Netherlands in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015


The Netherlands selected their Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 entry through Junior Songfestival 2015, a national selection consisting of eight songs. The competing songs broke down into two semi-finals, each consisting of four songs, and a final consisting of the top two placing songs from each semi-final and a special wildcard that was originally eliminated. The eight finalists were revealed on 2 April 2015. The final was held on 3 October 2015, while the two semi-finals were on 19 and 26 September.

Before Junior Eurovision

''Junior Songfestival 2015''

From each semi-final two entries qualified for the final based on the decision of adult and kids juries as well as televoting. The fifth entry in the final was chosen by online voting.

Competing entries

Shows

;Table key

Semi-final 1

Semi-final 2

Final

Artist and song information

Shalisa

Shalisa comes from a tiny old village in the northern part of the Netherlands, where she lives together with her mother, stepfather and two goldfish. She developed a passion for music when she was young and it has played a big role in her everyday life ever since. Aside from playing music and singing, she loves to attend concerts and go water-skiing. On weekends she likes to hang out with friends or go to parties and dance all night! On Sundays she prefers to stay at home and relax.
After taking singing and piano lessons, she decided to participate in Dutch talent show The Voice Kids, where she successfully made it through the auditions and into the battles. Her next challenge was auditioning for Junior Songfestival in 2014, where she made it to the final auditions. In 2015 she auditioned again and this time she blew everyone away with her power ballad "Million Lights". The jurys and the public gave her final performance the maximum 12 points.
Shalisa's song "Million Lights" tells the story of two people that are in love, but who can't be together because they live too far away from each other. The only way they can connect is by looking at the stars in the sky: there are a million lights in the sky that can be seen from everywhere in the world.
The jury praised Shalisa for her sensitivity in her performance, which is exactly what she wanted to achieve: to touch everyone with her song and lyrics. In the Netherlands, she has already touched everyone – now it’s time to win over the hearts of the rest of Europe. She wishes to become just as good as Katy Perry and Beyoncé in the future, but for now she has got her mind set on the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. She hopes to win the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, just as Dutch singer Ralf Mackenbach did in 2009.

Million Lights

"Million Lights" is a song by Dutch teen singer Shalisa van der Laan. It represented The Netherlands at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Bulgaria. It ended in 15th place with 35 points, marking the country's worst placing in the history of the contest.

At Junior Eurovision

At the running order draw which took place on 15 November 2015, Netherlands were drawn to perform fifth on 21 November 2015, following and preceding.

Final

Shalisa and her grand piano were the focus on the main stage, with her dancers on the left catwalk and her backing singers on the right. Her outfit was full of personality, from her trademark brimmed hat to her sparkling blazer to her purple pants, and, most importantly, her beautiful smile.

Voting

The voting during the final consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released one month after the final.
Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that The Netherlands had placed 17th with the public televote and 9th with the jury vote. In the public vote, The Netherlands scored 9 points, while with the jury vote, The Netherlands scored 53 points.
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to The Netherlands and awarded by The Netherlands in the final and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the final.

Points awarded to The Netherlands

Points awarded by Netherlands

Split voting results

The following five members comprise the Dutch jury: