Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021
The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, having internally selected Jeangu Macrooy as their representative with the song "Birth of a New Age". He was due to compete in the 2020 contest with "Grow" before the event's cancellation. As the host country, the Netherlands automatically qualified to the final. Background. Prior to the 2021 contest, the Netherlands had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in the inaugural contest in . Since then, the country  has won the contest five times: in , , as one of four countries to tie for first place, , and finally in . Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, the Netherlands had featured in seven finals. The Dutch least successful result has been last place, which they have achieved on five occasions, most recently in the second semi-final of the 2011 contest. The Netherlands has also received on two occasions; in and . The Dutch national broadcaster, , broadcasts the event within the Netherlands and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The Netherlands has used various methods  to select the Dutch entry in the past, such as the , a live televised national final to choose the performer, song or both to compete at Eurovision. However, internal selections have also been held on several occasions. Since 2013, the broadcaster has internally selected the Dutch entry for the contest. In 2013, the internal selection of Anouk performing "Birds" managed to take the country to the final for the first time in eight years and placed ninth overall. In 2014, the internal selection of The Common Linnets performing the song "Calm After the Storm" qualified the nation to the final  once again and placed second, making it the most successful Dutch result in the contest since their victory in 1975, until Duncan Laurence won in 2019 with the song "Arcade". Before Eurovision. Internal selection. On 18 March 2020, directly after the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, the national broadcaster, AVROTROS, announced its intent to again host the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, as well as that Macrooy would be kept as the nation's representative for the event. The song, entitled "Birth of a New Age", was released on 4 March 2021. At Eurovision. The Eurovision Song Contest 2021  took place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and consisted of two semi-finals held on 18 and 20 May, and the grand final on 22 May 2021. As the Netherlands is the host country of the contest, their entry for 2021 directly qualified to the final, along with "Big Five" countries France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. In addition to their participation in the final, the Netherlands was also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. The Netherlands performed 23rd in the grand final on 22 May 2021, following Norway and  preceding Italy. Voting. Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with a diversity in gender and age represented. The judges assess each entry based on the performances during the second Dress Rehearsal of each show, which takes place the night before each live show, against a set of criteria including: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and  originality; and the overall impression by the act. Jury members may only take part in panel once every three years, and are obliged to confirm that they are not connected to any of the participating acts in a way that would impact their ability to vote impartially. Jury members should also vote independently, with no discussion of their vote permitted with other jury members. The exact composition of the professional jury, and the results of each country's jury and televoting were released after the grand final; the individual results from each jury member were also released in an anonymised  form. Detailed voting results. The following members comprised the Dutch jury: