Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1989

The Netherlands was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 with the song "Blijf zoals je bent", composed by Jan Kisjes, with lyrics by Cees Bergman, Geertjan Hessing, Aart Mol, Erwin van Prehn, and Elmer Veerhoff, and performed by Justine Pelmelay. The Dutch participating broadcaster, Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), selected its entry through a national final.

Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1989
Eurovision Song Contest 1989
Participating broadcaster	Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS)
Country	Netherlands
Selection process	Nationaal Songfestival 1989
Selection date	10 March 1989
Competing entry
Song	"Blijf zoals je bent"
Artist	Justine Pelmelay
Songwriters	Jan Kisjes Cees Bergman Geertjan Hessing Aart Mol Erwin van Prehn Elmer Veerhoff
Placement
Final result	15th, 45 points
Participation chronology
◄1988 • 1989 • 1990►

Before Eurovision

Nationaal Songfestival 1989

Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) held the national final on 10 March 1989 at the RAI Congrescentrum in Amsterdam, hosted by Linda de Mol. Thirteen songs took part with the winner being decided by juries in the twelve Dutch provinces, who awarded points from 13 down to 1. Pelmelay emerged a comfortable winner by a margin of 21 points.

Final – 10 March 1989

Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Shannah	"Wacht op mij"	123	2
2	Full Colour	"Symphonie"	98	5
3	Ingrid Souren	"Het zal nooit meer zo zijn"	108	3
4	Bam to Bam Bam	"Lammedammadoendan"	48	10
5	Helen Marshell	"Johnny"	29	13
6	Gerald Borst	"De nachtprinses"	90	7
7	The Sisters	"Als ik je zie"	91	6
8	Angelina van Dijk	"Kijk toch om je heen"	48	10
9	The Ballroom Blitz	"Samen zijn"	108	3
10	Justine Pelmelay	"Blijf zoals je bent"	144	1
11	Brian Well	"Net als vroeger"	39	12
12	Gina	"Elke dag"	76	9
13	Two Hearts	"Johnny & Mandy"	90	7

Detailed Regional Jury Votes

Draw	Song	North Brabant	Flevoland	Friesland	North Holland	South Holland	Utrecht	Limburg	Overijssel	Groningen	Zeeland	Gelderland	Drenthe	Total
1	"Wacht op mij"	7	13	12	11	11	6	13	13	11	10	10	6	123
2	"Symphonie"	9	9	7	3	5	9	10	9	12	9	12	4	98
3	"Het zal nooit meer zo zijn"	12	10	9	9	10	7	11	4	6	12	11	7	108
4	"Lammedammadoendan"	4	1	6	5	2	8	3	7	1	7	3	1	48
5	"Johnny"	2	3	1	4	1	1	1	1	2	3	8	2	29
6	"De nachtprinses"	8	7	5	8	13	5	6	6	4	5	13	10	90
7	"Als ik je zie"	6	5	10	10	6	12	8	5	7	8	5	9	91
8	"Kijk toch om je heen"	1	2	4	1	9	4	2	8	8	4	2	3	48
9	"Samen zijn"	11	6	8	7	7	11	7	12	10	11	6	12	108
10	"Blijf zoals je bent"	13	12	13	13	12	10	12	11	13	13	9	13	144
11	"Net als vroeger"	3	4	2	2	4	2	4	2	5	2	4	5	39
12	"Elke dag"	10	8	11	6	3	3	5	3	9	6	1	11	76
13	"Johnny & Mandy"	5	11	3	12	8	13	9	10	3	1	7	8	90

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Pelmelay performed 4th in the running order, following Ireland and preceding Turkey. After a strong performance, Pelmelay's voice famously cracked on the final long note of the song, a fact she acknowledged with a wry facial expression as the song ended. At the close of voting "Blijf zoals je bent" had received 45 points from ten countries, placing the Netherlands 15th of the 22 entries.^[1] The Dutch jury awarded its 12 points to Denmark.^[2]

The Dutch conductor at the contest was Harry van Hoof.^{[citation needed]}

Voting

Points awarded to the Netherlands[2] Score Country 12 points 10 points  Italy 8 points 7 points  France 6 points  Germany  Spain 5 points 4 points  Austria  Finland 3 points  Ireland  United Kingdom 2 points 1 point  Greece  Luxembourg

Points awarded by the Netherlands[2] Score Country 12 points  Denmark 10 points   Switzerland 8 points  Yugoslavia 7 points  United Kingdom 6 points  Finland 5 points  Belgium 4 points  France 3 points  Israel 2 points  Norway 1 point  Greece