Netherlands pulls out of Eurovision 2027
The Netherlands will not participate in next year's Eurovision Song Contest, its public broadcaster AVROTROS announced on Monday, saying the event can "no longer be considered neutral" given divisions over the Gaza war.
In a statement, AVROTROS Director-General Taco Zimmerman said: "It is undeniable that international conflicts are increasingly affecting the Contest, undermining its neutral character. The Eurovision Song Contest has therefore become a platform for division."
The announcement comes after the contest faced a wave of boycotts over Israel's participation. Earlier this month, organizers said they would exclude any country involved in an armed conflict from hosting the competition. However, the AVROTROS statement said the recently announced changes "do not provide sufficient confidence that the independent and neutral character of the Eurovision Song Contest has been restored."
Context: Boycotts and a changing contest
The 2026 competition was watched by 131 million viewers, down 35 million from the previous year, after five countries boycotted it over Israel's participation. The Netherlands, Iceland, Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia pulled out of the contest, with the latter three refusing to broadcast the show at all.
Israel finished second in both 2025 and 2026. Next year's event, described as the world's biggest live televised music event, is scheduled for May 15 in Bulgaria's Black Sea city of Burgas. It will be the first time the Balkan nation hosts the contest, following Bulgarian singer Darina Yotova, known as Dara, who won this year's contest in Vienna with "Bangaranga."
A contested legacy
Since its launch in 1955, Eurovision has become a launchpad for international pop acts, propelling Swedish icons ABBA to worldwide fame and boosting the careers of artists such as Celine Dion, Cliff Richard, and Olivia Newton-John. The Dutch took part in the very first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 and have won five times, with Duncan Laurence's 2019 win for "Arcade" becoming the first Eurovision entry to reach one billion streams on Spotify.
Zimmerman described the withdrawal as "painful," while reiterating that the broadcaster remains committed to the values it believes the contest should uphold.