| Italic Title: | no |
| Genre: | Music competition |
| Country: | Netherlands |
| Language: | Dutch |
| Num Episodes: | 2 contests |
| Runtime: | ~2 hours |
| First Aired: | , 2023–present |
The (in Dutch; Flemish ˈreːɣioː ˈsɔŋfɛstivɑl/;) is a Dutch song competition between regional public broadcasters.[1] Held in its current form since 2023, the format of the competition is loosely based on the Eurovision Song Contest and was first used in 1995 under its original title .[2] [3] [4] 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 and votes cast by regional juries.
The format of the competition was first used for the Dutch Song Contest 1995. It was developed by the (ROOS) – the umbrella organisation of Dutch regional public broadcasters – and the Conamus Foundation to celebrate fifty years of regional public broadcasting in the Netherlands.[5] [6] 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.[7] The inaugural edition was held on 4 November 2023, with a second edition scheduled to be held in 2024.[8]
| Year | Date | Host city | Presenter(s) | Winner | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Artist | Song | Language | ||||
| 1995: Het Nederlandse Songfestival | |||||||
| 1995 | Utrecht | Karin Bloemen | "" | Dutch | |||
| 2023–present: Regio Songfestival | |||||||
| 2023 | Utrecht | Stefania Liberakakis, and Bernadette Keizer | Emmy Ackermans | " | Dutch, Limburgish | ||
| 2024 | Maastricht | , Yaël Weijenberg and Riël Linssen | |||||
Thirteen original songs representing different regions of the Netherlands are performed in a live television show, broadcast simultaneously by all participating broadcasters.[9] [10] A "region" as a participant is represented by its regional public broadcaster – one from each of the twelve provinces, with the exception of South Holland, which is represented by two broadcasters: one serving the province's northern subregions (The Hague and surroundings; presented as "West"),[11] and one serving the southern subregions (Rotterdam and surroundings; presented as "Rijnmond").[12] [13]
Each participating broadcaster has sole discretion over the process it may employ to select its entry for the contest.[1] [10] Entrants are not allowed to have had a Top 40 hit prior to participation, and have to sing in a regional language or dialect or in Dutch.[1] [9] [14] Regional contests that serve as a broadcaster's selection process include (Omrop Fryslân) and the (RTV Drenthe).[15] [16]
The programme is staged by one of the regions and is broadcast from an auditorium in the selected host city. The winner is determined by a combination of votes cast by regional juries (67%) and a public televote (33%).[9] [17] [14] Entries cannot receive points from their own regional jury.[9] The participating broadcaster of the winning entry is given the honour of organising the following year's event.[10] [18]
The first edition of the Regio Songfestival was held on 4 November 2023, beginning at 20:30 CET, and lasted approximately two hours.[19] It was organised by the Netherlands' thirteen regional public broadcasters, with the (financial) support of Buma Cultuur, AVROTROS and the .[20] [21] The show was broadcast on television by all participating broadcasters, as well as AVROTROS on the national television channel NPO 1 Extra.[19] [22]
| Region | Broadcaster | Artist | Song | Language | Songwriter(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTV Drenthe | Lisa Harms | "" | Low Saxon | |||
| Omroep Flevoland | Abtin Salem | "" | Dutch | |||
| Omrop Fryslân | "" | West Frisian | Melissa Pander | |||
| Omroep Gelderland | AleXingt! | "" | Dutch | Alex van der Horst | ||
| RTV Noord | Wat Aans! | "" | Low Saxon | |||
| L1 | Emmy Ackermans | " | Dutch, Limburgish | |||
| Omroep Brabant | Sam & Merijn Knoop | "" | Dutch | Roy Koopmans | ||
| NH | Emma Koning | "" | Dutch | Emma Koning | ||
| RTV Oost | "" | Low Saxon | ||||
| Rijnmond | RTV Rijnmond | Remedy | "" | Dutch | ||
| RTV Utrecht | Melanie Ryan | "" | Dutch | Melanie Reindertsen | ||
| West | Omroep West | Lien | "" | Dutch | ||
| Omroep Zeeland | Smaakstof | "" | Dutch |
