Pictures: Alma Bengtsson (SVT), AVROTROS

With more than twenty national selections completed for Eurovision 2023, some are already looking beyond this year’s contest in Liverpool. In an opinion piece in NRC Handelsblad, Stockholm-based sociologist Sjors Joosten argued that Sweden’s Eurovision selection show Melodifestivalen unites Swedish people and he wondered why the Netherlands doesn’t host a similar show.

Joosten’s article caught the attention of stage director and Eurovision enthusiast Maurice Wijnen, who shared it on Twitter in agreement. However, in reply to Wijnen, AVROTROS’ commentator Cornald Maas stated that he is against holding such a Melfest-style show: 

“Here here? I would say: think think. Leaving out the upcoming ESC: all national finals since 2004 have led to one qualification. Since 2013 (internal selection), except for 1 year, always the final. Or do you only want an orange national celebration?”

In a subsequent answer to author Ted van Lieshout, asking whether the selection method could not become more democratic, Cornald tweeted: 

“Doesn’t work for now, if you want to guarantee quality. The music industry hardly participates in national selection in NL, unlike in Sweden. Even ‘backstage’ big/good names with good songs don’t want to compete here, as it turned out more than once.”

Whilst a Dutch national final doesn’t seem to be on the cards for anytime soon, Cornald isn’t ruling out the possibility of getting members of the public involved with their selections in other ways.

In reply to a tweet asking whether the Netherlands could employ a demoscopic jury or a people’s jury during the internal selection, in the style of recent Swiss and German selections, Cornald answered:

“We still always discuss all possible scenarios for the best result – and there are always still a lot of ifs and buts….”

Netherlands Eurovision selection history

The Netherlands regularly used the national selection show Nationaal Songfestival to select their Eurovision entry between 1956 and 2012. A full internal selection was only done on four occasions during this 57-year period.

But since 2013, the choice has been made entirely internally by Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS. This makes the Netherlands one of the few countries to have consistently used an internal selection every year for over a decade.

Before 2019, AVROTROS selected one artist on the basis of an invitation.

Since Duncan Laurence won the contest, the country has opened its selection process ever so slightly. The broadcaster now gives the opportunity for artists to submit a bid themselves. Despite that, an internal selection committee still makes the final decision with regards to the official Eurovision entry from the Netherlands.

Do you agree with Cornald Maas’ comments that a Melfest-style show wouldn’t suit the Netherlands? Or should the country return to a national selection? Let us know in the comments down below!

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Mark
Mark
11 months ago

I think the success of Melodifestivalen is due to decades of growth, starting in a time when artists had less options. The Nationaal Songfestival was clearly mishandled for a long time thus when other opportunities arose artist chose those other platforms.

With saying this, the Dutch model has seemed to fail them this year seeing as their song has low hopes of making the final.

It’s my belief that any country mid size to large country could see a successful Melodifestivalen had they the decades long history associated with the program.

BiCHOTA
BiCHOTA
11 months ago
Reply to  Mark

And even then, Melodifestivalen needs a major overhaul

Knut Olav
Knut Olav
11 months ago

Let every country do what they think it’s best for them. Judging by the stats you can’t argue against the Dutch for their choice over the latest ten years, so let them do what suits them best.

Sanne
Sanne
10 months ago
Reply to  Knut Olav

Exactly! We, the Dutch audience – or at least the part that actually votes – doesn’t have the same taste as the rest of Europe. The last time we were allowed to vote, in 2012, we could have sent Rafaella with the banger Chocolatte, but we sent (talented but inexperienced) Joan with the outdated You And Me instead.

Im so fab
Im so fab
11 months ago

Wow, I didn’t know the Netherlands had a continuous NF of their own. Shame they discontinued it, but it has been done for good. Look at their results!!

Benito Camelo
Benito Camelo
11 months ago

Idk why everyone still has MF as a referent when easier-to-pull and more accessible formats have already been around for a while xd

Eurovision fan
Eurovision fan
11 months ago

Perhaps national final with 75% jury 25% televoting or so, otherwise we would consistently be ending up with acts like Gustaph. I like him as singer, but his song is bland.

Dawid
Dawid
11 months ago
Reply to  Eurovision fan

I’d be all for 100% televote.

Mark
Mark
11 months ago
Reply to  Eurovision fan

At some point you have to blame the organisers for the selection of songs in the National Final.

Sebastian
Sebastian
11 months ago

Maybe not a Melfest-style NF but something smaller (like UMK) with 6 or 7 songs could definitely work. If they don’t want a bad song to win, then just don’t select bad songs for your national final. Cornald is just afraid to lose his power I guess.

Mark
Mark
11 months ago
Reply to  Sebastian

Okay, but that’s not what he said.

Jeroen
Jeroen
11 months ago

I think Cornald is getting worried that he might lose his say in selecting the Dutch Eurovision entry if NL doesn’t qualify. Saying that a national final wouldn’t work in the Netherlands is ridiculous ofcourse. You can easily select a small group of respectable artists and let the public decide. If you don’t want a Sieneke, then you don’t select a Sieneke. It’s as simple as that.

Jake
Jake
11 months ago
Reply to  Jeroen

Poor Sieneke. They got a kids jingle writer to do a song and then produced that same song 8 different ways. That’s not a National final anyone wanted.

Btzbtz
Btzbtz
11 months ago

Hard to argue with him when Because of you won a pretty solid nf just next door… I somehow doubt the Belgian delegation would have picked our friend Gustav. Nf mean you must be prepared for ANY competing act to win to garantee a good result. Makes for a lot more work

Btzbtz
Btzbtz
11 months ago

Nf or not I want the delegation to put in the work and make a good entry happen. I dont like when they just wait for a good entry to show up by itself like some other delegations seem to do.

Gilles
Gilles
11 months ago

Cornald just can’t stand the idea of someone else but him picking the Dutch entry. He’s so full of himself…

Jos
Jos
11 months ago
Reply to  Gilles

He might well be. I’ve heard many commentators of Eurovision and he’s by far (I mean really far) the best. Plenty of knowledge, with an eventual hint to songs he might like or not.
Arcade was not my favourite in 2019 but I was very happy for Cornald Maas.
I’m not saying that I either agree or disagree with a NF, but it requires work to keep it at a high level.

Mandy
Mandy
11 months ago
Reply to  Jos

But Cornald didn’t choose Arcade, Arcade was presented on a silver platter to our commetee by our queen Ilse DeLange.

Erik
Erik
11 months ago

People saying and meaning different things here. The likes of Melodifestivalen and San Remo is that they are a concept of it’s own. It didn’t matter The Mamas were selected for a cancelled ESC. They were embraced by the swedes because of their music. Swedes of all ages, from preschoolers to elderly people gather to enjoy music and entertainment. It’s a campfire event. Other tv channels have lost hope of competing with this broadcast. The final is the most watched on Swedish tv every year. The other channels even do reruns of other shows and wait with their competitors until… Read more »

Leo
Leo
11 months ago

My question is would adult contemporary entries like Birds, Calm After The Storm or Arcade win a national selection? Likewise entries of other countries like Space Man and Snap. Would Snap have won Depi Evratesil, particularly when it needed the jury for a song like Chains On You (admittedly with work needing to be done which was done with aplomb) to be chosen over songs that had less than 10% chance of qualifying? And Soldi, SloMo, Hold Me Closer, and Netta as a winning act, were also Jury overruling public

Stian F
Stian F
11 months ago

Netherlands is in my bottom 5 this year… Such a boring song compared to what they have sent in recent years. This year it seems like they really are just stuck in the same popballad-lane and come up with the worst one of all of their internal choices so far… Netherlands glory days might t have come to an end now… Well it was nice as long as it lasted…

Robert
Robert
11 months ago
Reply to  Stian F

What that the question though.. Its still going and despite what you think of Burning Daylight and how boring you think it is, it is quality.. Just not your taste.. end seminar

Vivian
Vivian
11 months ago

While I think Cornald Maas is far from a charismatic individual, I do have to agree with him. In a lot of cases national selections need a vast array of good songs that are all able to compete with one another in a similar class of that you’d see in the actual song contest, and the problem with our little nation is that the songs we have been sending since 2013 were all very emotionally focused (except 2018 and maybe 2021) and listening to entries like these several times in a row can grow boring veeeeeery fast. I’d say we… Read more »

Oy oy
Oy oy
11 months ago

ESC is a competition for songwriters. I know there are alot of people out there with music as a hobby who write greats songs for fun and pleasure just to put them in the drawer, never to be published because they don’t have the guts or don’t know hoe to do it. What about reaching out a hand to these unknown songwriters, invite them to a studio and link then up with potential artists? (doesn’t have to be big names).

Jo.
Jo.
11 months ago

they are very consistent with their entries, so no complaint from my side. One of my fave countries in esc.

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
11 months ago

Thanks for the article. I feel for Cornald and the Netherlands. National Finals are not as easy as they look to make them work for the broadcaster, the artists, their reps, the audience and the fans. I hugely appreciated the work that I saw put into the UK shows in 2017 and 2018. I know those UK shows were on a much smaller scale than many others were at the time, but that’s pretty much my only direct experience with National Finals so far, as it were. As a fan, I think the most memorable “curious result” in the UK… Read more »

James
James
11 months ago
Reply to  Purple Mask

Also a factor as to why Melfest is so successful: It’s been around for close to 6 decades so entire generations of Swedes have watched it and are still watching it like a family/national affair. No other NF would be able to replicate that other than the likes of Sanremo and FiK.

Alaska
Alaska
11 months ago
Reply to  James

I would add Portugal’s Festival da Canção to that list. It started in 1964 and gained a huge popularity up until the end of the 90s as one of the TV highlights of the year. It took place every year until then, even when Portugal was not participating in Eurovision, like in 1970 or in 2000, for example. Then it started crumbling apart, mainly due to poor results in Eurovision and overall lack of interest, the appearance of private tv channels, etc., etc., etc.

Benito Camelo
Benito Camelo
11 months ago
Reply to  James

And even then, Melfest has been getting more boring in recent years and I wouldn’t be surprised if viewership has decreased lately

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
11 months ago

It’s all about WHO is chosen and WHAT songs are sent. An internal selection can be the best thing ever if you know your nation isn’t gonna pick something interesting or if the juries are just gonna rig it anyway. But in the Eurovision of old, internal selections were seen as more of a bad thing because they weren’t always what the public wanted and MANY bad decisions were made, which were the case of the big Five. However, in recent years, the Big Five made a comeback and the stigma the internal selections had started to fade as better… Read more »

Rambo Amadeus
Rambo Amadeus
11 months ago

They know better than to let the public decide, just look at what happened in Belgium this year, Benelux people simply can’t be trusted with this, they just vote like trolls.

kees
kees
11 months ago
Reply to  Rambo Amadeus

bro most of the people had issues with voting

Frisian esc
Frisian esc
11 months ago
Reply to  Rambo Amadeus

Belgium is going to reach the top 10 this year though.

Tomm
Tomm
11 months ago
Reply to  Frisian esc

Belgium is staying in semi. Even Blanka has better song lol

Gilles
Gilles
11 months ago
Reply to  Tomm

Gustaph – unlike Blanka – can sing at least.

Anonymous91
Anonymous91
11 months ago
Reply to  Tomm

i’m sure Belgium has more chances to qualify, unlike Blanka

Park Shin Hye
Park Shin Hye
11 months ago

Some countries just need to go with internal selections. For example , Netherlands , Belgium , Turkey , Bulgaria.
I think national finals could work for Switzerland and Austria but i’m not so sure about that.

ThorBeta
ThorBeta
11 months ago
Reply to  Park Shin Hye

I would add Slovenia to this list. They’ve been notorious for (almost) always picking the wrong song in their national finals.

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
11 months ago
Reply to  ThorBeta

Although you could argue that THAT one or two songs would never come to the table in the first place if an internal selection was used?

ThorBeta
ThorBeta
11 months ago

Slovenia has very rarely used internal selections and basically this year is only the second time they did (I’m not counting Ana Sokli? in 2021 for obvious reasons), so who knows what they would pick if they did more often? I’m just recollecting all the EMA editions when I thought “omg what were Slovenians thinking again this time?” lol. I feel that RTVSLO got it right this year but that remains to be seen in 2 months’ time.

Gilles
Gilles
11 months ago
Reply to  ThorBeta

That was just Misa Molk picking her favourites.

Denis
Denis
11 months ago

There is no reason why they can’t have national final, or why any country can’t have it. Is not the point to find a song that represents a nation ? And best way to do it is to get the public involved. You can have a jury of course just let the people get involved. What makes a commite know better than the people? What happens when the luck runs out and they fail to qualify?

Emilie
Emilie
11 months ago

I’m so tired of wiwibloggs readers always hating on Sweden and everything to do with us. And you people who lift up UMK and MGP and other national selections, who do you think they modelled their contests on…? Melodifestivalen has run since the 50’s so please shut up already. You’re just jealous your country can’t manage even a hint of our legacy!

