# Regio Songfestival

The Regio Songfestival (Dutch:; transl. 'Region[al] Song Contest') is a Dutch song competition between regional public broadcasters. Held in its current form since 2023, the format of the competition is loosely based on the Eurovision Song Contest and was first used in 1995 under its original title Het Nederlandse Songfestival (transl. 'the Dutch Song Contest'). Every edition features thirteen original songs that are performed in a live broadcast, each representing a region of the Netherlands. From the competing entries, a winner is determined through a combination of televoting and votes cast by regional juries.

## History

The format of the competition was first used for the Dutch Song Contest 1995. It was developed by the Regionale Omroep Overleg en Samenwerking (ROOS) – the umbrella organisation of Dutch regional public broadcasters – and the Conamus Foundation to celebrate fifty years of regional public broadcasting in the Netherlands. In addition, it served as a substitute for the Nationaal Songfestival, which was not held in 1995.
Despite ambitions for it to become an annual event, the competition was not renewed for a second edition in 1996. In May 2023, twenty-eight years after the 1995 edition, the thirteen regional public broadcasters announced the launch of a reworked version of the format under the name Regio Songfestival. The inaugural edition was held on 4 November 2023, with a second edition scheduled to be held in 2024.

### Competition overview

| Year | Date | Host city | Presenter(s) | Winner | Winner | Winner | Winner |
| Year | Date | Host city | Presenter(s) | Region | Artist | Song | Language |
| 1995: Het Nederlandse Songfestival ||||||||
| 1995 | 25 May | Utrecht | Karin Bloemen | Groningen | Wia Buze [nl] | "Bij alles wat ik doe" | Dutch |
| 2023–present: Regio Songfestival ||||||||
| 2023 | 4 November | Utrecht | Stefania Liberakakis, Riks Ozinga [nl] and Bernadette Keizer | Limburg | Emmy Ackermans | "'t Letste rundje" | Dutch, Limburgish |
| 2024 | 9 November | Maastricht | Lex Uiting [nl], Yaël Weijenberg and Bas van Mulken | Gelderland | Emma Luca | "Illusie" | Dutch |

## Format

Thirteen original songs representing different regions of the Netherlands are performed in a live television show, broadcast simultaneously by all participating broadcasters. A "region" as a participant is represented by its regional public broadcaster – one from each of the twelve provinces, with the exception of South Holland, which is represented by two broadcasters: one serving the province's northern subregions (The Hague and surroundings; presented as "West"), and one serving the southern subregions (Rotterdam and surroundings; presented as "Rijnmond").
Each participating broadcaster has sole discretion over the process it may employ to select its entry for the contest. Entrants are not allowed to have had a Top 40 hit prior to participation, and have to sing in a regional language or dialect or in Dutch. Regional contests that serve as a broadcaster's selection process include Liet [fy; nl] (Omrop Fryslân) and the Drèents Liedtiesfestival [nl] (RTV Drenthe).
The programme is staged by one of the regions and is broadcast from an auditorium in the selected host city. The winner is determined by a combination of votes cast by regional juries (67%) and a public televote (33%). Entries cannot receive points from their own regional jury. The participating broadcaster of the winning entry is given the honour of organising the following year's event.

## 2023 edition

The first edition of the Regio Songfestival was held on 4 November 2023, beginning at 20:30 CET, and lasted approximately two hours. It was organised by the Netherlands' thirteen regional public broadcasters, with the (financial) support of Buma Cultuur, AVROTROS and the K.F. Hein Fund [nl]. The show was broadcast on television by all participating broadcasters, as well as AVROTROS on the national television channel NPO 1 Extra.

