Dutch say won't participate in 'no longer' neutral Eurovision

Broadcaster in The Netherlands says international conflicts have turned competition into 'platform for division'

THE HAGUE:

The Netherlands will not participate in next year's Eurovision Song Contest, its broadcaster said Monday, saying the event can "no longer be considered neutral" given divisions over the Gaza war.

"It is undeniable that international conflicts are increasingly affecting the Contest, undermining its neutral character. The Eurovision Song Contest has therefore become a platform for division," said Taco Zimmerman, Director-General of AVROTROS in a statement from the broadcaster.

The contest has recently been hit by a wave of boycotts over Israel's participation.

Earlier this month, organisers announced they were excluding any country involved in an armed conflict from hosting the competition.

"However, the recently announced changes... do not provide sufficient confidence that the independent and neutral character of the Eurovision Song Contest has been restored," said the AVROTROS statement.

Israel came close to winning the competition in both 2025 and 2026, ultimately finishing second on each occasion.

Next year's event, the world's biggest live televised music event, will take place on May 15 in Bulgaria's Black Sea city of Burgas.

It will be the first time that the Balkan nation hosts the contest, coming after Bulgarian singer Darina Yotova, known as Dara, won this year's contest in the Austrian capital Vienna with the catchy floor-filler "Bangaranga".

Since its launch in 1955, Eurovision has become the ultimate pop platform, catapulting Swedish icons ABBA to worldwide fame, as well as boosting the likes of Celine Dion, Cliff Richard and Olivia Newton-John.

The 2026 competition was watched by 131 million viewers, down 35 million on the year before after five countries boycotted it over Israel's participation.

The Netherlands, Iceland, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia all pulled out of the contest -- with the latter three refusing to broadcast the show at all.

The Dutch took part in the very first Eurovision Song Contest back in 1956, and have won on five occasions.

The most recent winner was Duncan Laurence whose song Arcade won the contest in 2019, going on to top charts globally.

It became the first Eurovision entry to reach one billion streams on Spotify, according to the Eurovision website.

The withdrawal is "painful as we would have very much liked to be part of the Contest again next year," said Zimmerman.

"As a public broadcaster, we remain committed to our values. They guide us in everything we do, even when that means stepping away from an event that is very close to our hearts," he added.

The Eurovision Song Contest is often known simply as Eurovision. It is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an original song representing its country to be performed live via the Eurovision and Euroradio networks, and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine a winner.

Inspired by the Italian Sanremo Music Festival held since 1951, the Eurovision Song Contest has been held annually since 1956 (except for 2020) making it the longest-running international music competition on television and one of the world's longest-running television programmes. EBU members and invited associates are eligible to compete; broadcasters from 52 countries have participated at least once. Each participating broadcaster sends an original song of three minutes duration or less to be performed live by a singer, or group of up to six people, aged 16 or older, of its choice; the minimum age will be raised to 18 starting in 2027. Each country awards 1–8, 10, and 12 points to their ten favourite songs, based on the views of an assembled group of music professionals and their viewing public, with the song receiving the most points declared the winner.

The event also features opening and interval acts and guest performances every year; such as Cirque du Soleil, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Mika, Madcon, Rita Ora, and the first performance of Riverdance.