December 4, 2019

Many people in The Netherlands know Jan Smit for a long time already. Not a surprise: Jan is from Volendam, a town northwards from Amsterdam. This fisherstown is known from it’s many musical talents. Three Eurovision participants come from Volendam: Bernadette, Maribelle and 3JS. Jan Smit became a star when he was 11 years old. He sang “Ik zing dit lied voor jou alleen” about a grandmother who passed away. Jantje Smit (little Jan Smit) as his stage name was in these days, stole many grandmothers’ hearts. In fact, lots of people in the Netherlands made fun of Jantje Smit. They didn’t take the boy too serious. People who want to make fun of him now still speak about Jantje Smit. But…. maybe it is a little bit too easy. Let us take you back to the 1st of january 2001, when a fire in a pub in Volendam made an end to the lives of 14 youngsters, of Jan’s peer group. Jantje Smit performed at the memorial service, while some of these youngsters were good friends of him. He sang “Ave maria”. If you can do thát in this situation, you are capable of something…. This is “Ave Maria”, but not the memorial service Jantje became Jan and is now involved in the Eurovision Song Contest since 2011; as a commentator, but also as a member of the selection commitee since 2014.

You know what people do when they hear they are going to host Eurovision? They scream! But Chantal Janzen never screams, she admitted in tv-show “De Wereld Draait Door”. So, it was her 10 yo son’s conclusion: something very nice must have happened. Chantal Janzen is an actress, musical star, singer and tv presenter. She works for commercial broadcaster RTL and host shows like “Chantal is sleeping over”, “The boys against the girls” and “Everybody dance now”. Chantal sings Hazes, 2013 Chantal Janzen already knows how to host a big show. She hosted the ‘Gouden Televizier Gala’ three years in a row. And that is still the nightmare of hockeyplayer Fatima Moreira de Melo. In the show, Moreira de Melo sang a song and well, that was not the best performance of the night. After the performance, Chantal added, “Wow, she can PLAY HOCKEY, that girl!”. In the same show, eight years later, she won a prize. She was introduced by someone who imitated our prime minister Mark Rutte, but the guy was not the funniest one of the night. When Chantal appeared, the first thing she said was “Okay, enough fun!”. Conclusion: Chantal has a sense of humor, and she is sharp!  

Since today we know it: Edsilia Rombley is one of the hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. Edsilia already has some experience, and not only by participating in the contest herself. O well, that ís what she did in fact. Twice, so you might say she likes Eurovision. In 1998, as she was only 20 years old, Edsilia went to Birmingham to represent the Netherlands with “Hemel en aarde”. She became 4th. Rumours go that, when you look at the backup jury only, it was all about Edsilia and her British colleague Imaani. And guess what…. Edsilia’s oldest daughter her name is…. Imaani! Imaani’s father, Edsilia’s husband, is Tjeerd Oosterhuis. He co-wrote the 2nd Eurovision entry for her, “On top of the world”. But doesn’t sound the name Oosterhuis familiar to you? Yes, you are right! Tjeerd Oosterhuis is Trijntje‘s brother.  In 2015, when her sister in law did participate, Edsilia gave the votes for the Netherlands… in the dress Trijntje didn’t wear in the end, because of all the comments about it! Besides, Edsilia is an experienced Eurovision host: she hosted Eurovision in Concert twice and she will host a Eurovision event in Amsterdam at 15 december.