The Netherlands has used various methods to select the Dutch 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 2012 was the national final developed by TROS that selected the Dutch entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.

Co-produced by Big Brother and The Voice creator John de Mol, six entries competed in the competition that consisted of a final on 26 February 2012 which took place at the Studio 24 in Hilversum, hosted by Jan Smit.

[14] The expert jury panel consisted of: A submission period was opened by the Dutch broadcaster on 6 July 2011 where artists and composers were able to submit their entries by posting envelopes in a huge suitcase installed at the courtyard of the TROS headquarters until 30 September 2011.

Applicants could submit either lyrics, music, the name of an artist, a complete audio production or a combination thereof, and were required to give their reasons for entering into a camera built in the suitcase when posting their envelopes.

[15] 491 submissions were received by the broadcaster at the closing of the deadline, and the six selected competing entries were announced during a press conference on 5 January 2012.

On 21 April, Franka performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam and hosted by Ruth Jacott and Cornald Maas.

On 25 January 2012, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in.

[28] The Dutch performance featured a band set-up with Joan Franka wearing a native American headdress and a long azure dress while playing a guitar.

The stage colours were predominately orange, red and yellow with the LED screens displaying flames underneath blue streamers that transitioned to a kaleidoscope effect.

[31] Joan Franka was joined by five band performers/backing vocalists: Arjen Rommens, Brendo Festen, Erica Groeneveld, Marc Udo and Rens Damberg.

This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.