May 8, 2024

Malmö Messages: yesterday’s pressconference

photo: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett Yesterday, after winning the tickets to the final, the 10 winners headed to the winners’ pressconference. We of Eurovision Universe were present at this press conference. Cyprus Silia Kapsis said it was a huge opportunity to be here. She was super proud and super happy. About her country of birth, Australia, she said she was proud as well that the Australians showed their culture. It was her goal to make her country proud and after this, to grow as a pop artist. Serbia Teya Dora said it was crazy; the rehearsals, the performance; it was all super exciting and she was happy. She wants to make her country proud and give the best she can, with the best placement. She loves it that so many people watched her performance. And about Konstrakta, who was in the introduction film, she loved her amazing energy. Lithuania Silvester Belt thanks the audience. To all the bullies from the past he has a message: “I know you are struggling. And to the little boy I was: I love you so much”. The biggest challenge this week was sleeping. About singing in the Lithuanian language he said: “only Lithuanians wanted me to sing in English. Everybody else said I should sing in Lithuanian.” Ireland Bambie Thug said they are completely dissociated after this succes, but also that they are super proud. They have a small team and they are en independent artist, yet they reached this. And also, they are the first non binary artist in the contest. Bambie revealed that they met the rules of the EBU: texts like Ceasefire and Free Palestine were not allowed, so Crown The Witch was the only text left. On the question what made them special, Bambie answered “What makes me special is that I’m a queer”. Ukraine Alyona Alyona explained that she and Jerry Heil raised fund to rebuild Ukrainian schools. She called for donation. Half of the money is there, but you can donate via United24. “Children are our future”, Alyona Alyona stated. Jerry also stated that it was great to be in Malmö now. It was a super possibility to say thank you for your help. And yes, they felt pressure, because they felt Ukraine expected something from them. Croatia The performance was way better than the rehearsals. Before going on stage, Baby Lasagna tried to empty his mind, but before him Poland performed; that song got stuck in his mind. About his first place in the odds he said that odds are just numbers, it’s not over ’til it’s done. He felt comfortable in Malmö as Eurovision is, in his opinion, the next level of professional, with all the sound- and camerawork. The energy to him was fine. Slovenia Raiven said she was grateful. She was unsure about the result and doubting all the time. That meant going to the final was a huge surprise for her. When it comes to making music and visuals she went with her instinct. “The staging is really me, and I am very satisfied with it”, she said. About the fact that she was called Eurovision’s opera diva, she said that it is great to hear that people checked her background. Finland It was our own Kal (!!) who had the opportunity to ask windows95man a question. Due to the lyrics of the song “No rules”, Kal was interested to know which of the many rules of Eurovision had to go in his opinion. “More nakedness! For everybody!”, windows95man replied without any hesitation. Windows95man also told that he got help in preparing for the show. Before the show the men do some physical exercises. Portugal Iolanda from Portugal thinks that music can be whatever you like. She wrote the song in her grandmothers house. Her message is that you can do a lot with not so much money. She designed the act with the stage director and the choreographer. She also added that she believes music connects. Luxembourg “I nearly had a heart attack”, Tali explained, “It was brutal, but the camera was approaching and I thought…. maybe”. In Tali’s opinion Eurovision is a beautiful contet that unites. She was thrilled and was hoping to inspire other countries to return to Eurovision. “Music is my life, my therapy, my everything”, Tali stated.

In the Spotlight: Joost Klein (dream big)

Tomorrow, the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest will take place in the Malmö Arena. Sixteen countries compete for a spot in the final. One of them is Joost Klein, representing the Netherlands. But who is he? Let’s give him a spotlight. Hans and Ella Klein (Joost’s parents) already had 2 children aged 15 and 14, when Joost was born on November 10, 1997 in Britsum (province of Friesland). Despite growing up in a loving family, Joost did not have an easy childhood. He was bullied for his white-blonde hair and introverted character.At the age of 12, he lost his father to a serious illness, and less than a year later he lost his mother.His life was turned upside down. Despite the loving care and support of his brother and sister, Joost has to temporarily stay with a host family.Joost finds comfort in making and posting YouTube videos. He is building his own community there, including other upcoming artists, with whom he will collaborate later. Career YouTube In 2008, Klein started a YouTube channel called “EenhoornJoost” (UnicornJoost) at the age of 10. His videos ranged from sketches to mini-docs. In 2015, his channel now had 50,000 subscribers. Later that year, he was named a YouTube talent, and his number of subscribers increased to almost 88,000.Around 2017, Klein stopped making YouTube videos and focused more and more on making music and video clips, which he did under the name Joost Klein. Music In 2016, Klein released his first album called “Homeless.” In 2017 and 2018 he was briefly signed up to musiclabel Top Notch, but Klein decided to set up his own label: Albino Records. On January 18, 2019, he released his first album on his own label: “Albino”. During the years that followed, Joost released several albums and often appeared on stage at major festivals. In between all the music, he also releases a poetry collection (Albino) in 2018. In 2022 he performs “Florida 2009” for the first time. The song is dedicated to his parents. He wrote the first part shortly after the death of his father, the second part shortly after the death of his mother. (subtitles available) The song “Europapa” was selected from more than 600 entries through an internal procedure. In December 2023, Klein was presented as the representative of the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest. The committee consciously chose a different genre than had been usual for the Dutch entry, in the hope of being able to distinguish itself from the other participants. The song is both an ode to Europe and to Klein’s parents. The first person in the text is a child who travels through Europe to discover himself and to tell his story to others.The end of the song contains a message that Klein received from his father during his upbringing: “the world has no boundaries”. Eurovision in Concert In Amsterdam, last april, during the Eurovision in Concert weekend, our reporter Kal spoke with Joost. Will Joost manage to make it to the final? No doubt about that. Will he win the Eurovision Song Contest? We’ll know this Saturday.