Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984
| Eurovision Song Contest 1984 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Netherlands |
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| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Nationaal Songfestival 1984 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 14 March 1984 | |||
| Selected entrant | Maribelle | |||
| Selected song | "Ik hou van jou" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 13th=, 34 points | |||
| Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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The Netherlands was represented by Maribelle, with the song '"Ik hou van jou", at the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Luxembourg City on 5 May. Maribelle was the winner of the Dutch national final for the contest, held on 14 March. She had previously missed out narrowly in the Dutch selections of 1981.
Final
The national final was held at the NOS TV studios in Hilversum, hosted by Eddy Becker. Five acts took part, performing two songs each. Voting was by 12 regional juries awarding points Eurovision-style. "Ik hou van jou" emerged the winner by a 10-point margin over Maribelle's second song "Vanavond".[1]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brigitte | "Jeruzalem" | 45 | 8 |
| 2 | Edward Reekers | "Dief in de nacht" | 61 | 6 |
| 3 | Claudia Hoogendoorn | "Nooit vergeten" | 20 | 10 |
| 4 | Vulcano | "Dolce far niente" | 97 | 4 |
| 5 | Maribelle | "Vanavond" | 103 | 2 |
| 6 | Brigitte | "Later" | 63 | 5 |
| 7 | Edward Reekers | "Doe wat je voelt" | 57 | 7 |
| 8 | Claudia Hoogendoorn | "Dans" | 41 | 9 |
| 9 | Vulcano | "1,2,3" | 102 | 3 |
| 10 | Maribelle | "Ik hou van jou" | 113 | 1 |
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Maribelle performed 11th in the running order, following Denmark and preceding Yugoslavia. At the close of voting "Ik hou van jou" had received 34 points from seven countries (the highest being 8 from Spain), placing the Netherlands joint 13th (with Germany) of the 19 entries: oddly, both "Ik hou van jou" and Germany's "Aufrecht geh'n" sung by Mary Roos had been expected to fare much better in the contest than turned out to be the case. The Dutch jury awarded its 12 points to France.[2] Despite its relatively poor and disappointing showing in the contest, "Ik hou van jou" has gone on to become a Dutch standard. The song is one of the most recognised and best-known of all Dutch Eurovision entries, has been recorded by several other artists, and is still performed regularly today.
