The Netherlands was represented at the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was the 18th edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by Telewizja Polska (TVP) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The contest took place on 29 November 2020, and was held in Warsaw ...

which was held on 29 November 2020 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Poland. The girl group Unity was selected by

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 ...

to represent the country through the televised national selection ''Junior Songfestival 2020''. They achieved 4th place with 132 points.

Background

Prior to the 2020 contest, the Netherlands had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest seventeen times since its first entry in . The Netherlands have won the contest on one occasion: in with the song "

Click Clack Click or Klick may refer to: Airlines * Click Airways, a UAE airline * Clickair, a Spanish airline * MexicanaClick, a Mexican airline Art, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Klicks, alien race in '' Star Drive'' * Click, minor cha ...

" performed by

Ralf Mackenbach Dr. Ralf J. J. Mackenbach (born 4 October 1995) is a Dutch plasma physicist, artist and former child singer, best known for winning the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Click Clack". He is the first and to date only Dutch winner ...

. In the contest, Matheu represented the Netherlands in

Gliwice Gliwice (; , ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capital ...

, Poland with the song "Dans met jou". He placed 4th out of 19 entries with 186 points.

Before Junior Eurovision

''Junior Songfestival 2020''

The national selection consisted of one live show, which was held on 26 September 2020. For the first time in its history, the contest was held in

Rotterdam Ahoy Rotterdam Ahoy (formerly known as Ahoy Rotterdam or simply as Ahoy) is a multi-purpose complex with a convention centre and an indoor arena located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Opened originally in 1950, the current complex consists of three main ...

and without an audience (due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Competing entries

The four acts that were planned to compete in the national final were announced on 29 May. However, before the show, it was announced that Robin and Unity member Demi had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on the day of the final. Therefore, Robin could not participate and Unity competed without their fourth member. As a consolation, Robin got to make an appearance at as the spokesperson for the Dutch jury votes.

Final

409,000 viewers watched the final live on NPO 3, the highest since

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, with a market share of 3.7%.

Criticism

With the release of T-Square's song "Count On Me", accusations of plagiarism of the song " Boy With Luv" by

BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, who co-write or co-produce much of their material. Originally a hip hop group, they ...

emerged on social media. Due to these accusations, AVROTROS launched a formal investigation with several music experts. As a result of the investigation, AVROTROS responded to the allegations through the Junior Songfestival Instagram account rejecting the allegations, and that the K-Pop sound used in the song is common among international artists. They also said music should be a means to bring people together and not divide them, and that they firmly stand with T-Square regarding the song.

Artist and song information

Unity

Unity is a Dutch

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

consisting of Naomi, Demi, Maud and Jayda. They represented the Netherlands in the

with the song "Best Friends".

Best Friends

"Best Friends" is a song by Unity, written and produced by Robert Dorn. It was released on 16 July 2020, with an acoustic version being released on 6 November. The song contains verses in Dutch and a chorus in English.

At Junior Eurovision

After the opening ceremony, which took place on 23 November 2020, it was announced that the Netherlands would perform in third position in the final, following Kazakhstan and preceding Serbia. In total, 1,056,000 people watched the final live on 26 November 2020.

Voting

During the live show, the Netherlands received 64 points from online voting, out of 697 total.

Detailed voting results

Every participating country had national jury that consisted of three music industry professionals and two kids aged between 10 and 15 who were citizens of the country they represented. The rankings of those jurors were combined to make an overall top ten. The results of the Dutch jury were announced during the liveshow by national finalist Robin de Haas.

References

{{Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020

Junior Eurovision Song Contest The Junior Eurovision Song Contest, often known simply as Junior Eurovision, is an international children's Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 2003. Each part ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...