2003 2003 was the national final developed by NOS, in collaboration with TROS, to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2003. Thirty-two entries competed in the competition consisting of five shows that commenced with the first of four semi-finals on 1 February 2003 and concluded with a final on 1 March 2003. All shows in the competition were broadcast on
Nederland 2.
Format The format of the national final consisted of five shows: four semi-finals and a final. The semi-finals each featured eight competing entries from which two advanced from each show to complete the eight-song lineup in the finals. The results for the semi-final shows were determined by a seven-member expert jury and votes from the public. The jury selected one qualifier, while a public televote determined an additional qualifier from the remaining entries. In the final, the winner was selected by the combination of votes from public televoting and a seven-member expert jury. Viewers were able to vote via telephone and SMS. The jury panel that voted in all shows consisted of: •
Cornald Maas – journalist •
Corry Brokken – singer and television presenter, who won Eurovision for the as well as represented the and • Seth Kamphuijs – actor and presenter • Coot van Doesburg – lyricist and television critic •
Johan Nijenhuis – director and producer •
Nance Coolen – singer and television presenter • Stanley Burleson – actor, choreographer, director and singer
Competing entries The Dutch broadcaster together with
Conamus directly invited over 1,000 composers to submit entries. 502 submissions were received by the broadcaster at the closing of the deadline, and the thirty-two selected competing entries were announced during a press conference on 16 January 2003. The selection of the entries for the competition occurred through the decision by a selection commission consisting of
Willem van Beusekom,
Jerney Kaagman, Ron Stoeltie,
Daniël Dekker and Daan van Rijsbergen following a live audition of 60 shortlisted entries. Among the artists was Ingrid Simons (as part of Ebonique) who represented as part of
Sergio and the Ladies.
Shows Semi-finals The four semi-finals took place on 1, 8, 15 and 22 February 2003 at the Hart van Holland in
Nijkerk, hosted by Harm Edens. In each semi-final eight acts competed and two entries qualified to the final. A seven-member expert jury first selected one entry to advance, while an additional qualifier was selected by a public televote.
Michelle (who represented the ) replaced Coot van Doesburg as a juror in the third semi-final, while
Marlayne (who represented the ) replaced Johan Nijenhuis as a juror in the fourth semi-final.
Final The final took place on 1 March 2003 at the
Rotterdam Ahoy in
Rotterdam, hosted by
Loes Luca where the eight entries that qualified from the preceding four semi-finals competed. The winner, "One More Night" performed by
Esther Hart, was selected by the 50/50 combination of a public televote and the votes of a seven-member expert jury.
Edsilia Rombley, who represented the , replaced Nance Coolen as a juror in the final. The viewers and the juries each had a total of 280 points to award. Each juror 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 vote, then that entry would be awarded 10% of 280 points rounded to the nearest integer: 28 points. 55,000 votes were cast by the public during the final. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show featured performances by Loes Luca as Nénette together with Les Zézettes and the
Metropole Orchestra. On the day after the contest, a technical problem came to light whereby the 30,000 SMS votes could not be counted on time. A revision of the results revealed that Bert Heerink and Manou would have placed fifth, with Mango Nuts and Mary Amora correspondingly dropping a place.
Ratings == At Eurovision ==