Sometimes it’s pretty difficult to not analyse your own country’s Eurovision entry. And frankly, perhaps I am analysing too much. Just read back my early prediction of ‘Burning Daylight’ from last year. Only a few days after the release of Duncan’s now infamous composition, I thought I had a pretty clear idea of what was possible, result-wise, outside the fan bubble. Continuation of the status quo would have been my desired road to success. Now I know that geopolitical sentiment in the contest, rule changes and the ever-growing power of social media influencers, showbiz media and traders (betters) can have an influence too. ■ Door: Gert Waterink ■
Having said that, ‘Burning Daylight’ saw the daylight at the wrong moment in time. If the song happened five years earlier, things could’ve been different. But now we have ‘Europapa’, and Joost Klein probably is the antidote to that conservative thinking that took the better of the post-victory years for The Netherlands (Duncan’s 2019 victory). And by jolly has it been an antidote. For me it has been an emotionally bewildering experience upon its release last Thursday. ‘Europapa’ must be the most competitive radically fun Dutch entry since…..since…..we were “inhaling all that beauty every day” in 1974 and went “walking along with our dingdongs” in 1975. We had Mouth back then, but Joost is today’s Mouth.
A publicity mismatch that might have been
Will The Netherlands prevail once again only five years after that fantastic result in Tel Aviv? Let me first start saying that Joost Klein doesn’t need to walk on egg shells before the first contest performance as much as Ilse DeLange, Waylon, Duncan, Mia & Dion did. The Dutch selection committee perhaps foresaw another fallout based on the huge failure from last year. Both result-wise as well as publicity-wise. Unconsciously, picking Klein at such an early stage, was again a bit of a publicity mismatch. The early pundits -me included- heavily labelled Joost as a choice given in by fear for not receiving enough televotes. The one-and-only Käärija copycat! By doing so, some betters/traders themselves underestimated the influence they had on the course of (publicity) events of the bookmakers. Because until Thursday Joost Klein didn’t even get into the TOP 20 of the betting odds.
Joost Klein tijdens De Avondshow ■ © VPRO, 2024
As a result, people understood that the Käärija-label was there to stay. And that label sticked less on other entries who were presented at a later stage, like Spain, Estonia, Finland and Croatia. But, as we all know, patience can be a virtue. And in the end it all depends on the actual song. So given the geopolitical circumstances, ‘Europapa’ in the end arrived at the best thinkable moment. Producers might feel charmed by the strong ‘United By Music’ theme that ‘Europapa’ has.
A European meme, also outside the Benelux
And given the placement of Joost in some far away Spotify charts (March 3rd) –#35 (+3) in Estonia, #39 (+5) in Lithuania, #107 (+32) in Austria and #198 (new) in Latvia–, the biggest meme from the fun novelty entries seems to come from The Netherlands this year. And while the competition in that music genre is big this year, if I’m allowed to make some rough comparisons, only one of them can do a Netta-esque, Käärija-esque result. Every bit of viral messaging could then help an entry like that of The Netherlands.
‘Europapa’ also ticks on other aspects that are usually of uttermost importance among televoters. I don’t know how others perceive this entry, but the joy and laughter this song conveys is sincere and heartfelt. He’s almost a stand-up comedian when he performs. Similar emotions, humor, I got from watching and hearing Netta’s ‘Toy’ and Käärija’s ‘Cha Cha Cha’. Also important, Joost is a charismatic and fearless performer. He plays both the audience ánd the camera’s exceptionally well. That charm is something I still need to see developing when Marko from Baby Lasagna performs (Croatia).
Music marketing and self-assured staging
Lastly, Joost is also a terrific ‘music marketeer’. While before the contest Klein was mainly experienced on big outdoor rock festivals like Pukkelpop, Zwarte Cross, Lowlands and Sziget, he seems to know exactly what he wants to do for a very different stage; that of Eurovision. The videoclip, filled with K-Pop dance choreographies, ‘gabbers’ raving like there’s no tomorrow, and a lead singer that’s wearing enough costumes that makes both Zdob și Zdub and Käärija jealous, provides us with some necessary insight. By the way, most jurors and televoters have now forgotten Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool.
Stand wedkantoren 05-03-’24 ■ © EurovisionWorld.com, 2024
The juries
Enough reasons to see this as a serious contender. But I don’t think it will win. Because we still –thank God!– have a jury system. Big stage acts like Moldova 2017 (SunStroke Project, 3rd overall), Israel 2018 (Netta Barzilai, 1st overall), Italy 2021 (Måneskin, 1st overall), Serbia 2022 (Konstrakta, 5th place overall), Moldova 2022 (Zdob și Zdub, 7th overall) or Finland 2023 (Käärija, 2nd overall) did tremendously well. A few of these examples even won the contest. But they simply could not charm the juries enough to let them win the jury vote.
Moldova 2017, with the epic sax meme, got 110 points from the jury (8th). Israel did a lot better in 2018, but was stopped at 212 points (3rd). And Italy won the contest as well, but with an OK-ish 206 points (4th). Then there were Serbia 2022: 87 points with the juries (11th); Moldova 2022: 14 points (20th); and last year’s Finland: 150 points (4th). In short: uncomplicated fun, escapism and novelty memes, even during such dire geopolitical times, statistically don’t impress jurors. Jurors are on the look out for fun too, but they more heavily mix it with jury reporting elements like exceptional vocals and impressively complex ‘video clip’ productions.
An early prediction
The big question now is whether Joost Klein can really follow the example of SunStroke Project, Netta and Käärija, or if it falters around the jury results of Konstrakta and Zdob și Zdub. At this stage it’s hard to say. But the first signs are already there. While pundits don’t really know if Baby Lasagna is either a more serious Måneskin-esque entry or real heartfelt fun in the wake of Käärija, Joost Klein really ís the spiritual successor of Käärija. And that’s a big plus here. Furthermore, he outshines Baby Lasagna in the meme department. With so much ‘fun’ on stage this year, your entry must be firmly embedded in people’s brains way before the contest takes place. ‘Europapa’ wins it there. My guess eventually is a result that’s some sort of average of above examples.
Joost Klein fotoshoot ■ © AVROTROS, 2024
Terrific publicity for The Netherlands
But like I said before, it won’t win. The presence of jurors’ iron fists, too many gimmicks this year, and the fact that only around 6 ‘ballads’ have been chosen, is a sign. Suddenly the down-tempo entries can stand out, and this paves the way for some very fierce competition from Ukraine, Belgium, France and Serbia. And let’s not forget the well sung pop entries from Italy, Switzerland and Lithuania.
Whatever happens to Joost Klein and his ‘Europapa’, the Dutch selection committee managed to undo the publicity damage of last year’s failure completely. The Netherlands is loving Joost, from left to right, from employed to unemployed and from old to young. It’s the meme entry of 2024, with a unification message that sticks. Qualification to the Grand Final seems to be an almost-certainty. Joost also paves the way for a more determined and meticulous internal selection process for future years. So The Netherlands sets a good example for internal selections in other countries. The internal selection process can now reinvent itself when it picks entries in a too conservative way. And I tell you: a TOP 10 result without a victory never felt so victorious! Welkom in Europa….pa..pa..pa. I mean: Eu! Ro! PAAH!
Rating:
Personal Rating: 6,0 / 10
Competitive Rating: 8,5 / 10
Early Prediction:
Second Semi Final: 1st – 3rd
Grand Final, juries: 5th – 8th
Grand Final, televote: 2nd – 4th
Grand Final, overall: 3rd – 6th
Gert's Complex 