Twenty-four songs were divided into four semi-finals with six songs in each. From each semi-final, the six participating entries first faced a public televote where the top two qualified. A three-member jury panel then selected an additional qualifier from the remaining four entries to proceed to the final. In the final, the winner was selected based on the combination of votes from public televoting, the jury panel, a ten-member radio jury consisting of listeners of Radio 2 and a ten-member international jury consisting of foreign conservatory students. Viewers were able to vote via telephone and SMS. The three-member jury panel consisted of:
Artists and composers were able to submit their entries between 2 August 2004 and 1 October 2004. 250 entries were received by the broadcaster, and a jury panel selected twenty-four songs for the competition. The twenty-four competing entries were announced on 17 December 2004.
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 20 January 2005. Three entries qualified to the final. The six competing entries first faced a public televote where the top two songs advanced: "Go!" performed by Trinity United and "One Look" performed by Renée & Dennis. An additional qualifier was selected from the remaining four entries by the jury: "Someone Like You" performed by Yvette.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 27 January 2005. Three entries qualified to the final. The six competing entries first faced a public televote where the top two songs advanced: "Tusken skimer en ljocht" performed by Meänder and "Baby It’s You" performed by Chastity. An additional qualifier was selected from the remaining four entries by the jury: "Tomorrow" performed by Tiffany.
Semi-final 3
The third semi-final took place on 3 February 2005. Three entries qualified to the final. The six competing entries first faced a public televote where the top two songs advanced: "When Forever Ends" performed by Johnny Rosenberg and "Tranen in de stilte" performed by Barbara Lok. An additional qualifier was selected from the remaining four entries by the jury: "Stay" performed by Femme Vocale.
Semi-final 4
The fourth semi-final took place on 10 February 2005. Three entries qualified to the final. The six competing entries first faced a public televote where the top two songs advanced: "How Does It Feel" performed by Airforce and "My Impossible Dream" performed by Glennis Grace. An additional qualifier was selected from the remaining four entries by the jury: "De liefde" performed by Darre.
Final
The final took place on 13 February 2005. Twelve entries competed and the votes of the jury panel, a Radio 2 jury, an international jury and public televoting selected the winner, "My Impossible Dream" performed by Glennis Grace. The viewers and the juries each had a total of 290 points to award. Each jury group distributed their points as follows: 1–8, 10 and 12 points. The viewer vote was based on the percentage of votes each song achieved. For example, if a song gained 10% of the viewer vote, then that entry would be awarded 10% of 290 points rounded to the nearest integer: 29 points.
At Eurovision
Grace performed her song "My Impossible dream" at the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, after Re-Union's 20th place in the 2004 contest. One of the favourites to qualify to the final from the bookmakers, Grace only managed to pick up 53 points, placing 14th of 25 and failing to qualify. Therefore, Netherlands will have to compete in the semi-final again in ESC 2006. The spokesperson who revealed the Netherlands' votes for other countries was national final host Nance.
