The Netherlands was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1956 with two songs: "De vogels van Holland", composed by Cor Lemaire, with lyrics by Annie M. G. Schmidt, and performed by Jetty Paerl; and "Voorgoed voorbij", written by Jelle de Vries, and performed by Corry Brokken.

The Dutch participating broadcaster, Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS), held a national final to select its two entries in the contest.

[2] Corry Brokken, Jetty Paerl, and Bert Visser were chosen separately by NTS to sing the entries.

[3][4][5] It was broadcast on NTS with the title Het Europese Song Festival – Nationale finale, and also in Belgium on NIR.

[18][19] Dolf van der Linden, who was originally selected to lead the orchestra for the Dutch entries, was unable to attend the contest.