Nationaal Songfestival 2012 was the national final that selected Netherlands's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. The competition, produced by TROS together with Big Brother and The Voice creator John de Mol, consisted of a final on 26 February 2012 which took place at the Studio 24 in Hilversum, hosted by Jan Smit. The national final was a worldwide trending topic on Twitter on 26 February 2012, and was watched by 2.3 million viewers in the Netherlands with a market share of 30.6%, making it the most watched Nationaal Songfestival in recent years.
Format
Six songs competed in the final where the winner was determined over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the six participating entries competed against each other in three duels. The winner of each duel proceeded to the superfinal based on the combination of votes from public televoting and a five-member jury panel. In the superfinal, the winner was selected as well by the combination of votes from the public and the jury panel. Each jury member distributed 10 points among the songs in each duel and in the superfinal, while viewers were able to vote via telephone and SMS. A one-hundred-member international jury panel consisting of representatives from all participating countries at the 2012 contest also voted in both rounds but only acted as an advisory role. The five-member jury panel consisted of:
Jeroen Nieuwenhuize – radio DJ
Carlo Boszhard – TV personality, singer, impersonator and host
Artists and composers were able to submit their entries between 6 July 2011 and 30 September 2011 through a huge suitcase installed at the courtyard of the TROS headquarters. Applicants were able to submit either lyrics, music, the name of an artist, a complete audio production or a combination thereof, and were required to give their reasons for entering the competition into a camera built in the suitcase. 491 entries were received by the broadcaster, and a jury panel selected six songs for the competition. The selection jury consisted of Peter Kuipers, John de Mol, Daniël Dekker, André de Raad, Natascha Lammers and Cornald Maas. The six competing entries were announced on 5 January 2012. The allocation draw for the duels round took place on 19 February 2012 during the RTL 4television programmeLife4You.
Final
The final took place on 26 February 2012. In the first round, six acts competed against each other in three duels and the votes of a five-member jury and public televoting determined the winners of each duel that would proceed to the superfinal: "We Can Overcome" performed by Pearl Jozefzoon, "You and Me" performed by Joan Franka and "Take Me As I Am" performed by Ivan Peroti. In the superfinal, the winner, "You and Me" performed by Joan Franka, was selected by the public and jury vote. "Take Me As I Am" performed by Ivan Peroti was the winner of the advisory international jury vote.
At Eurovision
The Netherlands competed in the second semi-final on 24 May. They came 15th in the Second Semi Final with 35 points, and so did not qualify for the Final. The Netherlands received 51 points from Televote's in this Semi Final, placing 10th, and received 31 points from the Jury vote's, placing 16th. Combined this gave the Netherlands 35 points, placing 15th, and failing to qualify.
