The Netherlands:Commentator Cornald Maas is hesitant towards a national final possibility

The experienced Dutch commentator of Eurovision, Cornald Maas, voiced on Twitter his negative attitude towards the possibility of hosting a national final for the selection of the future representatives of the Netherlands.

In response to Dutch sociologist Sjors Joosten’s article, published in NRC Handelsblad, arguing that the Netherlands should follow Sweden’s example and organize a Melodifestivalen-style national final, Cornald Maas stated:

Hear hear? I would say: think think. Leaving out the upcoming competition: All (Dutch) national finals since 2004 have resulted in only a single qualification to the final. From 2013 onwards (internal selection), we are always in the final. Or maybe you just want an orange national celebration?

Nou ja, nu is het een heel select groepje dat kiest; er valt best wel wat te zeggen voor een democratischer methode.

— Ted van Lieshout (@tedvanlieshout) March 18, 2023

In a subsequent tweet, after having being asked why the selection method is not democratic anymore,he commented the following:

It doesn’t work at the moment if we want to guarantee quality. The music industry is not willing to participate in a national final in the Netherlands, unlike in Sweden. Even “in the background”, big/good names with good songs do not want to compete here, as it has been proven more than once.

Werkt niet vooralsnog, als je kwaliteit wil waarborgen. Bij nationale selectie in NL werkt muziekindustrie niet of nauwelijks mee, anders dan in Zweden. Zelfs ‘backstage’ willen grote/goede namen met goede songs hier niet in competitie, zo bleek meer dan eens

— Cornald Maas (@cornaldm) March 18, 2023

In spite of the fact that holding a Dutch national final does not seem likely in the near future, Cornald Maas did not rule out seeking for alternative,more democratic selection processes such as plebiscites.

The Netherlands is a country that has established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the competition,with a considerable amount of remarkable entries that gave them various top-10 placements,including a 9^th, a 2^nd and even a top position in the scoreboard ever since the reintroduction of the internal selection process.

The Greek cooperating broadcaster ERT may find themselves at the crossroads between the internal selection and the national final on account of the fact that ever since the implementation of a selection process similar to the Dutch one (submission of proposals by interested artists and selection by an artistic committee), they have returned to the final (2019) and to the top 10 subsequently (2021,2022).

Do you think a Melodifestivalen type national final could be successfully held in Greece? Would it capture the interest of well-known/respectable artists and record companies? Would the Greek public make the right choice?

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