Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996
The Netherlands was represented by duo Maxine and Franklin Brown, with the song "De eerste keer", at the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Oslo on 18 May.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1996 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Nationaal Songfestival 1996 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Semi-finals: 26 February 1996 27 February 1996 28 February 1996 29 February 1996 1 March 1996 Final: 3 March 1996 | |||
| Selected entrant | Maxine & Franklin Brown | |||
| Selected song | "De eerste keer" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 7th, 78 points | |||
| Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
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.[1]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Televote | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat 1 – 26 February 1996 | |||||
| 1 | Roland Verstappen | "Dan dansen wij" | Henk Post, Jelle Kooistra | 13% | 3 |
| 2 | "Een woord van jou" | Peter Groot Kormelink, Herman Grimme | 14% | 2 | |
| 3 | "Ik wil alleen walsen met jou" | Roland Verstappen | 73% | 1 | |
| Heat 2 – 27 February 1996 | |||||
| 1 | Gina de Wit | "De kracht van je hart" | Gina de Wit | 17% | 3 |
| 2 | "De wereld is van jou" | Pim Koopman, Jeroen Englebert | 57% | 1 | |
| 3 | "Jij hoort bij mij" | Gina de Wit | 26% | 2 | |
| Heat 3 – 28 February 1996 | |||||
| 1 | Maxine & Franklin Brown | "Wie weet wat morgen brengt" | John Ewbank | 21% | 3 |
| 2 | "De eerste keer" | Piet Souer, Peter van Asten | 54% | 1 | |
| 3 | "Dat woordje wij" | Tom Bakker, Pieter W. Goemans | 25% | 2 | |
| Heat 4 – 29 February 1996 | |||||
| 1 | Lucretia van der Vloot | "Neem me mee" | Michel Pos, Annemiek Woudt | 16% | 3 |
| 2 | "Hoe hoger je klimt" | Franky Douglas, Arnout van Krimpen | 39% | 2 | |
| 3 | "Neem de tijd voor mij" | Edwin de Groot, Rudi Nijhuis | 45% | 1 | |
| Heat 5 – 1 March 1996 | |||||
| 1 | Clau-dya's | "Met of zonder jou" | Pim Koopman, Jeroen Englebert | 27% | 3 |
| 2 | "Als je hart klopt" | Ad van Olm | 40% | 1 | |
| 3 | "Mozart" | Henk Temming, Han Kooreneef, Michiel Eilbracht | 33% | 2 | |
Final
The final was held on 3 March at the Cinevideo Studio in Almere, 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.[2]
| Final – 3 March 1996 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
| 1 | Gina de Wit | "De wereld is van jou" | 40 | 2 |
| 2 | Maxine & Franklin Brown | "De eerste keer" | 51 | 1 |
| 3 | Roland Verstappen | "Ik wil alleen walsen met jou" | 9 | 5 |
| 4 | Clau-dya's | "Als je hart klopt" | 12 | 4 |
| 5 | Lucretia van der Vloot | "Neem de tijd voor mij" | 31 | 3 |
| Detailed Regional Jury Votes | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Song | Brabant | Drenthe | Flevoland | Friesland | Gelderland | Limburg | Groningen | North Holland |
Overijssel | South Holland |
Utrecht | The Hague |
Zeeland | Total |
| 1 | "De wereld is van jou" | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 40 |
| 2 | "De eerste keer" | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 51 |
| 3 | "Ik wil alleen walsen met jou" | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | |||||||
| 4 | "Als je hart klopt" | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | ||||
| 5 | "Neem de tijd voor mij" | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 31 | ||
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 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 and preceding Belgium. At the close of the voting "De eerste keer" had received 78 points from 15 countries (including a maximum 12 from Austria), placing the Netherlands 7th of the 23 entries. The Dutch jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners Ireland.[3]
The Dutch conductor at the contest was Dick Bakker.
Voting
Points awarded to Netherlands
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
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| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
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