The
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
participated in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2010
The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song " Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organised by the European Broadcasting U ...
with the song "Ik ben verliefd (Sha-la-lie)" written by
Pierre Kartner
Petrus Antonius Laurentius Kartner (11 April 1935 – 8 November 2022) was a Dutch musician, singer-songwriter and record producer who performed under the stage name Vader Abraham (''Father Abraham''). He wrote around 1600 songs.
Early life an ...
. The song was performed by
Sieneke
Sieneke Ashley Kristel Baum-Peeters (born 1 April 1992) is a Dutch singer. She performed the Dutch entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 semi-final.
Sieneke released an album with six covers of songs from the 1980s, called ''It's My Dream'', ...
. The Dutch broadcaster
Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting
Tros or TROS may refer to:
* 18281 Tros, an asteroid
* Transformer read-only storage, a type of read-only memory
* TROS, a Dutch broadcasting union, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting
* Tros (mythology), a figure in Greek ...
(TROS) internally selected the song for the 2010 contest in
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...
, Norway. "Ik ben verliefd (Sha-la-lie)" was presented to the public on 18 December 2009, while the national final ''Nationaal Songfestival 2010'' was organised in order to select the Dutch representative. Five artists competed in the national final on 7 February 2010 where Sieneke was selected by Pierre Kartner as the winner following a tie between two of the artists based on the combination of votes from a four-member jury panel and an audience vote.
The Netherlands was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 27 May 2010. Performing during the show in position 9, "Ik ben verliefd (Sha-la-lie)" was not announced among top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that the Netherlands placed fourteenth out of the 17 participating countries in the semi-final with 29 points.
Background
Prior to the 2010 contest, the Netherlands had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty 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
"Net als toen" (; "Just like then") is a love song written in Dutch by Willy van Hemert, composed by Guus Jansen and performed by Corry Brokken in 1957 as the Netherlands' entry and runaway winner of the pan-European Eurovision Song Contest, whi ...
" performed by
Corry Brokken
Cornelia Maria "Corry" Brokken (3 December 1932 – 31 May 2016) was a Dutch singer, television presenter and jurist. In 1957, she won the second edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song " Net als toen", representing the Netherlands. ...
; in with the song "
'n Beetje
"n Beetje" (; "A little bit"), spelled in full as "Een beetje", is a song written in Dutch by Willy van Hemert, composed by Dick Schallies and performed by Teddy Scholten as the ' entry and winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1959. The song ...
" performed by
Teddy Scholten
Dorothea Margaretha "Teddy" Scholten (née van Zwieteren; 11 May 1926 – 8 April 2010) was a Dutch singer and television presenter. She is known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 1959 with the song "Een beetje", representing the Netherlands ...
; in as one of four countries to tie for first place with "
De troubadour
"De troubadour" ("The troubadour"), sung in Dutch by Lenny Kuhr representing the , was – together with "Boom Bang-a-Bang", "Un jour, un enfant", and "Vivo cantando" from, respectively, the , , and – one of the four winners of the Eurovision ...
" performed by
Lenny Kuhr
Helena Hubertina Johanna "Lenny" Kuhr (born 22 February 1950) is a Dutch singer-songwriter.
Career
In 1967, she started a singing career in the Netherlands, performing songs in the French chanson tradition. In 1969, she represented the Neth ...
; and finally in with "
Ding-a-dong
"Ding-a-dong" (original Dutch title: "Ding dinge dong", as it was introduced in the titles when broadcast) was the title of the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975. It was sung by Teach-In, representing the , and was written by Di ...
" performed by the group
Teach-In
A teach-in is similar to a general educational forum on any complicated issue, usually an issue involving current political affairs. The main difference between a teach-in and a seminar is the refusal to limit the discussion to a specific time fr ...
. Following the
introduction of semi-finals for the
2004 contest, the Netherlands had featured in only one final. The Dutch least successful result has been last place, which they have achieved on four occasions, most recently in the
1968 contest. The Netherlands has also received ''
nul points
The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest is selected by a positional voting system. The most recent system was implemented in the , and sees each participating country award two sets of 12, 10, 8–1 points to their ten favourite songs: one set f ...
'' on two occasions; in and .
