Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003
Encyclopedia
The Netherlands was represented by Esther Hart
, with the song '"One More Night", at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Riga
, Latvia
on 24 May. 32 songs took part in the Dutch preselection, which consisted of four semi-finals in February, followed by the final on 1 March.
and were hosted by Harm Edens. Eight songs competed in each semi-final and were voted on by a combination of an expert jury and telephone/SMS. The song placed first by the jury and that placed first by televoting qualified for the final. In the event that both the jury and the televoters placed the same song first (as happened in all but the third semi-final), the song placed second in the televote also qualified.
, hosted by Loes Luca. Voting was a 50/50 spilt between televoting/SMS and an expert jury. Hart emerged the comfortable victor with Gordon
in second place. On the day after the contest a technical problem came to light, whereby a significant number of SMS votes had been either not counted at all or attributed to the wrong song. A revised scoring table was issued to correct the mistakes. The only change in placement was that Bert Heerink & Manou, who had originally placed seventh, were moved up to fifth, with Mango Nuts and Mary Amora correspondingly dropping a place.
and preceding the United Kingdom
. At the close of the voting "One More Night" had received 45 points from nine countries (the highest being 10 from Russia
), placing the Netherlands 13th of the 26 entries. The 12 points from the Dutch televote were awarded to contest winners Turkey
.
Esther Hart
Esther Hart is a Dutch singer. She entered BBC TV's A Song for Europe contest in 2003 with the song "Wait For Moment". She withdrew from that contest as participating for two countries would not have been acceptable for both BBC and NOS...
, with the song '"One More Night", at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
on 24 May. 32 songs took part in the Dutch preselection, which consisted of four semi-finals in February, followed by the final on 1 March.
Semi-finals
Four semi-finals were held in February 2003 to select the eight songs to progress to the Dutch final. The semi-finals were held at the Hart van Holland venue in NijkerkNijkerk
Nijkerk is a municipality and a city in the middle of the Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland.- Population centres :...
and were hosted by Harm Edens. Eight songs competed in each semi-final and were voted on by a combination of an expert jury and telephone/SMS. The song placed first by the jury and that placed first by televoting qualified for the final. In the event that both the jury and the televoters placed the same song first (as happened in all but the third semi-final), the song placed second in the televote also qualified.
Semi-final 1
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televotes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunny's Inc. | "Mamboleo" | 10 | 7% |
| 2 | Aletia Bourne | "Wanna Be the One" | 49 | 4% |
| 3 | Martin Frankena | "Zoeken in de lucht" | 45 | 8% |
| 4 | Astrit | "Together Forever" | 38 | 9% |
| 5 | Jerique Allan | "All About Love" | 35 | 8% |
| 6 | Mary Amora | "Somewhere by the River" | 61 | 41% |
| 7 | Blauwdruk | "Hotel t'hart" | 5 | 6% |
| 8 | Zooom | "Boogie" | 37 | 17% |
Semi-final 2
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televotes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Beanuts | "Give It Up!" | 50 | 7% |
| 2 | Barbara Lok | "Als twee vrienden" | 18 | 10% |
| 3 | Esther Hart | "One More Night" | 73 | 30% |
| 4 | Sofuja & Glen Corneille | "She Would" | 63 | 15% |
| 5 | Steffen de Wolff | "Jij laat me nooit meer los" | 9 | 3% |
| 6 | Mango Nuts | "Time to Party" | 53 | 18% |
| 7 | Suzanne | "Over the Moon" | 21 | 11% |
| 8 | Georges Lotze | "Footprints in the Sand" | 17 | 6% |
Semi-final 3
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televotes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Soullistics | "We Can't Stop the Music" | 21 | 9% |
| 2 | Julia West | "Talking Angels" | 49 | 6% |
| 3 | Mazzel | "Nananana" | 12 | 19% |
| 4 | Brothers | "Stand as One" | 10 | 3% |
| 5 | Sandra Abbink | "Beautiful Life" | 61 | 18% |
| 6 | Jeffrey | "Waar en wanneer" | 5 | 4% |
| 7 | Arwin Kluft | "Turiddu" | 47 | 24% |
| 8 | Ebonique | "Heatwave" | 75 | 17% |
Semi-final 4
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televotes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kathy Bloom | "I'm On Fire" | 46 | 4% |
| 2 | Boulevard | "Souvenirs" | 20 | 6% |
| 3 | Lewis & Simon | "Let's Give It a Try" | 58 | 5% |
| 4 | Sasja Brouwers | "Rauw" | 4 | 6% |
| 5 | Gordon | "I'll Be Your Voice" | 82 | 36% |
| 6 | Bert Heerink & Manou | "Blue Skies Are For Free" | 11 | 23% |
| 7 | De Helden | "Omdat jij jij bent" | 23 | 4% |
| 8 | A-Teaze | "Don't Cry" | 36 | 16% |
Final
The national final was held on 1 March at the Ahoy Arena in RotterdamRotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, hosted by Loes Luca. Voting was a 50/50 spilt between televoting/SMS and an expert jury. Hart emerged the comfortable victor with Gordon
Gordon Heuckeroth
Cornelis Willem Heuckeroth is a Dutch performer and radio and television personality, better known by his nickname Gordon...
in second place. On the day after the contest a technical problem came to light, whereby a significant number of SMS votes had been either not counted at all or attributed to the wrong song. A revised scoring table was issued to correct the mistakes. The only change in placement was that Bert Heerink & Manou, who had originally placed seventh, were moved up to fifth, with Mango Nuts and Mary Amora correspondingly dropping a place.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points (amended) |
Place (amended) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mango Nuts | "Time to Party" | 31 | 6 |
| 2 | Mary Amora | "Somewhere by the River" | 28 | 7 |
| 3 | Bert Heerink & Manou | "Blue Skies Are For Free" | 50 | 5 |
| 4 | Gordon | "I'll Be Your Voice" | 123 | 2 |
| 5 | Esther Hart Esther Hart Esther Hart is a Dutch singer. She entered BBC TV's A Song for Europe contest in 2003 with the song "Wait For Moment". She withdrew from that contest as participating for two countries would not have been acceptable for both BBC and NOS... |
"One More Night" | 165 | 1 |
| 6 | Ebonique | "Heatwave" | 63 | 4 |
| 7 | Arwin Kluft | "Turiddu" | 87 | 3 |
| 8 | Zooom | "Boogie" | 13 | 8 |
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Hart performed 14th in the running order, following IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and preceding the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. At the close of the voting "One More Night" had received 45 points from nine countries (the highest being 10 from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
), placing the Netherlands 13th of the 26 entries. The 12 points from the Dutch televote were awarded to contest winners Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.