Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017


The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Lights and Shadows" written by Rory de Kievit and Rick Vol. The song is performed by the Dutch three-piece girl group O'G3NE, who were internally selected by the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS to represent the Netherlands at the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine. O'G3NE's appointment as the Dutch representative was announced on 29 October 2016, while the song, "Lights and Shadows", was presented to the public on 3 March 2017.

Background

Prior to the 2017 contest, the Netherlands had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-seven times since their début as one of seven countries to take part in the inaugural contest in. Since then, the country has won the contest four times: in with the song "Net als toen" performed by Corry Brokken; in with the song "'n Beetje" performed by Teddy Scholten; in as one of four countries to tie for first place with "De troubadour" performed by Lenny Kuhr; and finally in with "Ding-a-Dong" performed by the group Teach-In. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, the Netherlands had featured in four 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. The Netherlands has also received nul points on two occasions; in and.
The Dutch national broadcaster, AVROTROS, broadcasts 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. 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 the song "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 2017, the broadcaster opted to continue selecting the Dutch entry through an internal selection.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

After months of rumours, AVROTROS announced that girl group O'G3NE would represent the Netherlands at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest on 29 October 2016. They previously represented the country on home soil at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007, finishing 11th out of 17 entries. In January, it was confirmed that there were three songs in the running to represent the Netherlands, and that one of them was written by Rick Vol, the father of the three members of O'G3NE. It was confirmed that Vol's song had been selected on 2 February. The song title was revealed to be "Lights and Shadows" on 2 March, while the song was released the following day.

Promotion

In the lead up to the Eurovision Song Contest, O'G3NE's promotional activities occurred entirely within the Netherlands where they performed at live events, radio shows and talk shows. On 8 April, O'G3NE performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Selma Björnsdóttir.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" 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. The European Broadcasting Union split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2017, 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 second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2017, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.
Once all the competing songs for the 2017 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. Originally, the Netherlands was set to perform in position 7, following the entry from Romania and before the entry from Hungary. However, following Russia's withdrawal from the contest on 13 April and subsequent removal from the running order of the second semi-final, the performing position for the Netherlands shifted to 6.

Semi-final

O'G3NE took part in technical rehearsals on 2 April and 6 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 10 and 11 May. This included the jury show on 10 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.
At the end of the show, the Netherlands was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Netherlands placed fourth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 200 points: 51 points from the televoting and 149 points from the juries.

Points awarded to the Netherlands

Final

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the reverse order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. The Netherlands were drawn to compete in the first half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. The Netherlands was subsequently placed to perform in position 6, following the entry from Armenia and before the entry from Moldova.

Points awarded by Netherlands

Jury members

The following five members comprised the Dutch jury: