Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998
The Netherlands were present at the Eurovision Song Contest 1998, held in Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1998 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Nationaal Songfestival 1998 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 8 March 1998 | |||
| Selected entrant | Edsilia Rombley | |||
| Selected song | "Hemel en aarde" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 4th, 150 points | |||
| Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Before Eurovision
Nationaal Songfestival 1998
The final was held on 8 March at the Rai Congrescentrum in Amsterdam, and was hosted by Paul de Leeuw and Linda de Mol. The final decision was weighted 50-50 between a panel of "experts" and telephone voting across the country. The winning entry was "Hemel en aarde," performed by Edsilia Rombley and written and composed by Eric van Tijn and Jochem Fluitsma.
| Final – 8 March 1998 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song (English translation) | Songwriter(s) | Jury | Televote | Total | Place |
| 1 | Sylvia Samson | "Mijn wens voor 2000" (My wish for 2000) | Henk Temming, Jan de Roos | 28 | 10 | 38 | 7 |
| 2 | Frederique Spigt | "Mijn hart kan dat niet aan" (My heart can't take it anymore) | Leo van de Ketterij, Huub van der Lubbe | 49 | 21 | 70 | 3 |
| 3 | Marco Marle | "Hou me nu maar vast" (Hold me now) | Theo Nabuurs, Ramon Roelofs | 9 | 20 | 29 | 8 |
| 4 | Ryan van den Akker & Lone van Rozendaal | "Over" | Fons Merkies, Jack Pisters, Hans Ravestein, Edwin de Jong | 17 | 31 | 48 | 5 |
| 5 | Edsilia Rombley | "Hemel en aarde" (Heaven and Earth) | Eric van Tijn, Jochem Fluitsma | 57 | 81 | 138 | 1 |
| 6 | Nubia | "Ze kwamen overzee" (They came from over the sea) | Ad van Olm | 14 | 51 | 65 | 4 |
| 7 | Nurlaila | "Alsof je bij me bent" (As if you're with me) | John Ewbank | 49 | 35 | 84 | 2 |
| 8 | Claudia Nelson | "Zintuigen" (Senses) | Harto Soemodihardjo, Derick Stadwijk, Sjon Looy | 33 | 7 | 40 | 6 |
| Detailed Jury Votes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Song | Angela Groothuizen | Cor Bakker | Martin Buitenhuis | Cornald Maas | Sandra Reemer | Albert Verlinde | Ton de Zeeuw | Manuela Kemp | Total |
| 1 | "Mijn wens voor 2000" | 5 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 28 |
| 2 | "Mijn hart kan dat niet aan" | 4 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 49 |
| 3 | "Hou me nu maar vast" | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| 4 | "Over" | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 17 |
| 5 | "Hemel en aarde" | 10 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 57 |
| 6 | "Ze kwamen overzee" | 1 | 10 | 3 | 14 | |||||
| 7 | "Alsof je bij me bent" | 7 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 49 | |
| 8 | "Zintuigen" | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 33 |
At Eurovision
Rombley was the eighteenth performer on the night of the Contest, following Cyprus and preceding Sweden. At the Contest, she performed under her first name only. At the close of the voting the song had received 150 points, placing 4th in a field of 25 competing countries. It was the best placing the Netherlands had seen since their last win in 1975.
The Dutch conductor at the contest was Dick Bakker for the third and last time.
Voting
Points awarded to Netherlands
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
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Points awarded by Netherlands
| 12 points |  |
| 10 points | .svg.png){kind=small} |
| 8 points |  |
| 7 points |  |
| 6 points |  |
| 5 points |  |
| 4 points |  |
| 3 points |  |
| 2 points |  |
| 1 point |  |