Internal selection

Following Waylon's eighteenth place in the final in 2018 with the song "Outlaw in 'Em", the Dutch broadcaster revealed on 23 October 2018 during the Dutch talk show Tijd voor MAX that they would continue to internally select both the artist and song for the Eurovision Song Contest, and that several artists had already been in contact with the broadcaster in regards to participating.^[8] Artists that were rumoured in Dutch media to be in talks with AVROTROS included singer Caro Emerald and the winner of the sixth series of the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland Maan,^[8][9] while polls conducted by Dutch entertainment portal RTL Boulevard and Eurovision website songfestivalweblog.nl were both won by the band Kensington and followed respectively by singers Samantha Steenwijk and Sharon den Adel.^[10][11]

On 21 January 2019, AVROTROS announced that they had selected singer Duncan Laurence to represent the Netherlands at the 2019 contest.^[12] The proposal of Laurence as the Dutch representative came from Ilse DeLange, who previously represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 as a member of the Common Linnets, while the selection occurred through the decision of a selection commission consisting of singer and television host Jan Smit, television host and author Cornald Maas, radio DJ Daniël Dekker and AVROTROS general director Eric van Stade.^[9][12]

On 7 March 2019, Laurence's Eurovision entry, "Arcade", was presented to the public through the release of the official music video, directed by Paul Bellaart, via the official Eurovision YouTube channel. The song was written by Laurence himself together with Joel Sjöö, Wouter Hardy and Will Knox.^[13][14] Following the release of "Arcade", the Netherlands was installed by bookmakers as the favourite to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.^[15]

When I was studying at the Rockacademie, I learned that you can appeal to a large audience without losing your own story in the process. I searched for touching stories that moves people, from my own life or someone else's. I got my inspiration from the story of a loved one who died at a young age. I decided to call the song "Arcade" - the words and chords came by themselves, which is why, despite the alternations in the song, it still sounds so organic. During the writing process of "Arcade", I received help from Joel Sjöö and Wouter Hardy, and because of that it developed into a shared story and not just my own. "Arcade" is a story about the search for the love of your life. It is the hope for the - sometimes - unattainable.

— Duncan Laurence about "Arcade"

Promotion

Duncan Laurence specifically promoted "Arcade" as the Dutch Eurovision entry on 14 April 2019 by performing during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell.^[16] In addition to international appearances, promotional activities also occurred within the Netherlands where he performed at live events, radio shows and talk shows. On 14 April, Laurence performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam and hosted by Edsilia Rombley and Marlayne, and on 1 May he performed at a sold-out solo concert which was held at the Zonnehuis in Amsterdam.^[17]

Semi-final

Duncan Laurence took part in technical rehearsals on 7 and 11 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 15 and 16 May. This included the jury show on 15 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.^[23]

The Dutch performance featured Laurence wearing a blue outfit consisting of a jacket, shirt and trousers, and playing an electric piano alone on stage with a single spotlight focused on the singer to re-create the emotions and feelings he had when he first wrote "Arcade".^[24][25] A white light sphere descended from the ceiling during the second chorus and bridge of the song to symbolize the hope Laurence lost and sought to find again.^[26][27] The LED screens displayed a smoky blue theme.^[25] Laurence was joined by three off-stage backing vocalists: Kris Rietveld, Marcel Swerissen and Sarina Voorn.^[28] The staging director for the performance was Hans Pannecoucke, who worked with the Dutch entrants between 2014 and 2016 as well as in 2018 in a similar role.^[13]

At the end of the show, the Netherlands was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that the Netherlands placed first in the semi-final, receiving a total of 280 points: 140 points from both the televoting and the juries.^[29]

Final

Shortly after the first semi-final, a winner's press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. The Netherlands was drawn to compete in the second half.^[30] Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. The Netherlands was subsequently placed to perform in position 12, following the entry from Cyprus and before the entry from Greece.^[31]

Duncan Laurence once again took part in dress rehearsals on 17 and 18 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Laurence performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 18 May. The Netherlands won the contest placing first with a score of 498 points: 261 points from the televoting and 237 points from the juries.^[32] This was the Netherlands's fifth victory in the Eurovision Song Contest; the country's most recent win was in 1975.^[33]

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry 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 was permitted to 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 as well as the nation's televoting results will be released shortly after the grand final.^[35]

Points awarded to the Netherlands

More information Score, Televote ...