### Competing entries

Participants of the Regio Songfestival 2023 :
| Region | Broadcaster | Artist | Song | Language | Songwriter(s) |
| Drenthe | RTV Drenthe | Lisa Harms | "Tot de zun uutgiet" | Low Saxon | Roy KeuterDennis HendriksRowdy Prins |
| Flevoland | Omroep Flevoland | Abtin Salem | "Kleurenblind" | Dutch | Abtin SalemArjan VenemannMarco Verhagen [nl] |
| Friesland | Omrop Fryslân | Melissa Pander [fy] | "Foarby" | West Frisian | Melissa Pander |
| Gelderland | Omroep Gelderland | AleXingt! | "Treinreis" | Dutch | Alex van der Horst |
| Groningen | RTV Noord | Wat Aans! | "Wakker in Grunn" | Low Saxon | Rik BaptistTeun Heuvel |
| Limburg | L1 | Emmy Ackermans | "'t Letste rundje" | Dutch, Limburgish | Emmy AckermansKirsten MichelDidier de Ruyter |
| North Brabant | Omroep Brabant | Sam & Merijn Knoop | "Proost op het leven" | Dutch | Roy Koopmans |
| North Holland | NH | Emma Koning | "Mag het licht nog één keer aan?" | Dutch | Emma Koning |
| Overijssel | RTV Oost | Leon Moorman [nl] | "Dat ik leef" | Low Saxon | Jord BrinkhuisKarel SchepersLeon Moorman |
| Rijnmond | RTV Rijnmond | Remedy | "Nooit is het genoeg" | Dutch | Jay van LeeuwenJurian MoorenSoraya OosterbaanWendy van der Torre |
| Utrecht | RTV Utrecht | Melanie Ryan | "Achterom" | Dutch | Melanie Reindertsen |
| West | Omroep West | Lien | "Waar ben je dan" | Dutch | Dylan SiemerinkLien Cornelissen |
| Zeeland | Omroep Zeeland | Smaakstof | "Nacht van de nacht" | Dutch | Dylan den HartogNiels Hariot |

### Venue and presenters

RTV Utrecht, the regional public broadcaster of Utrecht, was asked to host the first edition of the Regio Songfestival due to the province's central location within the Netherlands. It was subsequently announced that the event would be staged at the Stadsschouwburg [nl], a theatre in the city of Utrecht. The venue has a capacity of 1,000 spectators.
On 2 October 2023, it was revealed that the show would be hosted by Greek-Dutch singer Stefania Liberakakis, alongside RTV Utrecht reporters Riks Ozinga [nl] and Bernadette Keizer. RTV Utrecht announced that Liberakakis and Ozinga would be the show's main presenters, while Keizer would serve as the green room host.

### Contest overview

The running order for the live show was published on 27 October 2023. The ABBA tribute band We Want ABBA!, featuring singers Mandy Huydts and Sandy Kandau [nl], performed as an interval act.
| R/O | Region | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
| 1 | Friesland | Melissa Pander | "Foarby" | 159 | 5 |
| 2 | Overijssel | Leon Moorman | "Dat ik leef" | 172 | 3 |
| 3 | Gelderland | AleXingt! | "Treinreis" | 41 | 13 |
| 4 | Zeeland | Smaakstof | "Nacht van de nacht" | 78 | 11 |
| 5 | Drenthe | Lisa Harms | "Tot de zun uutgiet" | 96 | 8 |
| 6 | Limburg | Emmy Ackermans | "'t Letste rundje" | 177 | 1 |
| 7 | Rijnmond | Remedy | "Nooit is het genoeg" | 148 | 6 |
| 8 | Utrecht | Melanie Ryan | "Achterom" | 102 | 7 |
| 9 | North Brabant | Sam & Merijn Knoop | "Proost op het leven" | 172 | 2 |
| 10 | Groningen | Wat Aans! | "Wakker in Grunn" | 172 | 4 |
| 11 | Flevoland | Abtin Salem | "Kleurenblind" | 84 | 9 |
| 12 | North Holland | Emma Koning | "Mag het licht nog één keer aan?" | 80 | 10 |
| 13 | West | Lien | "Waar ben je dan" | 49 | 12 |

#### Spokespersons

The 10, 11 and 12-point scores from the juries were announced by a spokesperson from each region in the following order:
* Friesland – Iris Kroes
* Overijssel – Willie Oosterhuis [nl]
* Gelderland – Linda Geerdink
* Zeeland – Elsa van Hermon
* Drenthe – René Steenbergen
* Limburg – Henk Hover
* Rijnmond – Esther Hart
* Utrecht – Pearl Jozefzoon [nl]
* North Brabant – Tom van den Oetelaar
* Groningen – Wia Buze [nl]
* Flevoland – Marco Verhagen [nl]
* North Holland – Maarten Faber
* West – Dennis Weening [nl] and Celine Huijsmans [nl]

