The Netherlands was represented by duo Maxine and Franklin Brown, with the song "De eerste keer", at the

1996 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the 41st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 18 May 1996 at the in Oslo, Norway. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (NRK) and presented by Norwegian journalis ...

, which took place 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 of ...

on 18 May.

Before Eurovision

Nationaal Songfestival 1996

Five acts participated in the Dutch preselection, which consisted of five qualifying rounds, followed by the final on 3 March 1996.

Heats

Five qualifying heats took place on consecutive evenings between 26 February and 1 March 1996. Each involved one of the selected acts performing three songs, with the televoting winner from each act going forward to the final.

Final

The final was held on 3 March at the Cinevideo Studio in

Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km ...

, hosted by Ivo Niehe. The winning song was chosen by voting from 13 regional juries, and "De eerste keer" emerged as the winner by an 11-point margin. The show was also broadcast in Belgium on BRTN.

At Eurovision

In 1996, for the only time in Eurovision history, an audio-only pre-qualifying round of the 29 songs entered (excluding hosts

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

who were exempt) was held in March in order for the seven lowest-scoring songs to be eliminated before the final. "De eerste keer" placed 9th, thus qualifying for the final. On the night of the final the pair performed 15th in the running order, following

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

and preceding

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. At the close of the voting "De eerste keer" had received 78 points from 15 countries (including a maximum 12 from

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

), placing the Netherlands 7th of the 23 entries. The Dutch jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The Dutch jury consisted of 8 professional jurors and 8 representatives of public. Sandra de Jong was the non-voting chairperson. The Dutch conductor at the contest was

Dick Bakker Dick Bakker (born 23 May 1947 in Blaricum) is a Dutch composer, conductor and music producer. He succeeded Rogier van Otterloo as conductor of the Metropole Orkest, serving between 1991 and 2005. Bakker composed the winning Eurovision Song Conte ...

Voting

Qualifying round

Final

References

External links

Netherlands selection 1996
{{Eurovision Song Contest 1996

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...