Bibi
Bibi
11 months ago
Reply to  Emilie

Are you serious right now, or just trying to cause chaos on purpose? If you’re serious, you’re pretty embarrassing… I’m sorry but I had to say this. I’ve been following the conversation around this year’s ESC on social media for a while now, and I always thought Swedes are a humble folk like the Finns. They probably still are – let’s not let the few (or many) idiots on social media ruin the image of a whole nation. You should be careful though because sometimes one person’s silly words can make a little dent in the whole country’s image, as… Read more »

Hey Y’all
Hey Y’all
11 months ago
Reply to  Emilie

Melodifestivalen was inspired by the ESC, which was itself inspired by San Remo. What a Legacy ???

Efthymios
Efthymios
11 months ago
Reply to  Emilie

In the past 7 years of this contest, the only last great entries you’ve actually attempted to send/sent to Europe were in 2022 with Cornelia and in 2020 with the Mamas… and ESC2020 didn’t even happen. Says a lot. I’m definitely not trying to compare you with anybody else but just yourselves, by the way.

Tomm
Tomm
11 months ago
Reply to  Efthymios

It was maybe bad for u, so go cry about it. People HATE Sweden what so ever … Sweden helping with songs, staging …

I am not saying Sweden is the best, but if Ukraine/Serbia would have been in the same situation, people would have been wet.

Efthymios
Efthymios
11 months ago
Reply to  Tomm

No because we’re judging a song here. At least, I am trying to, idk about the rest.

Geale de Vries
Geale de Vries
11 months ago

I think a little elitarian clique in the Netherlands has taken ownership of the selection process. They think they know best, forgetting that the song they choose represents not only them but the whole nation. After a period of mediocre results (with several years in a row of not qualifying for the final), it seemed like a good idea to select an artist and a sng internally. But things have changed, and I think they should open up for more artists to submit entries and for the Dutch audience to become involved in the selection process again.

XOOOD
XOOOD
11 months ago

Nothing can compete with Mello,

James
James
11 months ago
Reply to  XOOOD

Melodi Grand Prix?

Tomm
Tomm
11 months ago
Reply to  James

No

Thallo
Thallo
11 months ago

Why is Melodifestivalen always the blueprint for national finals?

Finland’s UMK, Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix, Serbia’s PZE, Italy’s Sanremo and Spain’s Benidorm Fest are just as good, if not better than Melodifestivalen.

If The Netherlands can pull off a 5 participant quality NF like UMK, then they should go for it. Melfest isn’t the pinnacle of National Finals, it’s actually quite the opposite.

Emilie
Emilie
11 months ago
Reply to  Thallo

I think they just mean a democratic process rather than an internal selection. Jeez all this hate towards our beautiful mello. It’s for the swedish people so buzz off!

WannaEatMySpaghetti
WannaEatMySpaghetti
11 months ago
Reply to  Emilie

Don’t pay attention, this blog is full of Sweden haters. Of course I don’t like all the songs in Melodifestivalen. Of course I think MF producers could take more risky decisions by chosing less basic pop songs. But lets face it, melodifestivalen is still the best produced national selection and Sweden always manages to find one song that will do well in Eurovision. And I think that’s exactly why eurofans hate the country: no risk but still on top. A lot of people will disagree but I know when I speak the truth.

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
11 months ago

I liked ALL the songs in the final this year BAR the winner!

Anonymous91
Anonymous91
11 months ago

of course hate for generic sweden, whom hate their own language to the core

it is sooo easier writing basic crap in english

Benito Camelo
Benito Camelo
11 months ago

Well, for starters stop hating your own language. It’s hilarious to realize that the last time Swedish was present in the contest was when Finland sent “När jag blundar” in 2012

Roo
Roo
11 months ago
Reply to  Emilie

Exactly. It’s for the Swedish people. It’s not necessarily for Eurovision and what works in one country doesn’t work in others.
UK for example, has a well known habit of voting for underdogs in televised contests. Of course that always means a Scooch or Michael Rice will get selected.
Netherlands isn’t the recorded music powerhouse Sweden is and other countries just don’t have the resources.
I don’t understand why fans can get so obsessed with National Finals. There is enough to enjoy already.

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
11 months ago
Reply to  Roo

That doesn’t necessary mean Scooch or Rice were bad. In fact, they were the best of a bad bunch if you look back. There needed to be better options!

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
11 months ago

UK 2007 had Justin Hawkins and Beverlei Brown though. Even 16 years on, I don’t understand what went wrong there.

hvv
hvv
11 months ago

Remember how Scooch was selected over Cyndi and Big Brovaz, and Rice over Kerrie-Anne and Jordan Clarke? The way the BBC changed their approach with internal selections which worked like a charm shows that the British public should never have a say on the selection process anymore.