#### Detailed voting results

Split results :
| Place | Combined | Combined | Jury | Jury | Public | Public |
| Place | Region | Points | Region | Points | Region | Points |
| 1 | Limburg | 177 | North Brabant | 120 | Groningen | 78 |
| 2 | North Brabant | 172 | Overijssel | 113 | Friesland | 72 |
| 3 | Overijssel | 172 | Limburg | 112 | Limburg | 65 |
| 4 | Groningen | 172 | Rijnmond | 102 | Overijssel | 59 |
| 5 | Friesland | 159 | Groningen | 94 | North Brabant | 52 |
| 6 | Rijnmond | 148 | Friesland | 87 | Rijnmond | 46 |
| 7 | Utrecht | 102 | Utrecht | 76 | Flevoland | 39 |
| 8 | Drenthe | 96 | North Holland | 73 | Drenthe | 33 |
| 9 | Flevoland | 84 | Zeeland | 65 | Utrecht | 26 |
| 10 | North Holland | 80 | Drenthe | 63 | Gelderland | 20 |
| 11 | Zeeland | 78 | Flevoland | 45 | Zeeland | 13 |
| 12 | West | 49 | West | 43 | North Holland | 7 |
| 13 | Gelderland | 41 | Gelderland | 21 | West | 6 |
| Voting procedure used: 67% jury vote 33% televoting | Voting procedure used: 67% jury vote 33% televoting | Total score | Jury vote score | Televoting score | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote |
| Voting procedure used: 67% jury vote 33% televoting | Voting procedure used: 67% jury vote 33% televoting | Total score | Jury vote score | Televoting score | Friesland | Overijssel | Gelderland | Zeeland | Drenthe | Limburg | Rijnmond | Utrecht | North Brabant | Groningen | Flevoland | North Holland | West |
| Contestants | Friesland | 159 | 87 | 72 | | 10 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 9 |
| Contestants | Overijssel | 172 | 113 | 59 | 9 | | 9 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 6 |
| Contestants | Gelderland | 41 | 21 | 20 | 1 | 1 | | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Contestants | Zeeland | 78 | 65 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 5 | | 4 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 5 |
| Contestants | Drenthe | 96 | 63 | 33 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 2 | | 6 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| Contestants | Limburg | 177 | 112 | 65 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 9 | | 8 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 12 |
| Contestants | Rijnmond | 148 | 102 | 46 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 9 | | 11 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 11 |
| Contestants | Utrecht | 102 | 76 | 26 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 12 | | 7 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 8 |
| Contestants | North Brabant | 172 | 120 | 52 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 9 | | 9 | 11 | 10 | 10 |
| Contestants | Groningen | 172 | 94 | 78 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 11 | | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Contestants | Flevoland | 84 | 45 | 39 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | | 3 | 4 |
| Contestants | North Holland | 80 | 73 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 12 | | 3 |
| Contestants | West | 49 | 43 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | |
12 points awarded by juries :
| # | Recipient | Regions giving 12 points |
| 4 | Groningen | Friesland, Gelderland, Overijssel, Zeeland |
| 3 | Limburg | North Brabant, Utrecht, West |
| 3 | Overijssel | Drenthe, Groningen, North Holland |
| 2 | Utrecht | Limburg, Rijnmond |
| 1 | North Holland | Flevoland |

## 2024 edition

The second edition of Regio Songfestival was held on 9 November 2024, beginning at 20:30 CET, and lasted approximately two hours. It was organised by L1, the regional public broadcaster of Limburg, following its victory in the 2023 edition. The show was broadcast on television by all participating broadcasters, as well as AVROTROS on the national television channel NPO 1 Extra.

