The Netherlands is one of the Founding Seven of the Eurovision Song Contest, among the first participants in 1956. They have only missed four contests in their history (two due to of the observance of their national holiday and two due to relegation), won four times and hosted the contest four times (Hilversum in 1958, Amsterdam in 1970, and The Hague in 1976 and 1980).
Though they competed in 2000, the broadcast of the contest was cancelled in the Netherlands due to the Enschede fireworks disaster hours before and the televote was cut off. Their votes were taken from a backup jury.
When the semifinals were introduced in 2004, the Netherlands had not been able to qualify an entry for the grand final. That all changed in 2013 when Anouk, chosen by internal selection, got her country its first ever place in the final in the semifinal era and finished in the top 10. The following year, The Common Linnets surprised many by winning their semi-final and finishing second in the final behind Austria, its best placing since Teach-In won back in 1975.