The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Shine" written by Bas van den Heuvel and Gordon Heuckeroth. The song was performed by the group De Toppers, which was internally selected by the Dutch broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) to represent the Netherlands at the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia. De Toppers' appointment as the Dutch representative was announced on 19 September 2008, while the national final Nationaal Songfestival 2009 was organised in order to select the song. Six songs competed in the national final on 1 February 2009 where "Shine" was selected as the winning song following the combination of votes from a five-member jury panel and a public vote.