### Competing entries

Participants of the Regio Songfestival 2024 :
| Region | Broadcaster | Artist | Song | Language | Songwriter(s) |
| Drenthe | RTV Drenthe | Marianne Veenstra | "'t Is zo wisse (as een klontie zuut is)" | Low Saxon | Marianne Veenstra |
| Flevoland | Omroep Flevoland | Sanne-Maaike Oudshoorn | "Wil ik anders" | Dutch | Sanne-Maaike Oudshoorn |
| Friesland | Omrop Fryslân | Fegebart | "Bingojûn" | West Frisian | Piter ReitsmaJehannes ReitsmaAnne Martin KoreeInge de Vries |
| Gelderland | Omroep Gelderland | Emma Luca | "Illusie" | Dutch | Emma LukassenTariq PijningWies Knipping |
| Groningen | RTV Noord | Trap Aan! | "Ien de keet" | Low Saxon | René SiertsemaRonald Jongsma |
| Limburg | L1 | Maxime x Glyn | "Oceaan" | Dutch | Giuseppe GallitelliGlyn HoogvlietsMaxime CathalinaSvibor Perković |
| North Brabant | Omroep Brabant | Dominique de Bont | "Wie we waren" | Dutch | David WestmeijerDidier de RuyterDominique de BontJochem FluitsmaMark van Tijn |
| North Holland | NH | Renee Rose | "Meisje met een droom" | Dutch | Luc WeegelsRenee Schnater |
| Overijssel | RTV Oost | Merlijn Dewasme | "Adem" | Dutch | Christiaan FrölichJulia CremersLoes KoedootLuuk HoogeveenMerlijn DewasmeTeun van der SalmTimo Stevens |
| Rijnmond | RTV Rijnmond | Braidy | "Banaan" | Dutch | Brian HaakGiovanni Crama |
| Utrecht | RTV Utrecht | Thijs Swinkels | "Wanneer zie ik je weer?" | Dutch | Mark PeppingTeunes Tony NeefThijs Swinkels |
| West | Omroep West | Kopsmart | "'Ier lêt me 'art" | Schevenings | Arie Spaans |
| Zeeland | Omroep Zeeland | Cycz | "Oceaan" | Dutch | Bram MvambanuJesse van de Ketterij |

### Venue and presenters

The event was staged at the Theater aan het Vrijthof [nl] in Maastricht. The venue has a capacity of 915 spectators. On 4 July 2024, it was revealed that the show would be hosted by presenter and singer Lex Uiting [nl], alongside L1 reporters Yaël Camille Weijenberg and Riël Linssen. Linssen was later replaced by Bas van Mulken, who served as the green room host.

### Contest overview

The running order for the live show was published on 11 October 2024. Singer John Tana [nl] performed the song "Daan kom iech mer aon" as an interval act.
| R/O | Region | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
| 1 | Utrecht | Thijs Swinkels | "Wanneer zie ik je weer?" | 78 | 11 |
| 2 | Drenthe | Marianne Veenstra | "'t Is zo wisse (as een klontie zuut is)" | 101 | 8 |
| 3 | Overijssel | Merlijn Dewasme | "Adem" | 171 | 2 |
| 4 | Zeeland | Cycz | "Oceaan" | 92 | 9 |
| 5 | West | Kopsmart | "'Ier lêt me 'art" | 110 | 7 |
| 6 | North Brabant | Dominique de Bont | "Wie we waren" | 169 | 3 |
| 7 | Limburg | Maxime x Glyn | "Oceaan" | 81 | 10 |
| 8 | North Holland | Renee Rose | "Meisje met een droom" | 151 | 4 |
| 9 | Friesland | Fegebart | "Bingojûn" | 134 | 6 |
| 10 | Flevoland | Sanne-Maaike Oudshoorn | "Wil ik anders" | 60 | 12 |
| 11 | Gelderland | Emma Luca | "Illusie" | 193 | 1 |
| 12 | Rijnmond | Braidy | "Banaan" | 49 | 13 |
| 13 | Groningen | Trap Aan! | "Ien de keet" | 141 | 5 |

