The Netherlands: Sending their biggest stars

Gordon, Rene Froger and Jeroen van der Boom, better known as The Toppers, picked six songs out of more than 300 entries to perform at the Nationaal Songfestival 2009. The trio has been selected internally to represent the Netherlands at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow.

After an entertaining show live from Studio 22 in Hilversum, viewers could vote for over an hour. A professional jury had a 30% impact on the outcome. "It is amazing to have this opportunity," Rene Froger said, while Gordon was extremely happy with the fact that he is sure about participation in Moscow, unlike the previous two times he took part in the Dutch national selection.

The jury was first to vote, then the results of the televoting were announced. The jury picked Angels Of The Night as their winning song, televoters overwhelmingly backed Shine, sending that song to Moscow. See why, below.

Big fans of Eurovision

The Toppers, Gordon and René Froger, are true fans of the Eurovision Song Contest and have, for many years now, been closely following its development. Their best memories of this event originate from the time that they were little boys sitting and watching the contest with their families on cosy evenings. With pen and notepad on their lap and a bag of crisps close at hand, they awarded points to each song and then compared these to the points given by the jury.

During their concerts over the past four years, the Toppers rendered many medleys of old and new Eurovision Song Contest songs. “Our participation is like a dream come true and an absolute milestone in our careers.We are enormously proud that we are representing The Netherlands at the biggest music event in the world and our trip to Moscow is going to be one big and “over the top” spectacle that no one can ignore.”

With their song Shine The Toppers believe that finally, after all these years, The Netherlands can break through to the finals. The song is about the fact that if people have a positive attitude they can solve nearly every problem.

They'll perform last in the second Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest on the 14th of May in Moscow. Read more about them on their Artist Profile.