User:Lyonsland/sandbox
| Het Grote Songfestival | |
|---|---|
 Logo since 2017 | |
| Also known as | Songfestival HGSF |
| Genre | Song contest |
| Presented by | Various |
| Country of origin | Hennehouwe |
| Original language(s) | Hennish |
| No. of episodes | 55 editions |
| Production | |
| Production location(s) | Various Concertzaal, s'Holle (1975-1987, 1990-present) |
| Running time | 1 hour 30 minutes (semi-finals) 2 hours 45 minutes (final) |
| Production company(s) | Hennish National Broadcasting (HNO) |
| Release | |
| Original network | De Eerste |
| Picture format | 4:3 576i (SDTV) (1961-2001) 16:9 576i (SDTV) (2002-2007) 1080i (HDTV) (2008-present) |
| Original release | 24 February 1961 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Het Grote Songfestival (The Great Song Contest, often shortened to Songfestival or its acronym HGSF) is an annual music competition organised by the Hennish public broadcaster Hennish National Broadcasting (HNO). Broadcast almost every year since its inception in 1961, it is broadcast live simultaneously on television, radio and the internet. For much of its history, the competition has been the most-watched non-sporting programme on Hennish television, with the final regularly attracting an audience of four million people, around one-third of Hennehouwe's population.
Originally created for the purpose of selecting the Hennish entry for the Euclovision Song Contest, the festival has grown into its own phenomena within Hennehouwe and is one of the most popular televised events in the country. It regularly includes a broad line-up of music genres: predominantly pop, ballads, rock and schlager music, as well as more recently emerging genres including hip-hop, indie music and rap. Artists, songwriters and songs are derived from both direct invitations from HNO as well as open calls, with selection panels used to ensure the final line-up is of a high standard. The festival features both successful artists and newer, previously unexposed artists competing at the same level. It has launched the careers of many Hennish artists, with many viewing participation as a channel through which to promote their music and expand their reach. The competition has a major impact on the domestic music industry, with many songs placing high in the charts for weeks following the programme.
The contest is aired on HNO's main television and radio networks, De Eerste and Radio A respectively, every year over the first four Saturdays of March. It is also broadcast with Gaullican commentary and with Hennish sign language, as well as on HNO's internatonal service De Wereld. Since 1990, and previously from 1975 to 1987, the festival takes place in the Concertzaal in s'Holle. The winning song is determined by a combination of jury panels from each of the ten regions of Hennehouwe, and since 1998, public telephone voting.
The contest has, however, faced routine criticism for its musical and artistic quality, the routine featuring of novelty acts and accusations of 'dumbing down' the domestic music industry. In response to these criticisms, HNO has made a number of changes to the format, notably shifting the competition away from being mainly a selection show for Euclovision, offering the winner the right of first refusal to compete rather than obligating them to do so. These changes has led to a renewed increase in interest from already-established artists and songwriters and from record labels.