The Dutch participating broadcaster, Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), organised the national final Nationaal Songfestival 2004 in order to select its entry for the contest.

The Dutch broadcasters has used various methods to select its entry in the past, such as the Nationaal Songfestival, a live televised national final to choose the performer, song or both to compete at Eurovision.

[8] Nationaal Songfestival 2004 was the national final developed by NOS in collaboration with TROS to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004.

The wildcard round qualifiers were revealed during broadcasts of the weekly backstage programme Op weg naar het songfestival.

[8] The jury panel that voted in all shows consisted of:[12] A submission period was opened by the Dutch broadcaster on 17 July 2003 where artists and composers were able to submit their entries until 1 November 2003.

[13] 475 submissions were received by the broadcaster at the closing of the deadline, and the twenty-four selected competing entries were announced during a press conference that took place at the Pepsi Stage in Amsterdam on 7 January 2003.

The winner, "Without You" performed by Re-union, was selected by the 50/50 combination of a public televote and the votes of a five-member expert jury.

[21] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show featured guest performances by the Extension Dancers, Arwin Kluft, Hind, Petra Berger, Sandra Kim (who won Eurovision for Belgium in 1986) and past Dutch Eurovision entrants Mandy Huydts (1986, as part of Frizzle Sizzle), Maxine (1996), Marjolein Spijkers (1997, as part of Mrs. Einstein), Marlayne (1999), Michelle (2001), and Esther Hart (2003).

According to the rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2003 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final on 12 May 2004 in order to compete for the final on 15 May 2004; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final.

On 23 March 2004, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final and the Netherlands was set to perform last in position 22, following the entry from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[27] NOS appointed Esther Hart (who represented the Netherlands in 2003) as its spokesperson to announce the Dutch votes during the final.