We won't withdraw next year. There's one good thing about the TROS: they don't give up that easily.
The bad thing about the TROS, is the music they resemble. It really has to be your taste: some people love it, some people can't stand it. And unfortunately, the first group only concentrates in The Netherlands itself, maybe with some support from Belgium and Germany. If these are the only countries you can rely on, you don't stand a chance, also because the jury's won't like these songs either.
The problem with The Netherlands is the same every year. The last seven years we have sent some crappy songs, but also some very decent songs. We've never sent something that was amazing. The jury in The Netherlands always choose for a 'safe' song; something that not many people will dislike, but also something that isn't outstanding. It's just like everybody's afraid that our entry will be dissed by other countries. But the problem is, that you NEVER make it with a safe song; it has to stand out in some way to be memorizable. Our entries from 2007, 2008 and 2011 - for example - were not bad at all, but they were too safe; there was nothing special about it.
It's time that we send something that stands out and stop with sending average midtempo songs. If you step outside your comfort zone, you can go wrong, but at least people will notice you and being noticed is one of the most important things in Eurovision.
To be honest, I don't think all our early eliminations were unfair. We were very forgettable in the semi and if it wasn't my own country, I would have easily forgotten them by the end of the evening. The same with the years before. Every year you hear that we should withdraw, because it's so extremely unfair that we are not getting through with a good song and that Europe don't appreciate good music, bla bla bla, while the main reason of all our early eliminations is, simply, that our songs/performances just weren't good enough. So it would be ridiculous to be sad and angry, as this is a fair result. Our song was just too safe; too forgettable. It's a good song and a good artist, but that is certainly not the only thing you need to make a chance.
So no; it would be ridiculous to withdraw, as we haven't tried too hard to send something that Europe will like. Every year it's laziness all over. I'm sure that if we REALLY do our best to make everything work next year, that our entry will be a lot better and that our chances will be bigger. I'm a bit irritated with every year's comments that it's all diaspora and that we will never get through with every song we send. If we tried for 100% and have an amazing song with an amazing, memorizable performance, and if we THEN won't get through, then there's reason to complain. But this is just a fair result.
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