The (; ) is a Dutch song competition between regional public broadcasters. Held in its current form since 2023, the format of the competition is loosely based on the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

and was first used in 1995 under its original title (). Every edition features thirteen original songs that are performed in a live broadcast, each representing a region of the Netherlands. From the competing entries, a winner is determined through a combination of

televoting Televoting (also telephone voting, phone voting, and call-in voting) is a method of decision making and opinion polling conducted by telephone. Televoting can also extend to voting by SMS text message via a mobile cell phone. Broadcast contest ...

and votes cast by regional juries.

History

The format of the competition was first used for the Dutch Song Contest 1995. It was developed by the (ROOS) – the

umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...

of Dutch regional public broadcasters – and the Conamus Foundation to celebrate fifty years of regional public broadcasting in the Netherlands. In addition, it served as a substitute for the , which was not held in 1995. Despite ambitions for it to become an annual event, the competition was not renewed for a second edition in 1996. In May 2023, twenty-eight years after the 1995 edition, the thirteen regional public broadcasters announced the launch of a reworked version of the format under the name ''Regio Songfestival''. The inaugural edition was held on 4 November 2023, with a second edition scheduled to be held in 2024.

Competition overview

Format

Thirteen original songs representing different regions of the Netherlands are performed in a live television show, broadcast simultaneously by all participating broadcasters. A "region" as a participant is represented by its regional public broadcaster – one from each of the twelve

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

, with the exception of

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

, which is represented by two broadcasters: one serving the province's northern subregions (

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

and surroundings; presented as "West"), and one serving the southern subregions (

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

and surroundings; presented as "

Rijnmond Rijnmond (; literally 'Rhine Mouth', 'Mouth of the Rhine', 'Rhine Estuary') is the conurbation surrounding the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Another term used in this context is Stadsregio Rotterdam (literally 'Rotterdam Urban Region' or m ...

"). Each participating broadcaster has sole discretion over the process it may employ to select its entry for the contest. Entrants are not allowed to have had a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

hit prior to participation, and have to sing in a regional language or dialect or in Dutch./ Regional contests that serve as a broadcaster's selection process include (

Omrop Fryslân Omrop Fryslân is a broadcaster on the Netherlands Public Broadcasting (NPO) which serves the Frisian community. Because West Frisian is an official language of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the NPO is also responsible for broadcasts in the We ...

) and the (

RTV Drenthe The Dutch public broadcasting system () is a group of organizations that are responsible for public service television and radio broadcasting in the Netherlands. It is composed of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO) foundation, which acts as its ...

). The programme is staged by one of the regions and is broadcast from an

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...

in the selected host city. The winner is determined by a combination of votes cast by regional juries (67%) and a public

televote Televoting (also telephone voting, phone voting, and call-in voting) is a method of decision making and opinion polling conducted by telephone. Televoting can also extend to voting by SMS text message via a mobile cell phone. Broadcast contest ...

(33%). Entries cannot receive points from their own regional jury. The participating broadcaster of the winning entry is given the honour of organising the following year's event.

2023 edition

The first edition of the Regio Songfestival was held on 4 November 2023, beginning at 20:30

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...

, and lasted approximately two hours. It was organised by the Netherlands' thirteen regional public broadcasters, with the (financial) support of

Buma Cultuur The Buma Cultuur Foundation (formerly known as the Foundation Conamus) is a non-profit organization that supports and promotes Dutch music. Conamus was founded in 1962 by John de Mol Sr., and changed its name to Buma Cultuur on 1 March 2006. Obj ...

AVROTROS AVROTROS () is a Dutch radio and television broadcaster that is part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. It was founded in 2014 as the result of a merger between the Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep (AVRO) and the TROS, Televisie Radio Omro ...

and the . The show was broadcast on television by all participating broadcasters, as well as AVROTROS on the national television channel

NPO 1 Extra NPO 1 Extra is a television channel jointly operated by Dutch public broadcasters AVROTROS, BNNVARA, EO, KRO-NCRV and MAX Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest livi ...

Competing entries

Venue and presenters

RTV Utrecht Radio Televisie Utrecht, abbreviated RTV Utrecht, is the regional public broadcaster for the Dutch province of Utrecht. It was founded in 2002 following the merger of Radio M and Omroep Utrecht. Radio M, short for (, referring to Utrecht's c ...

, the regional public broadcaster of

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, was asked to host the first edition of the Regio Songfestival due to the province's central location within the Netherlands. It was subsequently announced that the event would be staged at the , a theatre in the city of Utrecht. The venue has a capacity of 1,000 spectators. On 2 October 2023, it was revealed that the show would be hosted by Greek-Dutch singer

Stefania Liberakakis Stefania Liberakakis (; born 17 December 2002), known simply as Stefania, is a Greek-Dutch singer, voice actress and YouTuber. She is a former member of the girl group Kisses, which represented the Netherlands in the Junior Eurovision Song Conte ...