Points awarded to the Netherlands (Semi-final 2)[36] Score Televote Jury 12 points  Lithuania  Malta   Switzerland 10 points  Albania  Armenia  Malta  Austria  Germany  Norway  Sweden 8 points  Azerbaijan  Denmark  Germany  Ireland  North Macedonia  Croatia  Ireland  Latvia  Romania 7 points  Croatia  Latvia  Moldova  Russia  Denmark 6 points  Austria  Lithuania  Romania   Switzerland  North Macedonia 5 points  Norway  Sweden  United Kingdom 4 points  Albania  Armenia  Azerbaijan  Italy 3 points  Italy 2 points  United Kingdom 1 point  Russia

Points awarded to the Netherlands (Final)[37] Score Televote Jury 12 points  Belgium  Romania  France  Israel  Latvia  Lithuania  Portugal  Sweden 10 points  Armenia  Belarus  Malta  Poland   Switzerland 8 points  Estonia  Hungary  Ireland  Norway  Portugal  Spain  Austria  Finland  Georgia  Germany  Ireland  Spain 7 points  Albania  Austria  Azerbaijan  Denmark  Germany  Lithuania  North Macedonia  Denmark  Estonia  Iceland  Malta  North Macedonia  Norway 6 points  Australia  Cyprus  Greece  Moldova  San Marino  Sweden   Switzerland  Armenia  Australia  Belarus  Belgium  Croatia  Czech Republic  Slovenia  United Kingdom 5 points  Finland  France  Georgia  Iceland  Italy  Latvia  Russia  Slovenia  Cyprus  Romania 4 points  Croatia  Czech Republic  United Kingdom 3 points  Serbia  Moldova  San Marino 2 points  Israel 1 point  Montenegro  Hungary

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Points awarded by the Netherlands

More information Score, Televote ...

Points awarded by the Netherlands (Semi-final 2)[36] Score Televote Jury 12 points  Norway  Sweden 10 points  Sweden  Malta 8 points   Switzerland   Switzerland 7 points  Azerbaijan  Russia 6 points  North Macedonia  Moldova 5 points  Armenia  Croatia 4 points  Denmark  North Macedonia 3 points  Russia  Denmark 2 points  Lithuania  Armenia 1 point  Malta  Azerbaijan

Points awarded by the Netherlands (Final)[37] Score Televote Jury 12 points  Norway  Sweden 10 points  Italy   Switzerland 8 points  Sweden  Malta 7 points  Iceland  Denmark 6 points   Switzerland  Italy 5 points  Denmark  Russia 4 points  Azerbaijan  Czech Republic 3 points  Spain  North Macedonia 2 points  Australia  Australia 1 point  North Macedonia  Cyprus

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Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Dutch jury:^[35]

• Elise van der Horst (EliZe; jury chairperson) – singer, songwriter
• Holger Schwedt – producer
• Ruud de Wild – radio DJ, host
• Henkjan Smits [nl] – host, talent scout, producer
• Sabrina Starke – singer, songwriter

More information Draw, Country ...

Detailed voting results from the Netherlands (Semi-final 2)^[36]

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		EliZe	H. Schwedt	R. de Wild	H. Smits	S. Starke	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Armenia	8	8	7	15	5	9	2	6	5
02	Ireland	13	11	5	10	13	11		15
03	Moldova	7	10	3	8	3	5	6	16
04	Switzerland	2	6	4	4	14	3	8	3	8
05	Latvia	11	14	15	17	11	15		13
06	Romania	9	12	14	13	15	14		14
07	Denmark	10	9	2	5	10	8	3	7	4
08	Sweden	1	1	1	1	2	1	12	2	10
09	Austria	17	15	16	16	12	17		17
10	Croatia	3	2	12	6	16	6	5	12
11	Malta	4	4	10	2	1	2	10	10	1
12	Lithuania	14	13	8	7	9	12		9	2
13	Russia	5	3	13	3	8	4	7	8	3
14	Albania	16	17	9	14	17	16		11
15	Norway	12	16	17	12	7	13		1	12
16	Netherlands
17	North Macedonia	6	5	6	11	4	7	4	5	6
18	Azerbaijan	15	7	11	9	6	10	1	4	7

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More information Draw, Country ...

Detailed voting results from the Netherlands (Final)^[37]

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		EliZe	H. Schwedt	R. de Wild	H. Smits	S. Starke	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Malta	4	2	19	3	4	3	8	17
02	Albania	19	18	22	22	25	23		20
03	Czech Republic	5	16	9	6	6	7	4	13
04	Germany	13	17	6	21	8	12		21
05	Russia	3	4	11	7	11	6	5	11
06	Denmark	8	5	1	4	10	4	7	6	5
07	San Marino	24	24	25	25	24	25		12
08	North Macedonia	6	10	8	8	9	8	3	10	1
09	Sweden	1	3	2	2	1	1	12	3	8
10	Slovenia	20	22	24	24	18	24		15
11	Cyprus	7	7	20	17	5	10	1	22
12	Netherlands
13	Greece	25	25	14	23	23	22		25
14	Israel	21	23	15	20	22	21		18
15	Norway	12	13	21	16	19	18		1	12
16	United Kingdom	16	15	12	14	12	16		23
17	Iceland	17	19	23	15	21	20		4	7
18	Estonia	23	14	18	19	17	19		14
19	Belarus	18	11	10	12	16	15		24
20	Azerbaijan	14	8	17	11	13	14		7	4
21	France	15	12	16	13	7	13		16
22	Italy	10	9	3	9	2	5	6	2	10
23	Serbia	11	20	5	10	14	11		19
24	Switzerland	2	1	4	1	3	2	10	5	6
25	Australia	9	6	13	5	15	9	2	9	2
26	Spain	22	21	7	18	20	17		8	3

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