The Dutch national broadcaster,
Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting
Tros or TROS may refer to:
* 18281 Tros, an asteroid
* Transformer read-only storage, a type of read-only memory
* TROS, a Dutch broadcasting union, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting
* Tros (mythology), a figure in Greek ...
(TROS), replaced the former broadcaster
Nederlandse Omroep Stichting
The Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (; NOS ; English: Dutch Broadcasting Foundation) is one of the broadcasting organisations making up the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system. It has a special statutory obligation to make news and sports progra ...
(NOS) in broadcasting the event within the Netherlands and organising the selection process for the nation's entry starting from 2010. The Netherlands has used various methods to select the Dutch entry in the past, such as the ''
Nationaal Songfestival
(; ) was an annual music competition, which was originally organised by the Dutch public broadcaster (NTS), and later by the (NOS) and (TROS). It was staged almost every year between 1956 and 2012 to determine the country's entry for the Eu ...
'', 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 2009, NOS has internally selected the Dutch artist for the contest, while ''Nationaal Songfestival'' was organised in order to select the song. For 2010, ''Nationaal Songfestival'' was continued to select the artist, while the song was selected through an internal selection beforehand. In November 2009, a poll involving 500 people conducted by Dutch private broadcaster
RTL 4
RTL 4 (Radio Télévision Luxembourg 4) is a Dutch free-to-cable television channel; it is the most-watched commercial station in the country, popular especially with those aged between 20 and 49. RTL 4 is a general entertainment channel with in ...
revealed that 86% of those would agree to a possible withdrawal due to the poor results received in past contests.
Before Eurovision
''Nationaal Songfestival 2010''
On 28 November 2009, the Dutch broadcaster announced that they had selected
Pierre Kartner
Petrus Antonius Laurentius Kartner (11 April 1935 – 8 November 2022) was a Dutch musician, singer-songwriter and record producer who performed under the stage name Vader Abraham (''Father Abraham''). He wrote around 1600 songs.
Early life an ...
to compose the Dutch song for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.
A demo version of the song, "Ik ben verliefd (Sha-la-lie)", premiered during the
Radio 2 programme ''Gouden Uren'', hosted by
Daniël Dekker
Daniël Dekker (born Henk Bakhuizen on 8 April 1960 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch disc jockey and radio host. In 1980 Dekker began his radio career on Decibel Radio before working for 3FM and Radio 2.
Between 2010 and 2013 he was the Dutch commenta ...
. The five competing artists that would perform the song in the national final ''Nationaal Songfestival 2010'' were announced during a press conference on 22 January 2010. The selection of the artists for the competition occurred through coaches consisting of well-known Dutch singers: Loekz by
Frans Bauer
François (Frans) Bauer (born 30 December 1973 in Roosendaal as François van Dooren) is a Dutch singer of " levenslied" (Dutch Schlager).
Biography
Frans Bauer was born as François van Dooren, after his mother Wies van Dooren who wasn't marr ...
, Marlous Oosting by , Peggy Mays by
Albert West
Albertus Petrus Enricus Gerardus Westelaken (2 September 1949 – 4 June 2015), better known by his stage name Albert West, was a Dutch pop singer and record producer. He was the lead singer of The Shuffles from 1963 to 1973. He was born in ...
,
Sieneke
Sieneke Ashley Kristel Baum-Peeters (born 1 April 1992) is a Dutch singer. She performed the Dutch entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 semi-final.
Sieneke released an album with six covers of songs from the 1980s, called ''It's My Dream'', ...
by and Vinzzent by .
The final took place on 7 February 2010 at the Studio Baarn in
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...
, hosted by
Yolanthe Sneijder-Cabau
Yolanthe Cabau ( Cabau van Kasbergen; 19 March 1985) is a Spanish-Dutch actress, model and television host.
Early life
Cabau was born on the Spanish island of Ibiza. Her father, Xavier Cabau (1954–2007), was Spanish, while her mother, Richarda ...
and was broadcast on
Nederland 1
NPO 1 (''NPO een'', formerly Nederland 1 until 2014) is the first national television station in the Netherlands. It launched on 2 October 1951. It provides public broadcasting and currently exists next to sister channels NPO 2 and NPO 3. Severa ...
as well as streamed online via the broadcaster's Eurovision Song Contest website ''songfestival.nl''.
