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.
Today the running order has been decided by the Italian (and some Dutch) producers of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest. But this running order only concerns the semi-finals. And since the actual BIG 5 finalists are exceptionally strong this year, I was already looking ahead as to what to expect from the actual Grand Final. That’s not an easy task, as it will still take a bit more than four weeks until the rehearsals start in Turin. ■ By: Gert Waterink ■
Gert's Complex 