 1999 where "One Good Reason" performed by Marlayne was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from an eight-member jury panel and a public vote.

The Netherlands competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 29 May 1999. Performing during the show in position 11, the Netherlands placed eighth out of the 23 participating countries, scoring 71 points.

Background

See main article: Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest. Prior to the 1999 contest, the Netherlands had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty times since their début as one of seven countries to take part in the inaugural contest in .[1] Since then, the country has won the contest four times: in with the song "Net als toen" performed by Corry Brokken;[2] in with the song "'n Beetje" performed by Teddy Scholten;[3] in as one of four countries to tie for first place with "De troubadour" performed by Lenny Kuhr;[4] and finally in with "Ding-a-dong" performed by the group Teach-In.[5] The Dutch least successful result has been last place, which they have achieved on four occasions, most recently in the 1968 contest.[6] The Netherlands has also received nul points on two occasions; in and .[7]

The Dutch national broadcaster, Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), broadcast the event within the Netherlands and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. 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. In 1998, NOS has organised Nationaal Songfestival in order to select both the artist and song for the contest, a method that was continued for the 1999 Dutch entry.

Before Eurovision

Nationaal Songfestival 1999

Nationaal Songfestival 1999 was the national final developed by NOS that selected the Dutch entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1999. Ten entries competed in the competition that consisted of a final on 14 March 1999 which took place at the Studio 22 in Hilversum, hosted by Paul de Leeuw and Linda de Mol and was broadcast on TV2.[8] The first part of the national final was watched by 1.9 million viewers in the Netherlands, while the second part was watched by 1.4 million viewers.[9]

Competing entries

227 submissions were received by the Dutch broadcaster following a submission period and ten competing entries were selected.[10] Five of the entries for the competition came from the public submission which occurred through the decision by a selection commission led by Willem van Beusekom, while the remaining five entries came from composers directly invited by NOS.[11] [12]

ArtistSongSongwriter(s)Selection
All Mixed Up"Forever Night and Day"Ruben Tewari, Ricardo LeeuwinOpen submission
All of Us"Maybe Love"Eeg van Kruysdijk, Ed van OtterdijkInvited by NOS
Colors"Positivity"John Ewbank
Deante"We Don't Live Too Long"Jerry Wolff, Roger Griffith, Terence EsajasOpen submission
Donya"Before the Clock Strikes 12"John van KatwijkInvited by NOS
Double Date"E-Mail to Berlin"Jeroen Flamman, Jeff Porter, Jan RotOpen submission
Jane"Dreams"Tom Bakker, Mark van Toor
Marlayne"One Good Reason"Tjeerd van Zanen, Alan Michael
Roger Happel"Where Is the Time"Tjeerd OosterhuisInvited by NOS
Tamara"Coming Home"Jack Veerman, Jan Keizer, Jan Tuijp

Final

The final took place on 14 March 1999 where ten entries competed. The winner, "One Good Reason" performed by Marlayne, was selected by the 50/50 combination of a public televote and the votes of an eight-member expert jury.[13] The viewers and the juries each had a total of 408 points to award. Each juror distributed their points as follows: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 12 points. The viewer vote was based on the percentage of votes each song achieved. For example, if a song gained 10% of the vote, then that entry would be awarded 10% of 408 points rounded to the nearest integer: 41 points. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show featured 1998 British Eurovision entrant Imaani performing her song "Where Are You?".[14]

Final – 14 March 1999
DrawArtistSongJuryTelevoteTotalPlace
1All Mixed Up"Forever Night and Day"1913328
2Tamara"Coming Home"3350834
3Colors"Positivity"4226686
4Jane"Dreams"6630963
5All of Us"Maybe Love"219309
6Donya"Before the Clock Strikes 12"3025557
7Double Date"E-Mail to Berlin"1361910
8Roger Happel"Where Is the Time"5527825
9Deante"We Don't Live Too Long"52511032
10Marlayne"One Good Reason"771712481
! Draw! Song!!!!!!!!! Total
1"Forever Night and Day"2 2 3 1 2 4 3 219
2"Coming Home"4 4 123 5 533
3"Positivity"6 3 123 4 6 4 442
4"Dreams"8 6 10 6 10 10 8 866
5"Maybe Love"1 2 5 6 5 1 121
6"Before the Clock Strikes 12"3 5 4 10 1 2 2 330
7"E-Mail to Berlin"1 4 8 13
8"Where Is the Time"5 10 1 8 3 8 10 1055
9"We Don't Live Too Long"10 8 5 2 8 1 12652
10"One Good Reason"12126 125 126 1277