#### Spokespersons

The 10, 11 and 12-point scores from the juries were announced by a spokesperson from each region in the following order:
* Utrecht – Pearl Jozefzoon [nl]
* Drenthe – René Steenbergen
* Overijssel – Willie Oosterhuis [nl]
* Zeeland – Elsa van Hermon
* West – Tess Merlot [nl]
* North Brabant – Tom van den Oetelaar
* Limburg – Maxime Cabo
* North Holland – Maarten Faber
* Friesland – Sipke Jan Bousema
* Flevoland – Roy Blokzijl
* Gelderland – Eric van den Berg
* Rijnmond – Joan Franka
* Groningen – Rik Baptist

#### Detailed voting results

Split results :
| Place | Combined | Combined | Jury | Jury | Public | Public |
| Place | Region | Points | Region | Points | Region | Points |
| 1 | Gelderland | 193 | Gelderland | 121 | Groningen | 78 |
| 2 | Overijssel | 171 | North Brabant | 110 | Gelderland | 72 |
| 3 | North Brabant | 169 | Overijssel | 106 | Overijssel | 65 |
| 4 | North Holland | 151 | North Holland | 105 | North Brabant | 59 |
| 5 | Groningen | 141 | Friesland | 95 | Zeeland | 52 |
| 6 | Friesland | 134 | West | 84 | North Holland | 46 |
| 7 | West | 110 | Drenthe | 81 | Friesland | 39 |
| 8 | Drenthe | 101 | Utrecht | 72 | Limburg | 33 |
| 9 | Zeeland | 92 | Groningen | 63 | West | 26 |
| 10 | Limburg | 81 | Limburg | 48 | Drenthe | 20 |
| 11 | Utrecht | 78 | Flevoland | 47 | Flevoland | 13 |
| 12 | Flevoland | 60 | Rijnmond | 42 | Rijnmond | 7 |
| 13 | Rijnmond | 49 | Zeeland | 40 | Utrecht | 6 |
| Voting procedure used: 67% jury vote 33% televoting | Voting procedure used: 67% jury vote 33% televoting | Total score | Jury vote score | Televoting score | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote | Jury vote |
| Voting procedure used: 67% jury vote 33% televoting | Voting procedure used: 67% jury vote 33% televoting | Total score | Jury vote score | Televoting score | Utrecht | Drenthe | Overijssel | Zeeland | West | North Brabant | Limburg | North Holland | Friesland | Flevoland | Gelderland | Rijnmond | Groningen |
| Contestants | Utrecht | 78 | 72 | 6 | | 9 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 3 |
| Contestants | Drenthe | 101 | 81 | 20 | 7 | | 8 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Contestants | Overijssel | 171 | 106 | 65 | 11 | 6 | | 8 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 |
| Contestants | Zeeland | 92 | 40 | 52 | 5 | 4 | 2 | | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Contestants | West | 110 | 84 | 26 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 2 | | 10 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 11 |
| Contestants | North Brabant | 169 | 110 | 59 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 8 | | 10 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 9 |
| Contestants | Limburg | 81 | 48 | 33 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | | 2 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2 |
| Contestants | North Holland | 151 | 105 | 46 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 12 | | 6 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 6 |
| Contestants | Friesland | 134 | 95 | 39 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 10 | | 6 | 2 | 12 | 12 |
| Contestants | Flevoland | 60 | 47 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| Contestants | Gelderland | 193 | 121 | 72 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 12 | | 8 | 8 |
| Contestants | Rijnmond | 49 | 42 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | | 7 |
| Contestants | Groningen | 141 | 63 | 78 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 2 | |
| # | Recipient | Regions giving 12 points |
| 4 | Friesland | Groningen, Overijssel, Rijnmond, West |
| 3 | Gelderland | Flevoland, North Brabant, Utrecht, |
| 3 | North Holland | Gelderland, Limburg, Zeeland |
| 1 | Drenthe | Friesland |
| 1 | North Brabant | North Holland |
| 1 | West | Drenthe |

## 2025 edition

The third edition of Regio Songfestival will be hosted in Gelderland in 2025, and organised by Omroep Gelderland, the regional public broadcaster of the province, following its win in the 2024 edition. The RPO, the organisation that groups together all of the Netherlands' regional public broadcasters, confirmed after Gelderland's win in 2024 that the contest would continue with a third edition.