The Netherlands was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 with the song "Niemand heeft nog tijd", written by Ed Hooijmans, and performed by the group Mrs. Einstein. The Dutch participating broadcaster, Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), selected its entry for the contest through Nationaal Songfestival 1997, after having previously selected the performers internally. NOS announced Mrs. Einstein's as its representative on 26 October 1996. Six songs competed in the national final on 23 February 1997 to select the song, where "Niemand heeft nog tijd" was selected following the combination of votes from twelve regional juries and a public vote.
The Netherlands competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 3 May 1997. Performing during the show in position 8, the Netherlands placed twenty-second out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 5 points.
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, NOS organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The Dutch broadcasters had used various methods to select the Dutch entry in the past, such as the Nationaal Songfestival, a live televised national final to choose the performer, song or both to compete at Eurovision. However, internal selections have also been held on occasion. In 1996, NOS has organised Nationaal Songfestival in order to select both the artist and song for the contest. For 1997, the broadcaster opted to select the artist through an internal selection, while Nationaal Songfestival was continued to select the song.
Before Eurovision
Artist selection
Following Maxine and Franklin Brown's seventh place in 1996 with the song "De eerste keer", NOS internally selected its artist for the Eurovision Song Contest 1997. On 26 October 1996, the broadcaster announced that it had selected the group Mrs. Einstein to represent the Netherlands at the 1997 contest. Among the group members was Suzanne Venneker who had previously competed in the 1983 and 1984 national finals as a member of the group Vulcano.[8][9] It was revealed on the same day that their Eurovision song would be selected through the national final Nationaal Songfestival 1997.[10]
Nationaal Songfestival 1997
NOS opened a submission period following the artist announcement where composers were able to submit their songs until 6 December 1996. 350 songs were received by the broadcaster at the closing of the deadline and the six selected competing songs were announced on 14 February 1998.[9][11] The selection of the songs for the competition occurred through the decision of a selection commission that included Mrs. Einstein and NPS director Willem van Beusekom.[12]
The national final took place on 23 February 1997 at the Marcanti Plaza in Amsterdam, hosted by Bart Peeters and Joop van Zijl and was broadcast on TV2.[13][14] All six competing songs were performed by Mrs. Einstein and the winning song, "Niemand heeft nog tijd", was selected by the 50/50 combination of a public televote and the votes of twelve regional juries. The viewers and the juries each had a total of 336 points to award. Each jury group distributed their points as follows: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 points. The viewer vote was based on the percentage of votes each song achieved. For example, if a song gained 10% of the vote, then that entry would be awarded 10% of 336 points rounded to the nearest integer: 37 points.[15] In addition to the performances of the competing songs, Herman van Molle, Jacques d'Ancona, Lisa Riley, Petra Hoost, and past Dutch Eurovision entrants Corry Brokken (1956, 1957, and 1958), Heddy Lester (1977), Gerard Joling (1988), and Maxine and Franklin Brown (1996) were also present during the show.[16][17]
Mrs. Einstein performing at the Eurovision Song Contest
According to Eurovision rules, the twenty-four countries which had obtained the highest average number of points over the last four contests competed in the final on 3 May 1997.[18] On 28 November 1996, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order and the Netherlands was set to perform in position 8, following the entry from Switzerland and before the entry from Italy.[19] The Dutch conductor at the contest was Dick Bakker, and the Netherlands finished in twenty-second place with 5 points.[20]
Heading into the final of the contest, RTÉ reported that bookmakers ranked the entry 23rd out of the 25 entries.[21] The show was broadcast in the Netherlands on TV2 with commentary by Willem van Beusekom as well as via radio on Radio 2.[22] The show was watched by an average of 2.7 million viewers with the voting part was seen by 3.2 million viewers.[23] NOS appointed Corry Brokken as its spokesperson to announce the Dutch votes during the show.
Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to the Netherlands and awarded by the Netherlands in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to the United Kingdom in the contest.[24]
