What do I think of this?
In their own inititable fashion, the Netherlands have reached defcon 5 this year. After a decade of repeated shunning from the rest of Europe, they've decided to put forward their national treasures De Toppers, and top they are too. With the award in the bag for embracing the true spirit of the contest these three "boys" on the make put on quite a show. Russell Grant in the middle is my particular favourite. You'd be hard pressed to fathom how they regularly fill 40k-plus arenas back home, and it seems they are surprised as anyone by the innocent joy on their wizened fruity faces. Last up in semi final number 2, "Shine" has very little chance of progressing to the final, but it delivers joy in spades and should be congratulated for that alone.
KPI's - Fairy Light Jackets, Soul-glo, Lump of a woman in white

The biggest stars in the Netherlands will be taking the stage for their homeland in Moscow. They've broken every record in their country and are more than ready to astonish Europe now!
The Toppers, Gordon and René Froger, are true fans of the Eurosong and have, for many years now, been closely following its development. Their best memories of this event originate from the time that they were little boys sitting and watching the contest with their families on cosy evenings. With pen and notepad on their lap and a bag of crisps close at hand, they awarded points to each song and then compared these to the points given by the jury.
With their song Shine The Toppers believe that finally, after all these years, The Netherlands can break through to the finals. The song is about the fact that if people have a positive attitude they can solve nearly every problem.
What began in May 2004 as a one-off event with three successful Dutch solo artists, has now grown into a very successful tradition. Toppers in Concert - René Froger, Gordon and Gerard Joling - has broken each and every record since. Their yearly show is looked forward to byt thousands of people. More than 850,000 people have enjoyed these shows in The Amsterdam Arena. During these high energy shows, the audience merge to become one big happy family. The Toppers are very successful More than 1,500,000 CDs and DVDs sold (all number one positions in the charts) and fourteen completely sold out shows in the Amsterdam Arena remind us of this success.

Shine

(Shine, shine, shine)

There are so many wars right now in this world
There are so many things not right
There are too many people hurt in this world
There are too many men that fight

Time is now to make the change
Time is on our side
Love will make us glow in the dark
So open up your heart
Are you ready for a brand new start?

(Shine)
People, let your light shine
Let the darkness fade away
Step into a brighter day
Don't forget about our world today

Let your light shine
Maybe the answer is just this simple song
Let everybody shine along
To keep the world from going wrong
Let your light shine

So many people with good heart in this world
So many, they can make a change
So the only thing that we have to do
Is love the one we hate

It will change all darkness into bright
It will touch everybody's light
The whole world will be lighted
All people will be reunited

(Shine)
People, let your light shine
Let the darkness fade away
Step into a brighter day
Don't forget about the role you must play

Let your light shine
Maybe the answer is just this simple song
Let everybody shine along
To keep the world from going wrong
Let your light shine

As long as we believe in good in each man
As long as we believe in love
The light will guide and take us to
The world we all dream of
Let your light shine

(Shine)
People, let your light shine
Maybe the answer is just this simple song
Let everybody shine along
To keep the world from going wrong
Let your light shine