All five competing artists performed "Ik ben verliefd (Sha-la-lie)" in different styles and the winning artist, Sieneke, was selected by the combination of votes from a four-member jury (4/5) and the audience in the studio (1/5).
The jury panel consisted of radio DJ
Daniël Dekker
Daniël Dekker (born Henk Bakhuizen on 8 April 1960 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch disc jockey and radio host. In 1980 Dekker began his radio career on Decibel Radio before working for 3FM and Radio 2.
Between 2010 and 2013 he was the Dutch commenta ...
, singer and actress
Tatjana Šimić
Tatjana Šimić (born 9 June 1963), also known by the mononym Tatjana, is a Croatian-Dutch model, actress and singer.
Biography
Šimić was born in Zagreb, PR Croatia, Yugoslavia on 9 June 1963, but moved with her mother and sister to Rotterdam ...
, singer
George Baker and Irish
1980 and
1987 Eurovision winner Johnny Logan. Each juror had an equal stake in the final result while the audience vote had a weighting equal to the votes of a single juror. Sieneke and Loekz were tied at 2 votes each, and the tie was resolved after Sieneke was selected by Pierre Kartner himself as the winner. In addition to the performances of the artists, the show featured Johnny Logan performing his Eurovision 1987 winning song "
Hold Me Now".
The national final was watched by 2.053 million viewers in the Netherlands with a market share of 29.6%.
After the voting led to a tie between Sieneke and Loekz, Pierre Kartner was called on stage to break the tie but continuously resisted to do so as he considered both artists "equally strong". Being pushed by the show producers and presenter Yolanthe Sneijder-Cabau to make a decision, he first attempted to vote by
flipping a coin but ultimately chose Sieneke after discovering that it was against the rules.
Criticism and plagiarism allegations
Criticism was voiced by Pierre Kartner's role in the Dutch selection, amongst them
Eric van Tijn
Eric Job van Tijn (born 2 November 1956, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch music producer and judge on the Dutch versions of the music competitions '' Idols'' and ''X Factor''.
He comes from a musical family. His parents Eli and Lena van Tijn founded ' ...
who has written two past Dutch Eurovision entries. He voiced his opinion that "Kartner has written some fantastic songs in the past, but that's way too long ago, if you ask me."
Past Dutch Eurovision entrants were among those invited by TROS to become coaches but many refused. Edsillia Rombley stated that she "did not like the idea", while
Lenny Kuhr
Helena Hubertina Johanna "Lenny" Kuhr (born 22 February 1950) is a Dutch singer-songwriter.
Career
In 1967, she started a singing career in the Netherlands, performing songs in the French chanson tradition. In 1969, she represented the Neth ...
(
1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
) called the selected song "shabby" and "an insult to the
utchpublic". For some time there was also uncertainty about Corry Konings' role as coach due to disagreements about the production of Marlous Oosting's version of the song. Marlous remained in the competition after the dispute was settled.
Following the presentation of "Ik ben verliefd (Sha-la-lie)", an enormous majority of Dutch press and Eurovision fans had no high hopes for the song at the contest, claiming it to be "too old-fashioned" and blaming TROS for choosing Kartner to compose the song.
2009 Dutch Eurovision entrant (as part of
De Toppers
De Toppers (), also known internationally as the Toppers, is a Dutch supergroup, consisting of René Froger, Gerard Joling, Jeroen van der Boom and Jan Smit. Gordon Heuckeroth, one of the founding members, left the group in 2011. The group has ...
)
Gordon
Gordon may refer to:
People
* Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters
* Gordon (surname), the surname
* Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War
* Clan Gordon, ...
, who initially agreed to be a coach selecting the winner of the Dutch show ''Waar is Elvis?!'' Bouke as the artist, withdrew from the competition after hearing the song. Criticism was also received from jury member Johnny Logan who stated following ''Nationaal Songfestival 2010'' that the song "just isn't strong enough" with "no appeal at all to European voters". However, an incentive has been launched by regional Dutch radio stations in support of the Dutch entry, with every station playing the song simultaneously on 18 February at 11:15
CET
CET or cet may refer to:
Places
* Cet, Albania
* Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus
* Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Comcast En ...
. The initiative was also supported by
1987 Dutch Eurovision entrant Marga Bult
Marcha (born Margaretha Hendrika Maria Groeneveld on 2 July 1956), also known as Marga Bult, is a Dutch singer and television presenter, who has been a member of the groups Tulip, Babe and Dutch Divas and is also known for her participation in th ...