RTV Utrecht, the regional public broadcaster of Utrecht, was asked to host the first edition of the Regio Songfestival due to the province's central location within the Netherlands.[24] [25] It was subsequently announced that the event would be staged at the, a theatre in the city of Utrecht.[24] 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, alongside RTV Utrecht reporters and Bernadette Keizer.[26] RTV Utrecht announced that Liberakakis and Ozinga would be the show's main presenters, while Keizer would serve as green room host.[26]
The running order for the live show was published on 27 October 2023.[27] The ABBA tribute band We Want ABBA!, featuring singers Mandy Huydts and, performed as the interval act.[28]
| Region | Artist | Song | Points | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melissa Pander | "" | 159 | 5 | ||
| 2 | Leon Moorman | "" | 172 | 3 | ||
| 3 | AleXingt! | "" | 41 | 13 | ||
| 4 | Smaakstof | "" | 78 | 11 | ||
| 5 | Lisa Harms | "" | 96 | 8 | ||
| 6 | Emmy Ackermans | " | 177 | 1 | ||
| 7 | Rijnmond | Remedy | "" | 148 | 6 | |
| 8 | Melanie Ryan | "" | 102 | 7 | ||
| 9 | Sam & Merijn Knoop | "" | 172 | 2 | ||
| 10 | Wat Aans! | "" | 172 | 4 | ||
| 11 | Abtin Salem | "" | 84 | 9 | ||
| 12 | Emma Koning | "" | 80 | 10 | ||
| 13 | West | Lien | "" | 49 | 12 |
The 10, 11 and 12-point scores from the juries were announced by a spokesperson from each region in the following order:
| Place | Combined | Jury | Public | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Points | Region | Points | Region | Points | ||
| 1 | 177 | 120 | 78 | ||||
| 2 | 172 | 113 | 72 | ||||
| 3 | 172 | 112 | 65 | ||||
| 4 | 172 | Rijnmond | 102 | 59 | |||
| 5 | 159 | 94 | 52 | ||||
| 6 | Rijnmond | 148 | 87 | Rijnmond | 46 | ||
| 7 | 102 | 76 | 39 | ||||
| 8 | 96 | 73 | 33 | ||||
| 9 | 84 | 65 | 26 | ||||
| 10 | 80 | 63 | 20 | ||||
| 11 | 78 | 45 | 13 | ||||
| 12 | West | 49 | West | 43 | 7 | ||
| 13 | 41 | 21 | West | 6 | |||
| Voting procedure used: | Jury vote | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope="col" | |||||||||||||||||
| Friesland | 159 | 87 | 72 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 9 | ||
| Overijssel | 172 | 113 | 59 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 6 | ||
| Gelderland | 41 | 21 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | ||
| Zeeland | 78 | 65 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 5 | ||
| Drenthe | 96 | 63 | 33 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Limburg | 177 | 112 | 65 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 12 | ||
| Rijnmond | 148 | 102 | 46 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 11 | ||
| Utrecht | 102 | 76 | 26 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 8 | ||
| North Brabant | 172 | 120 | 52 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 10 | ||
| Groningen | 172 | 94 | 78 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | ||
| Flevoland | 84 | 45 | 39 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| North Holland | 80 | 73 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 3 | ||
| West | 49 | 43 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | ||
| Recipient | Regions giving 12 points | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | ,,, | ||
| 3 | ,, West | ||
| ,, | |||
| 2 | , Rijnmond | ||
| 1 |
The second edition of Regio Songfestival is set to take place on 9 November 2024, beginning at 20:30 CET. It is organised by L1, the regional public broadcaster of Limburg, following its victory in the 2023 edition.[8] [36] [37]
| Region | Broadcaster | Artist | Song | Language | Songwriter(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTV Drenthe | Marianne Veenstra[38] | " | Low Saxon | |||
| Omroep Flevoland | colspan="4" | |||||
| Omrop Fryslân | colspan="4" | |||||
| Omroep Gelderland | Emma Luca | colspan="3" | ||||
| RTV Noord | colspan="4" | |||||
| L1 | colspan="4" | |||||
| Omroep Brabant | colspan="4" | |||||
| NH | colspan="4" | |||||
| RTV Oost | Merlijn Dewasme[39] | "" | Dutch | |||
| Rijnmond | RTV Rijnmond | colspan="4" | ||||
| RTV Utrecht | colspan="4" | |||||
| West | Omroep West | colspan="4" | ||||
| Omroep Zeeland | Cycz[40] | "" | Dutch |
The event will be staged at the in Maastricht.[8] The venue has a capacity of 915 spectators. On 4 July 2024, it was revealed that the show will be hosted by presenter and singer, alongside L1 reporters Yaël Camille Weijenberg en Riël Linssen.[41]