Treble will represent the Netherlands at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Amambanda. After Treble, Maud and Behave performed their three songs, a jury picked the best song from each artist. Maud qualified for the super-final with I'm alive, Behave with Heaven knows. With Amambanda, Treble finally won the televote with 72% of the votes and thus will represent Les Pays-Bas in the semifinal of the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, on 18th May in Athens, Greece. The award for the song writer and composer was presented by the mayor of Amsterdam, Mr. Job Cohen.
After tasting the baklava and dancing the traditional Greek sirtaki dance, the televoting lines closed. One of the 'dancers' on stage, Paul de Leeuw's 'assistant' Adje, carried a small sign saying 'song contest belongs to NOS', making a statement towards the public broadcaster's board. Earlier this week, NOS head Gerard Dielessen said that “the song contest doesn't belong at NOS”.
126,000 votes were counted, and then traditional Greek plate throwing started. Maud received 13% of the votes and came third. Treble won, with 72% of the votes. Behave got 15% of the votes.
Treble
The three girls of Treble kicked off with Lama Gaia, Amambanda and Make your choice. Caroline and the sisters Niña and Djem met in 1995 and started to sing in their own made up language and play on their percussion instruments on the streets. In 2003, they have a big hit in the Netherlands with Ramagana. Earlier, they promised to visit all participating countries in the upcoming months to promote their Eurovision Song Contest entry. After the first round of tonight's national final, the three girls qualified for the super-final with Amambanda.
Behave
Pop-rock band Behave took part with L.A. baby, Heaven knows and Maybe tomorrow. They were discovered by radio channel 3FM and had a small hit with High on you. They won the prestigious Essent Music Award and played at the Noorderslag Festival. Their manager, Stacy Rookhuizen, is an ambitious 19-year old girl with her own record label! After the first round of tonight's national final, they qualified for the super-final with Heaven knows.
Maud
The 2004 Idols runner-up Maud sang Without your love, I'm alive and One more try. Apart from a singing career, Maud plays hockey at a professional level. She took part in Idols two years ago, where Boris, who took part in the Dutch 2003 Eurovision Song Contest national selection, took the victory. After the first round of tonight's national final, Maud qualified for the super-final with I'm alive. Jury member Giel Beelen refused to give his votes, because “none of these songs is good enough to send to Athens”.
New format
After continuous disappointing results and decreasing popularity, broadcaster NOS decided to restyle the national selection into a more modern, young and spectacular format. The new format has been widely accepted and positively rated by the press so far, as a new team of NOS, the artists' managers and record companies are “eager to bring the Netherlands its fifth Eurovision Song Contest victory”.
Esctoday.com is present at the Dutch national selection and will update you with the latest news! Tomorrow you can find a photo gallery of the NOS Nationaal Songfestival 2006 in our multimedia section.