Roo
Roo
11 months ago

I think the Cyndi Almouzni who came second to Scooch would of fared better. Her ballad was better than expected. It would of contrasted nicely being performed after Verka Seducka and would probably picked up a fair few 1 2 and 3 points. Scooch were obliterated in the aftermath that was Verka.

Benito Camelo
Benito Camelo
11 months ago
Reply to  Emilie

A Swede full of themselves, what a surprise!

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
11 months ago
Reply to  Thallo

Because it was invented first and other nations followed suit.

Tomm
Tomm
11 months ago
Reply to  Thallo

San Remo is not better at all .. lol are u kidding me? 5h long competition … done
UMK has changed <3.
Norway is overatted
Serbia is fine too 🙂

Frisian esc
Frisian esc
11 months ago

I can’t really fathom his mindset because if you follow eurovision as closely as he does over the years the only conclusion you can come to is that it is possible to set up a successful national final. It’s like change management: you need to have a plan and make sure to change the mentality along with it. You can see that very clearly at umk where the finnish broadcaster had a vision and structurally elevated the quality of their nf which in turn bettered their results. Festival da cancao was one of the worst national finals of every season.… Read more »

Nikki
Nikki
11 months ago

I feel like Mello works in Sweden, and Sanremo in Italy, to put another example, works so well because they’re very entwined with the cultural field of both Sweden and Italy. They’re over sixty years old (Sanremo 1951. Mello 1959) and they’re responsible for basically every Eurovision success since. They’re old, trusty, and a part of the country’s musical culture. They work, for both Italy and Sweden. Now, I also see the point of Conrad. The Netherlands doesn’t have that big tradition Mello and Sanremo are, and going Internal has been working for them well, why change? Belgium did and… Read more »

Alfie28
Alfie28
11 months ago

You could just have Thomas G:son write every song. I have realized Tattoo has the same style as Euphoria, same up notes, down notes, pause, and end. It’s basically a repeat in a different key

ESCFanGA
ESCFanGA
11 months ago

I feel the Netherlands are playing it too safe and are too fearful of taking risks by refusing to do a NF. Netherlands might be doing well with internal selections but eventually that luck will run out. Similarly, hosting a NF doesn’t guarantee failure by any means.

Jimmy
Jimmy
11 months ago

I think Cornald’s right. The Netherlands probably doesn’t need another TV music competition serie. The interests of aspiring singers/bands and songwriters aren’t necessarily aligned to the commercial interests of the music industry and TV programming.

Jimmy
Jimmy
11 months ago
Reply to  Jimmy

Meldoifestivalen works well in the context of Sweden, but it doesn’t have to be replicated everywhere else.

Jeroen
Jeroen
11 months ago
Reply to  Jimmy

I agree that there is no room and probably no budget for a Melfest in the Netherlands. That doesn’t mean that a NF of one night won’t work in the Netherlands

Carino
Carino
11 months ago

I think we would not have this discussion if this years entry would do a little better in polls. I still think it’s a very solid entry that can surprise. I would love to see for the Netherlands to send something a little bolder, cause it feels they’re sending songs following the same recipe (music first) for some years now. The only televote rule might hurt them this year and then their qualification streak ends and they might have to reinvent themselves. It’s the good old cycle of rise and fall.

Carino
Carino
11 months ago
Reply to  Carino

And rise again

Fatima
Fatima
11 months ago

In Sweden and Finland it seems that there is no stigma about competing in and perhaps losing such contests. There is no shortage of quality acts which come back year after year, Loreen being a prime example. I think Cornald it pointing out that wouldn’t happen in his country. It’s certainly true in the UK, where our last national final included one act which had never before performed live together.

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
11 months ago
Reply to  Fatima

Who was that?

Leo
Leo
11 months ago

The MAID version of Freaks was the case in which the act had never performed together live before, although the Jordan version did a SNAP in that it had some viral success in hindsight but it was hard to see it faring too well in TA.

Frisian esc
Frisian esc
11 months ago

Not Cornald Maas totally ignoring the fact we never got offered a reasonable choice in our national selections.

Frisian esc
Frisian esc
11 months ago
Reply to  Frisian esc

‘Or do you only want an orange national celebration?’

Well yeah, that’s kinda the point of eurovision. Choosing a song and artist to represent the people of your nation?

