Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001
The Netherlands was represented by Michelle Courtens, with the song "Out on My Own", at the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Copenhagen on 12 May. Michelle was the winner of the Dutch national final for the contest, held in Rotterdam on 3 March. Before Eurovision. Nationaal Songfestival 2001. "Nationaal Songfestival 2001" was the national final that selected Netherlands's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001. The competition consisted of a final on 3 March 2001 which took place at the Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, hosted by Paul de Leeuw . Competing entries. 304 entries were received by the broadcaster during a submission period. Four of the competing entries were selected by a jury panel, and the remaining four entries were selected to go through a workshop organised by Conamus where their authors worked further on their songs with the help of a team of songwriters and producers consisting of Alan Michael, Edwin Schimscheimer, Jan Rot and Henk Westbroek. The eight competing entries were announced on 29 December 2000. Final. The final took place on 3 March 2001. Eight entries competed and the votes of public televoting (50%) and three jury  groups (50%): musicians, composers and music industry personnel selected the winner, "Out on My Own" performed by Michelle. The viewers and the juries each had a total of 120 points to award. Each jury group distributed their points as follows: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 12 points. The viewer vote was based on the percentage of votes each song achieved through the following voting methods: telephone and SMS voting. For example, if a song gained 10% of the viewer vote, then that entry would be awarded 10% of 120 points rounded to the nearest integer: 12 points. At  Eurovision. On the night of the final Michelle performed first in the running order, preceding Iceland. This was the sixth time the Netherlands had been drawn to open the show, a contest record which still stands, and was a poor draw for a quiet, reflective song. At the close of voting "Out on My Own" had received only 16 points, placing the Netherlands 18th of the 23 entries. The 12 points from the Dutch televote were awarded to contest winners Estonia. The low placement meant that the Netherlands were relegated from taking part in the 2002 contest. The 2001 contest  marked the only occasion on which two performers participated under identical names: that year's German singer was also called Michelle.