The Netherlands at Instaglobal Song Contest 13

Heat 1: 4-8 March 2017
Heat 2: 11-18 March 2017
Heat 3: 18-22 March 2017
Heat 4: 22-24 March 2017

The Netherlands participated in the Instaglobal Song Contest 13 for the thirteenth time. The artist was chosen, as the two previous editions, by the selection *Nederlands Songfestival*. AVROTROS was responsible for the Dutch entry. The winning entry was "Killer" by Sharon Doorson, who came 13th in the semis with 35 points, therefore not qualifying for the final.

The Dutch were shocked by the non-qualification of Eva Simons and Sidney Samons in the twelfth edition. The Dutch delegation received several complaints of other Instaglobal delegations, mostly of the 'obvious choices' the Dutch delegations made by their entries, which were mostly dance acts. AVROTROS stated the next after their non-qualification:

*'It's sad that Eva and Sidney didn't qualify, they really deserved it in our opinion. Still, we are also not surprised if we hear the comments of our fellow colleagues in Instaglobal. It is time to search for established artists outside the dancescene.'*

## Nederlands Songfestival III

### Format

With the statement above, AVROTROS decided to get once again another new format for *Nederlands Songfestival*. 3 artists from 3 different genres were selected. Each artist got their own 'heat' with 3 songs. The winner of each heat got in the big final, where each artist got to perform their winning song. Then Instaglobal delegations could vote for their favourite. The winner would eventually go to Antwerp.

After the announcement of the IBU to let songs released in 2013 in the contest for one time, the Dutch delegation announched that there would be a fourth heat as well for songs of 2013. There was an open repetition at 19 February 2017. Out of these songs, 4 songs from 4 different artists were selected. This made the total of entries for *Nederlands Songfestival III* up to 13: a record in the short history of the selection.

#### Participants

To announce all the artists, AVROTROS held an introduction show at 25 February 2017. The titles of their songs were also announced during this show. Each artist got their own 'artist profile', containing their successes and their accomplishments.

Here all the participants with their entries in order:

 **De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig** (hiphop, electronic)
 **Within Temptation** (symphonic metal)
 **Sharon Doorson** (2013 heat)
 **Berget Lewis** (2013 heat)
 **Thomas Azier** (2013 heat)
 **Lisa Lois** (2013 heat)

#### The Heats

*Nederlands Songfestival III* consisted eventually out of six shows: the introduction show, the four heats and the final. During the heats, the Instaglobal delegations could simply vote for their favourite song. The best song would go to the final. The first three heats are heats of one artist presenting three songs, whereas the fourth heat consisted four artists with four songs.

**Heat 1: Kovacs** (4-8 March 2017)

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**Heat 2: De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig** (11-18 March 2017)

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**Heat 3: Within Temptation** (18-22 March 2017)

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**Heat 4: 2013 songs** (22-24 March 2017)

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#### The Final

The Final was held in the Melkweg in Amsterdam. The four winners of the heats came together here to fight for the victory. The second place would go to Instaglobal Second Chance, just like Anouk did in the 11 selection.

Instaglobal delegations had to hand out their top 2, in which their favourite got 2 points and their second got 1 point. After the voting, the results were shown in how many points every artist got. Sharon Doorson knew to win the final with 15 points. However, this was a very close call: Kovacs received 14 and Within Temptation received 13 points. Only De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, the only act singing in Dutch in the final, fell behind with 3 points.

**Results:**

*The winner is marked in gold, the runner-up (going to SCC) in silver.*

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## At Instaglobal

Sharon had to perform 3rd in the second semi-final, after Armenia and before Slovenia. Even though there were good chances of qualification according to the bookmakers, Sharon only came to a 13th place out of 16 with 35 points. This meant automatically non-qualification for the final and the worst result for the Netherlands in the contests' history.

### Points rewarded to the Netherlands

Semi-final
 5 points
* Norway
* Taiwan
* Hungary
* United Kingdom

### At Second Chance

The Netherlands returned to Instaglobal Second Chance after withdrawing in the second edition. Since the Netherlands missed this edition, Kovacs had to start in the semi-finals that were introduced this edition of Instaglobal Second Chance. Kovacs performed 4th in the first semi-final, after Portugal and before Kazakhstan. She gained 65 points and came 8th out of 11, which wasn't enough to qualify for the final.