Will they or won’t they? It’s been the question on the lips of many when it comes to the Netherlands’ participation in Eurovision 2027. Well, now we have an answer: the Netherlands will not be taking part.
This comes after some mixed messages from the Netherlands’ broadcasters.
AVROTROS said no, NPO said yes
Back in August, Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, announced that it would not participate in the Eurovision 2027 as the contest no longer aligned with its values.
To be more specific, they wrote in a statement that “The severe humanitarian suffering in Gaza and the ongoing attacks on press freedom have led to increasing division surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest in recent years.”
The competition was meant to bring people together, the broadcaster wrote, but the competition lost its neutral character when it allowed Israel to continue to participate.
This led to confusion about whether or not the Netherlands would participate at all in the contest.
However, last month, NPO announced that the Netherlands would indeed take part — just without AVROTROS. Instead, the contest would be a joint venture of other Dutch public broadcasters, NPO claimed.
However, they can’t find the support
In spite of NPO’s hopes to rally the Dutch public broadcasters, it appears they don’t have enough support to move forward with participation in Eurovision 2027.
Speaking with NOS, Jet de Ranitz, the Chair of the Executive Board, explains that following consultations with Dutch broadcasters, there is “insufficient support” to take part next year.
“Unfortunately, we have not been able to find a suitable format for this. As a result, we must conclude that it is currently too early to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2027. Due to the sensitivities surrounding the themes currently at play, we have decided to take a step back for the time being,” he says.
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