Format

The format of the national final consisted of five shows: four semi-finals and a final.^[10] The semi-finals each featured eight competing entries from which two advanced from each show to complete the eight-song lineup in the final. The results for the semi-final shows were determined by a seven-member expert jury and votes from the public. The jury selected one qualifier, while a public televote determined an additional qualifier from the remaining entries. In the final, the winner was selected by the combination of votes from public televoting and a seven-member expert jury. Viewers were able to vote via telephone and SMS.^[11]

The jury panel that voted in all shows consisted of:^[12]

• Cornald Maas – journalist
• Corry Brokken – singer and television presenter, Dutch 1957 Eurovision winner as well as 1956 and 1958 entrant
• Seth Kamphuijs – actor and presenter
• Coot van Doesburg – lyricist and television critic
• Johan Nijenhuis – director and producer
• Nance Coolen – singer and television presenter
• Stanley Burleson – actor, choreographer, director and singer

Competing entries

The Dutch broadcaster together with Conamus directly invited over 1,000 composers to submit entries.^[13] 502 submissions were received by the broadcaster at the closing of the deadline, and the thirty-two selected competing entries were announced during a press conference on 16 January 2003.^[14] The selection of the entries for the competition occurred through the decision by a selection commission consisting of Willem van Beusekom, Jerney Kaagman, Ron Stoeltie, Daniël Dekker and Daan van Rijsbergen following a live audition of 60 shortlisted entries.^[15] Among the artists was Ingrid Simons (as part of Ebonique) who previously represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 as part of Sergio and the Ladies.^[16]

Shows

Semi-finals

The four semi-finals took place on 1, 8, 15 and 22 February 2003 at the Hart van Holland in Nijkerk, hosted by Harm Edens. In each semi-final eight acts competed and two entries qualified to the final. A seven-member expert jury first selected one entry to advance, while an additional qualifier was selected by a public televote. 2001 Dutch Eurovision entrant Michelle replaced Coot van Doesburg as a juror in the third semi-final, while 1999 Dutch Eurovision entrant Marlayne replaced Johan Nijenhuis as a juror in the fourth semi-final.^[17]

Final

The final took place on 1 March 2003 at the Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, hosted by Loes Luca where the eight entries that qualified from the preceding four semi-finals competed. The winner, "One More Night" performed by Esther Hart, was selected by the 50/50 combination of a public televote and the votes of a seven-member expert jury.^[18] 1998 Dutch Eurovision entrant Edsilia Rombley replaced Nance Coolen as a juror in the final.^[19] The viewers and the juries each had a total of 280 points to award. Each juror distributed their points as follows: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 12 points. The viewer vote was based on the percentage of votes each song achieved through the following voting methods: telephone and SMS voting. For example, if a song gained 10% of the vote, then that entry would be awarded 10% of 280 points rounded to the nearest integer: 28 points.^[20] 55,000 votes were cast by the public during the final. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show featured performances by Loes Luca as Nénette together with Les Zézettes and the Metropole Orchestra.^[21][22]

On the day after the contest, a technical problem came to light whereby the 30,000 SMS votes could not be counted on time. A revision of the results revealed that Bert Heerink and Manou would have placed fifth, with Mango Nuts and Mary Amora correspondingly dropping a place.^[23][24]

Ratings