Frisian esc
Frisian esc
11 months ago
Reply to  Frisian esc

‘The music industry hardly participates in national selection in NL, unlike in Sweden. Even ‘backstage’ big/good names with good songs don’t want to compete here, as it turned out more than once.’

– more than once being 15 years ago when Avrotros broke the dutch legacy of eurovision themselves by sending acts like de toppers and sieneke

Anonymous91
Anonymous91
11 months ago
Reply to  Frisian esc

I can totally see a band like Racoon being interested, and their work in dutch especially is awesome, imagine something like “de echte vent” in ESC, the flavour <3

Anonymous91
Anonymous91
11 months ago

Not melfest maybe but more similar to either UMK or going all out festival wise like beovizija or festival i kenges maybe if you want to go for quality by making it more attractive for own great songwriters

ThorBeta
ThorBeta
11 months ago
Reply to  Anonymous91

Both the Nordics and the Balkans are very different to countries like Netherlands. All these festivals would survive easily without even being attached to ESC.

Anonymous91
Anonymous91
11 months ago
Reply to  ThorBeta

festival i kenges has been going on longer, far longer than albania are in eurovision, so much history to that

Netherlands also needs to become a ”balkan-alike” nation, dutch language music is so beautiful

Jonas
Jonas
11 months ago

Cornald’s whole premise is based on the value of a good result. Is it really that important? Surely, say, six weeks of family entertainment and support of the arts is actually of more value.

Jimmy
Jimmy
11 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

In what ways does Melodifestivalen support the arts? Does it do or support any outreach work for aspiring musicians and songwriters?

It seems specifically geared to supporting the Swedish pop industry, very specific types of output, and often monopolised by a select few song writers.

Jonas
Jonas
11 months ago
Reply to  Jimmy

I didn’t mean an exact replica of Melodifestitvalen, they are free to iron out the wrinkles and put their own spin on it.

Jonas
Jonas
11 months ago
Reply to  Jimmy

I do agree with what you’re saying, but yes, I would say that it supports the arts. In limited scope, and yes, on the industrial side, but still. It gives choreographers, dancers, staging directors, performers, television crews, comedians, and more, valuable experience and confidence. It celebrates and remembers work from the past. It gives aspiring songwriters a goal, and maybe actually makes people get their work out of their heads and hearts to be sent in for submission. Even if it’s not accepted. Costume designers get 28 chances to showcase every year. All the intervals. The tour around Sweden where… Read more »

Jimmy
Jimmy
11 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

You make a good case 🙂

Jimmy
Jimmy
11 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

Thanks for answering my question so thoughtfully, as always.

Jeroen
Jeroen
11 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

Well for Cornald himself it’s important as he is part of the selection committee.

Roelof M
Roelof M
11 months ago

Agree wholeheartedly with Cornald. First off, I don’t think the bigger/upcoming names would participate due to fear of losing the competition/ losing face. I also think the locals would absolutely make the worst decisions for us. If we want to continue our succes-streak, selecting internally is the way to go. A little more diversity in the selected songs would be nice tho, kinda feel like we’ve been re-iterating the same 2-3 concepts (either country or ballad) for the past 10 years. Would love to see something really, really different (but still high-quality) for once.

Denis
Denis
11 months ago
Reply to  Roelof M

But what happens when that streak ends and you fail to qualify?

Tibor
Tibor
11 months ago

No, I don’t agree with Cornald Maas. Just don’t allow entries like Sieneke or the Toppers into your national selection, and you should be fine. If you don’t get enough quality entries – and I would really doubt that this is the problem in the Netherlands – make the selection smaller. There is absolutely no need to select internally for anyone, except perhaps the microstates.

Fatima
Fatima
11 months ago
Reply to  Tibor

Well, I agree with what Australia did this year. Voyager were too good an act to be left on the NF scrapheap.

Tibor
Tibor
11 months ago
Reply to  Fatima

I also like some of the internally selected entries. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a national final.

Fizz
Fizz
11 months ago

I think a selection like Finlands UMK could work out here. Much more scalled down fron swedens Melfest This years dutch entry might be a borderline qualifier and if a NQ happens, many in the NLD’s will wonder if its not the right time changing the selection proces. We will see.

BlueZone
BlueZone
11 months ago

Don’t fix what isn’t broken. Simple.

ESCFanGA
ESCFanGA
11 months ago
Reply to  BlueZone

You can’t expect what isn’t broken to stay that way forever though.

Benito Camelo
Benito Camelo
11 months ago
Reply to  BlueZone

Might not be broken yet, but it’s showing signs of wearing that have to be taken care of