The Netherlands entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 will be organised by TROS. In November a poll conducted by private broadcaster RTL 4 revealed that 86% of those polled would agree to a possible withdraw by the Netherlands due to the poor results received in past contests.

TROS has announced that the 2010 Eurovision entry will be composed by Pierre Kartner, with the singer selected through the Nationaal Songfestival contest. Kartner, also known as Father Abraham, is known for his song "The Smurf Song", which was a number one single in 16 countries, as well as writing the 1973 Eurovision entry for the Netherlands, "De oude muzikant" performed by Ben Cramer, which achieved 14th place. Kartner was announced as the greatest Dutch composer by the Dutch Top 40

For the first time since 1998 the Netherlands' song was performed in Dutch.

The Nationaal Songfestival 2010 was held on 7 February 2010. Several relatively unknown artists were presented to the Dutch public, and Kartner himself selected the winner after listening to the different versions of his song. The artists were coached by many famous Dutch artists, among them Jan Keizer, Guus Meeuwis, Edsilia Rombley (1998 and 2007), Marianne Weber, René Froger (member of De Toppers - 2009) and Frans Bauer.

Criticism was voiced by Kartner's role in the Dutch national selection, amongst them Eric van Tijn, writer of two former Eurovision entries: "Vrede", performed by Ruth Jacott at the 1993 Contest, and "Hemel en aarde", performed by Edsilia Rombley at the 1998 Contest, who voiced his opinion that "Kartner has written some fantastic songs in the past, but that's way too long ago, if you ask me."

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Wikipedia