Criticism

As a result of the modified rules for the 1999 contest that allowed participants to perform in any language, a majority of the submitted songs for the national final were in English and the ten selected songs were all performed in English as well. Democrats 66 member Boris Dittrich claimed that "the Dutch language and identity has lost out to commercial considerations" and called on NOS as well as the Dutch State Secretary to influence the submission of Dutch songs in the following years. NOS spokesperson Fred de Vries later explained that language and commercial considerations were not part of the selection criteria for the commission which only chose the finalists based on quality.[15] [16]

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the bottom seven countries in the 1998 contest competed in the final on 29 May 1999.[17] On 17 November 1998, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order and the Netherlands was set to perform in position 11, following the entry from France and before the entry from Poland. The Netherlands finished in eighth place with 71 points.[18]

The show was broadcast in the Netherlands on TV2 with commentary by Willem van Beusekom.[19] [20] The Dutch spokesperson, who announced the Dutch votes during the show, was 1998 Dutch Eurovision entrant Edsilia Rombley.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to the Netherlands and awarded by the Netherlands in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to the Germany in the contest.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Eurovision Song Contest 1956. eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 28 November 2014.
  2. Web site: Eurovision Song Contest 1957. eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 28 November 2014.
  3. Web site: Eurovision Song Contest 1959. eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 28 November 2014.
  4. Web site: Eurovision Song Contest 1969. eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 28 November 2014.
  5. Web site: Eurovision Song Contest 1975. eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 28 November 2014.
  6. Web site: Eurovision Song Contest 2011 Semi-Final (2). eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 28 November 2014.
  7. Web site: History by Country - The Netherlands. eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 28 November 2014.
  8. Web site: 29 November 2004 . 50 jaar songfestival: NSF 1999 . 28 September 2022 . songfestivalweblog.nl . nl.
  9. Web site: 17 March 1999 . De zangeres Marlayne vertegenwoordigt Nederland op… . 28 September 2022 . radiowereld.nl . nl.
  10. Web site: 4 February 1999 . Van maandag 8 t/m dinsdag 16 februari staan de uit… . 28 September 2022 . radiowereld.nl . nl.
  11. Web site: 15 February 1999 . Engles liedje naar Songfestival 'bloody shame' . 28 September 2022 . Dutch Weekly . nl . Trove.
  12. Web site: The Netherlands 1999 - take 2 . 28 September 2022 . The Eurovision Database.
  13. Web site: DUTCH NATIONAL FINAL 1999 .
  14. Web site: The Netherlands 1999 . 28 September 2022 . The Eurovision Database.
  15. Web site: 29 January 1999 . Songfestivallied moet in het Nederlands . 28 September 2022 . ANP . nl.
  16. Web site: 1 February 1999 . Pleidooi voor lied in eigen taal . 28 September 2022 . NRC . nl.
  17. Web site: History – Eurovision Song Contest 1999 . 2009-08-12 . European Broadcasting Union.
  18. Web site: Final of Jerusalem 1999 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210412110459/https://eurovision.tv/event/jerusalem-1999/final . 12 April 2021 . 12 April 2021 . European Broadcasting Union.
  19. News: 29 May 1999 . Radio & Televisie Zaterdag . 30 . . 2 July 2022.
  20. Web site: Nederlandse televisiecommentatoren bij het Eurovisie Songfestival . 22 June 2022 . Eurovision Artists . nl.
  21. Web site: Results of the Final of Jerusalem 1999 . European Broadcasting Union . 12 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210412114055/https://eurovision.tv/event/jerusalem-1999/final/results/the-netherlands . 12 April 2021 . live.