Hilversum is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilversum is part of the Randstad, one of the largest conurbations in Europe, and the Amsterdam metropolitan area.
The Dutch public broadcasting system is a group of organizations that are responsible for public service television and radio broadcasting in the Netherlands. It is composed of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO) foundation, which acts as its governing body, and a number of public broadcasters. The Dutch Media Act 2008 regulates how air time is divided and puts the administration of the public broadcasting system in the hands of the NPO Board of Directors.
The Netherlands has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 62 times since making its debut as one of the seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The country has missed only four contests, twice because the dates coincided with Remembrance of the Dead and twice because of being relegated due to poor results the previous year. The Netherlands hosted the contest in Hilversum (1958), Amsterdam (1970), twice in The Hague and Rotterdam.
The Netherlands has participated in every edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest since its inception in 2003. The country has won the competition on one occasion; in 2009, with the song "Click Clack" by Ralf Mackenbach. Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS has been responsible for the participation, selecting the nation's entrant through the national final Junior Songfestival. The Netherlands is the only country to have taken part in every edition of the contest.
TROS, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting, was a Dutch television and radio organisation part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. This broadcasting association was particularly well known for its entertainment programmes, quizzes and focus on Dutch folk music in programmes like Tros Muziekfeest op het Plein and the digital channel TROS Sterren TV.
NPO 3FM is a Dutch rhythmic CHR radio station controlled by public broadcaster NPO. The vast majority of the songs played on-air are rock, alternative, indie and pop, though dance and Mega Top 30 tracks may also air at times.
NPO Radio 2 is a public-service radio station from the Netherlands, broadcasting in an adult hits format, focusing on music from the 1980s to the 2010s and current hits, however 1960s and 1970s hits may also air. It is part of the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system, NPO. It can be compared with the BBC radio station of the same name.
AVRO, short for Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep, was a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system. It was the first public broadcaster in the Netherlands. In 2014 AVRO merged with fellow broadcaster TROS to form AVROTROS.
Media Park is a large business park in the Dutch city of Hilversum. This site is home to a number of Dutch broadcasters and media companies, and is the headquarters of the national public broadcasting system NPO.
Cornald Maas is a Dutch television presenter who has been known for presenting talk shows in the Netherlands. He is the brother of Frans Maas.
The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Calm After the Storm", written by Ilse DeLange, JB Meijers, Rob Crosby, Matthew Crosby and Jake Etheridge. The song was performed by the Common Linnets, a duo consisting of DeLange and Waylon, two well-known and popular Dutch artists, and formed by DeLange as a platform for Dutch artists to create country, Americana, and bluegrass music. In November 2013 the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS announced that they had internally selected The Common Linnets to represent the Netherlands at the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark, with their song first presented to the public in March 2014.
The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Walk Along" written by Anouk Teeuwe and Tobias Karlsson. The song was performed by Trijntje Oosterhuis, who was selected by the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS in November 2014 to represent the Netherlands at the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. "Walk Along" was written by 2013 Contest entrant Anouk who also first revealed that Oosterhuis had been selected to represent the Netherlands while being interviewed for the Dutch talkshow College Tour. Following confirmation from the Dutch broadcaster that Trijntje Oosterhuis had been selected to represent the Netherlands, the song "Walk Along" was revealed to public in December 2014. In the first of the Eurovision semi-finals, the Netherlands failed to qualify to the final, placing fourteenth out of the 16 participating countries with 33 points.
Nederlandse Publieke Omroep or Dutch Foundation for Public Broadcasting is a Dutch public broadcasting organisation that administers public broadcasting services in the Netherlands. The NPO is also the owner of the radio-spectrum licence and public DVB-T and DAB+ frequencies.
The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Slow Down" written by Douwe Bob, Jan Peter Hoekstra, Jeroen Overman and Matthijs van Duijvenbode. The song was performed by Douwe Bob, who was internally selected by the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS to represent the Netherlands at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Douwe Bob's appointment as the Dutch representative was announced on 22 September 2015, while the song, "Slow Down", was presented to the public on 4 March 2016.
Lauren Verster is a Dutch programme maker and television presenter.
KRO-NCRV is a Dutch public broadcasting company based in Hilversum established on January 1, 2014 from a merger of the broadcasters Catholic Radio Broadcasting (KRO) and the Dutch Christian Radio Association (NCRV), transmitting on NPO 1, NPO 2 and NPO 3. In 2016, the broadcaster also took on the programming from the former Roman Catholic Church Association (RKK) and proposed to serve "the Catholic and Protestant Christian communities" in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. Duncan Laurence was internally selected by the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS on 21 January 2019 to represent the nation at the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. Duncan Laurence eventually became the sixty-seventh winner of the Eurovision Song Contest and the first Dutch entry to win the contest in 44 years. The Netherlands received a total of 498 points, with 261 points from the public and 237 points from the professional juries.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was planned to be the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It would have taken place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the 2019 contest with the song "Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The contest was cancelled on 18 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first time in the contest's 64-year history that an edition was not held. Rotterdam remained host of the 2021 contest on 18, 20 and 22 May 2021; however, the songs selected for the 2020 contest were not eligible for the competition.
The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, having internally selected S10 to represent the country with the song "De diepte". The song was performed in Dutch for the first time since 2010. S10 was announced as the Dutch entrant on 7 December 2021, while her song was presented to the public on 3 March 2022.
Mega Top 30 is a Dutch music chart compiled by SoundAware and broadcast every Saturday from 14:00 - 16:00 on NPO 3FM. It originally started on May 23, 1969, as the Hilversum 3 Top 30. Throughout the years, the chart has had several names and lengths:
