Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001

Eurovision Song Contest 2001
Country	Netherlands
National selection
Selection process	Nationaal Songfestival 2001
Selection date(s)	3 March 2001
Selected entrant	Michelle
Selected song	"Out On My Own"
Finals performance
Final result	18th, 16 points

The Netherlands was represented by Michelle Courtens, with the song '"Out On My Own", at the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Copenhagen on 12 May. Michelle was the winner of the Dutch national final for the contest, held in Rotterdam on 3 March.

Final

The national final was held in the Ahoy Rotterdam arena, hosted by Paul de Leeuw. Eight songs took part with the winner being decided by a 50/50 spilt between televoting and three expert juries (singers and musicians, composers and music industry personnel). The televote proved decisive in Michelle's favour as she received twice as many votes as her nearest competitor. Michelle's victory was unexpected to most, as prior to the final the female trio Ebonique had been seen as hot favourites to win.^[1]

Final - 3 March 2001

Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Friday Night Fever	"Love Will Rule the World"	10	5
2	Céline & René	"Simply In Love"	9	6
3	Bart Brandjes	"Count Me Out"	34	4
4	Paul de Graaf	"Laat je zien"	8	7
5	Ebonique	"So Much Love"	54	2
6	Montezuma's Revenge	"Danielle"	36	3
7	Michelle	"Out On My Own"	84	1
8	Sven	"Fool for You"	5	8

Voting

Song	Musicians	Composers	Industry	Televoting	Total
Love Will Rule the World	5	3	0	2	10
Simply In Love	1	2	3	3	9
Count Me Out	7	7	5	15	34
Laat je zien	2	0	1	5	8
So Much Love	10	12	7	25	54
Danielle	3	5	10	18	36
Out On My Own	12	10	12	50	84
Fool for You	0	1	2	2	5

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Michelle performed first in the running order, preceding Iceland. This was the sixth time the Netherlands had been drawn to open the show, a contest record which still stands, and was a poor draw for a quiet, reflective song. At the close of voting "Out On My Own" had received only 16 points (6 from Portugal, 5 from Israel, 4 from Slovenia and 1 from Russia), placing the Netherlands 18th of the 23 entries. The 12 points from the Dutch televote were awarded to contest winners Estonia.^[2] The low placement meant that the Netherlands were relegated from taking part in the 2002 contest. The 2001 contest marked the only occasion on which two performers participated under identical names: that year's German singer was also called Michelle.

See also

• Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Song Contest 2001

External links

• Dutch Preselection 2001

References

1. ^ ESC National Finals database 2000
2. ^ ESC History - Netherlands 2001