GERT’S MIND ■ Switzerland has won, but the EBU has lost

How the EBU Reference Group of the Eurovision Song Contest is in need of a serious overhaul

And here we are. The day-after. The Grand Final of the 68^th Eurovision Song Contest is over. Switzerland wins with the charismatic and likeable Nemo. And they had to wait 36 years for their 3^rd victory. Whatever the critics say, whatever the split results are, Switzerland fulfilled the simplest basic rule of the competition: they got the most points when all points were added up. ■ By: Gert Waterink ■

But it is this aspect of Eurovision, how we look at rules, that encountered its biggest test during this 68^th edition. Treating rules as the strictest possible prevention method seems to be under pressure. I only need to mention two Eurovision artists of this year’s edition, Eden Golan from Israel and Joost Klein from The Netherlands, and we know Eurovision 2024 has been unnecessarily tainted with hypocrisy and double standards. And even íf rules were met in a strict way, they left too much room for interpretation, were solely instruments to justify a ‘show must go on at any cost’-mantra, and were used until after damage was done and not befóre, as an effective prevention method.

The EBU Reference Group to the Eurovision Song Contest ■ left: chairman Bakel Walden (SRG SSR), 3rd left: executive supervisor Martin Österdahl

MALMÖ 2024 ■ Pre-rehearsal TOP 13 prediction

Every Eurovision year is different, but is also very much the same. Different, because no score sheet is similar to previous years. Looking at the voting history is only interesting to come up with a vague idea of the amount of points every ranked country gets. So that’s similar every year.

But the winner doesn’t get 180 points anymore these days, while a 7^th placed country won’t get 600 points. So there are always funny little records that can be broken. A real nail-biter of a voting sequence, with less than 5 points between the 1^st and 2^nd place, could be an example of that. Statistically, with the current amount of participating countries, such a record is difficult to be broken. But it could make this year different from previous recent editions. And I think it will happen. Let’s go with my TOP 13 prediction! ■ By: Gert Waterink ■

MALMÖ 2024 ■ From Joost With Love

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.

MALMÖ 2024 ■ Vertrouwen op succes is er nog niet echt

De keuze was reuze! Het vernieuwde selectiecomité had 600 liedjes tot z’n beschikking. De nieuwgekozen delegatie-leider Twan van de Nieuwenhuizen sprak zich uit voor een sterk verbeterde opzet van onze interne preselectie. Inmiddels ook wel bekend als het Nationaal Intern Festival. Want na het media-debacle van seizoen ’22/’23 omtrent Mia & Dion, andermaal ingegeven door de rechtse showbizz- en riooljournalistiek in de lage landen, moest en zou editie ’23/’24 weer resulteren in stevig succes. ■ Door: Gert Waterink ■

Vergeet immers niet dat dit decennium, de jaren ’20, nog niet echt vlotjes loopt qua successen. Bij deze vernieuwing werd er dus flink meer focus gelegd op uitstraling, vocale uitmuntendheid en een strakkere mediatraining.