.
The following week, "Ik ben verliefd (Sha-la-lie)" went to #1 on the Dutch
Single Top 100 (formerly at #13), becoming the first Dutch Eurovision song ever to reach #1 in the Netherlands. The song also reached #1 on the Dutch
iTunes download chart.
In addition, Pierre Kartner was accused of plagiarism by musician Dick van Altena who claimed that the former had stolen the melody and complete tune of his song "Angelien", which he wrote for singer
Arne Jansen in 1994. Van Altena filed a complaint with
Buma/Stemra BUMA/STEMRA are two private organisations in the Netherlands, the Buma Association ( Dutch: ''Vereniging Buma'') and the Stemra Foundation ( Dutch: ''Stichting Stemra'') that operate as one single company that acts as the Dutch collecting society fo ...
on 20 April and the verdict was due on 23 June, which could have led to the disqualification of Sieneke's Eurovision participation.
The complaint was withdrawn on 6 May after a suitable settlement, although van Altena stated that the whole matter could have been handled more clearly. Prior to the national final, one of the verses of "Ik ben verliefd (Sha-la-lie)" had been edited due to a political reference to the Russian city of
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
(the discontinued name
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
was used instead).
At Eurovision
![Flickr - aktivioslo - Sieneke - Nederland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Flickr_-_aktivioslo_-_Sieneke_-_Nederland.jpg)
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "
Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) were 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 (EBU) 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 7 February 2010, 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 27 May 2010, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 23 March 2010 and the Netherlands was set to perform in position 9, following the entry from
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
and before the entry from
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
.
The two semi-finals and the final was broadcast in the Netherlands on
Nederland 1
NPO 1 (''NPO een'', formerly Nederland 1 until 2014) is the first national television station in the Netherlands. It launched on 2 October 1951. It provides public broadcasting and currently exists next to sister channels NPO 2 and NPO 3. Severa ...
with commentary by
Cornald Maas
Cornald Maas is a Dutch television presenter who has been known for presenting talk shows in the Netherlands. He is the brother of Frans Maas.
Early career
He was an editor involved in ''The Scream of the Lion'' (VARA) with Paul de Leeuw, ''Son ...
and
Daniël Dekker
Daniël Dekker (born Henk Bakhuizen on 8 April 1960 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch disc jockey and radio host. In 1980 Dekker began his radio career on Decibel Radio before working for 3FM and Radio 2.
Between 2010 and 2013 he was the Dutch commenta ...
.
The Dutch spokesperson, who announced the Dutch votes during the final, was
Yolanthe Sneijder-Cabau
Yolanthe Cabau ( Cabau van Kasbergen; 19 March 1985) is a Spanish-Dutch actress, model and television host.
Early life
Cabau was born on the Spanish island of Ibiza. Her father, Xavier Cabau (1954–2007), was Spanish, while her mother, Richarda ...
.
Semi-final
![Sieneke op het Eurovisiesongfestival 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Sieneke_op_het_Eurovisiesongfestival_2010.jpg)
Sieneke took part in technical rehearsals on 19 and 22 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 26 and 27 May. This included the jury show on 26 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.
The Dutch performance featured Sieneke wearing white trousers and a white blouse and performing in front of a large street organ with LED screens together with two mime performers dressed as dolls and three backing vocalists. The organ displayed hearts, sun rays and parts of the lyrics from the song, while the stage was colourfully lighted. The two mime performers that joined Sieneke were Peter van der Poort and Floor van der Poort, while the three backing vocalists were Kelly ter Horst, Yvette Keijzers and Wiesje Westerlaken.
At the end of the show, the Netherlands was not announced among the top 10 entries in the second semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that the Netherlands placed fourteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 29 points.
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. 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.
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 eleventh with the public televote and fourteenth with the jury vote in the second semi-final. In the public vote, the Netherlands scored 49 points, while with the jury vote, the Netherlands scored 26 points.
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to the Netherlands and awarded by the Netherlands in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Israel in the semi-final and to Armenia in the final of the contest.
Points awarded to the Netherlands
Points awarded by the Netherlands
References
{{Eurovision Song Contest 2010
2010
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Eurovision