, alongside RTV Utrecht reporters and Bernadette Keizer. RTV Utrecht announced that Liberakakis and Ozinga would be the show's main presenters, while Keizer would serve as the

green room In show business, the green room is the space in a theatre, or a similar venue, that functions as a waiting room and lounge for Performing arts, performers before, during, and after a performance or show when they are not engaged on Stage (thea ...

host.

Contest overview

The running order for the live show was published on 27 October 2023. The

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

tribute band We Want ABBA!, featuring singers

Mandy Huydts Mandy Huydts (born 9 April 1969) is a Dutch singer and voice actress. Singer At age 9, Huydts began her career at VARA's Kinderen voor Kinderen. In 1986 she and the girl group Frizzle Sizzle took 13th place at the 1986 Eurovision Song Contest ...

and , performed as an interval act.

Spokespersons

The 10, 11 and 12-point scores from the juries were announced by a spokesperson from each region in the following order: #

Iris Kroes Iris Kroes (born 11 November 1992 in Drachten) is a Dutch singer-songwriter and harpist (She was called ''Harpmeisje'' (Dutch for ''Harp Girl'')). She was the winner of the second season of the television program ''The Voice of Holland'' on Janua ...

# # Linda Geerdink # Elsa van Hermon # René Steenbergen # Henk Hover # Rijnmond Esther Hart # # Tom van den Oetelaar # # # Maarten Faber # West and

Detailed voting results

2024 edition

The second edition of Regio Songfestival was held on 9 November 2024, beginning at 20:30

, and lasted approximately two hours. It was organised by L1, the regional public broadcaster of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

, following its victory in the 2023 edition. The show was broadcast on television by all participating broadcasters, as well as

on the national television channel

Competing entries

Venue and presenters

Maastricht Theater Vrijthof 46 BW 2017-08-19 12-51-27

The event was staged at the in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

. The venue has a capacity of 915 spectators. On 4 July 2024, it was revealed that the show would be hosted by presenter and singer , alongside L1 reporters Yaël Camille Weijenberg and Riël Linssen. Linssen was later replaced by Bas van Mulken, who served as the

host.

Contest overview

The running order for the live show was published on 11 October 2024. Singer performed the song "" as an interval act.

Spokespersons

The 10, 11 and 12-point scores from the juries were announced by a spokesperson from each region in the following order: # # René Steenbergen # # Elsa van Hermon # West # Tom van den Oetelaar # Maxime Cabo # Maarten Faber #

Sipke Jan Bousema Sipke Jan Bousema (Dokkum, b. 15 August 1976) is a Dutch presenter and actor. Bousema made his television debut in January 1999 at Teleac/NOT as the presenter for ''Schooltv Weekjournaal''. Career In the past, he has presented many programmes ...

# Roy Blokzijl # Eric van den Berg # Rijnmond

Joan Franka Joany Franka Johanna Ayten Hazebroek Kalan (born 2 April 1990), known professionally as Joan Franka, is a Dutch singer and songwriter of Turkish descent. She represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song " You and ...

# Rik Baptist

Detailed voting results

2025 edition

The third edition of Regio Songfestival will be held on 1 November 2025 at 20:30

. It will be organised by

Omroep Gelderland Omroep Gelderland (; abbreviated Omroep GLD) is the regional public broadcaster for the Dutch province of Gelderland. Omroep Gelderland has its own radio station, Radio Gelderland, and television channel, TV Gelderland, broadcasting primarily ...

after their win in the previous year's edition.

Venue and presenters

On 26 April 2025, it was announced that the contest would be staged at the in

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

, a venue that can host up to 750 people in the main hall. On 3 June 2025, Omroep Gelderland unveiled that

Jochem van Gelder Jochem van Gelder (born 23 May 1963) is a Dutch television presenter. He is known for presenting the television shows ''Willem Wever'', ''Praatjesmakers'' and ''Bonje met de buren''. He also presented '' Het Beste Idee van Nederland'' and ''Lach ...

, Linda Geerdink and Rik Bronkhorst would host the event, all three being TV and radio presenters at the broadcaster.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Official website, https://www.regiosongfestival.nl/ 2023 Dutch television series debuts 2023 song contests 2024 song contests Dutch music television series Dutch-language television shows Music festivals established in 2023 Pop music festivals Song contests

History

Competition overview

Format

2023 edition

Competing entries

Venue and presenters

Contest overview

Spokespersons

Detailed voting results

2024 edition

Competing entries

Venue and presenters

Contest overview

Spokespersons

Detailed voting results

2025 edition

Venue and presenters

See also

Notes

References

External links