The Netherlands

Day 5: A sun that doesn’t move, a Greek tavern and COVID19

Today we saw the second rehearsals for the first 14 countries from the first semifinal. For the first time the press was allowed to see the rehearsals on large TV screens in the press center. It is now certain that the kinetic sun does not rotate. During the first rehearsals it turned out that the time between performances was too short to move the center part of the sun. As a result, several countries had to adjust their graphics, because they were not or only partially visible ALBANIA: The outfit had been changed and Ronela Hajati also had her own blond hair again, instead of the pink hair she had during the first rehearsal. It was a dynamic performance, in which there was almost constant dancing, together with her four dancers and a dancer. After the first rehearsal, there were some comments about an allegedly offensive dance move by Ronela with her dancer, but she kept it in anyway. LATVIA: The six were wearing the familiar colorful suits and the decor was also very colorful. Various types of vegetables were displayed on the LED screen. In the middle of the song there was a moment for the saxophonist. The performance ended with the singer making a split. LITHUANIA: Monika Liu stood alone on the big stage in Turin and mainly sang her song into the camera. She moved elegantly and attracted all the attention. The song doesn’t really need anything more. SWITZERLAND: Dressed all in black, Marius Bear was on stage and a broken heart was visible on his face and on the floor. So emotions abound. SLOVENIA: As said before, it was a big disco ball that mainly caught the attention of the Slovenian act. The boys wore 1970s-style velvet suits and the drummer appeared to be drumming above the disco ball. Compared to the previous rehearsal, there was little change. UKRAINE: There was a lot to see on stage, besides the colorful costumes there was a lot of visual spectacle. It was traditional, ethnic with a modern twist, just like last year’s contribution. Because of the war in Ukraine, this performance has something emotional and that is subtly reflected in the visual spectacle. BULGARIA: The performance started with a split screen, showing the drummer on one side and another member of the group. A small rock concert with all the trimmings, including a lot of fire(work). THE NETHERLANDS: There were few noticeable changes from the first rehearsal of S10. In the Netherlands, there was some fuss about the singer’s bare belly, but it is still naked for a while. A lot has been taken out of the lighting of S10. MOLDOVA: After the intimate moment of the Netherlands, a party erupted on stage with the contribution of Zdob şi Zdub, who are participating for the third time. They used the entire stage for their folklore song: Hey ho, let’s go…, but no train on stage. Lots of color, matching the contribution. CROATIA: During rehearsals today, Mia had problems with her in-ears. No surprises at Mia’s performance. The postcards were also shown to the press today. A drone searches for the location where the artist of the country in question can be seen and we see the visual artist in the area. DENMARK: The beginning was just like in the national final, Siggy starts alone at the piano, with her quieter part of the song and then the rock show starts. Last year we went back to the eighties with Denmark, now it seems back to the nineties. In case you don’t remember the name of the band, REDDI appeared on the LED screen. AUSTRIA: Of course there is a Halo on stage. Lots of fireworks and strong staging. The vocal part of the duo was, as we can see now, quite disappointing. GREECE: For those who don’t understand the act of Greece: Amanda seems to be in a Greek tavern; hence the chairs around her. But some of the seats have fallen over. That fits with the lyrics of the song. Amanda could count on a big round of applause from the audience. PORTUGAL: A delegation member from Portugal tested positive for corona, so the entire delegation had to go back to the hotel and be tested. Fortunately none of the ladies tested positive and they were able to rehearse for their performance, but later than planned. After all the rehearsals had been completed, Portugal was allowed to go on stage after Greece. During this rehearsal it was clear that it was one of the background singers who tested positive for corona. The ladies were lined up in a circle and brought this atmospheric contribution in a good way.

Blast from the past: Netherlands 1973

We know a lot about Eurovision; this is knowledge we want to share with you. Therefore we’d like to bring you a blast from the past. Back to 1973! We will talk about the Dutch entry, “De oude muzikant” by Ben Cramer. The Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest It was quite a successful time for The Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest. A victory in 1969, a 6th place in 1971 and a 4th in 1972. A survey among people at Dutch broadcaster NOS learned that the famous duo Mouth & McNeal were favourite to represent the country in the 1973 contest. However, they didn’t want to go. Ben Cramer was 2nd choice. And he said yes!! Ben Cramer Bernardus Kramer was born in Amsterdam the 17th of february 1947. His career started with a band called The Sparklings. In 1966 they first performed on television. As Ben Cramer & The Sparklings they had their first huge hit in The Netherlands: “Zai, zai, zai“. This song and his solo single “Dans met mij” (1968) were his greatest hits. Cramer took part in a lot of song contests all over the world. In 1970 he sang the song “Julia” in the Dutch national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. In 1971 he started working together with Pierre Kartner, who also wrote his Eurovision Song. Cramer was a star, but in the early 1980s his stardom began to faint. In 1981 he did another attempt to go to Eurovision. However, his song “Retour” only got 2 points and “Marianne” even ended up with zero points. In the 1990s he started a new career, as a musical star. He played roles in “Evita”, “Chicago”, “The Phantom of the Opera”, “Aida” and “Chess”. National final A circus was the scenery of the national final. Wellknown Dutch artists showed circus acts. In between the songs Ben Cramer sang four songs. The contest took place on february 28 in Carré Theatre in Amsterdam. The four songs were: 1.Kom met me mee, 3rd with 15 points2.Melodie, 4th with 14 points (Ben co-wrote this song with Hans Blum)3.Kom Sylvia dans met mij, 2nd with 19 points4.De oude muzikant, 1st with 62 points “De oude muzikant” won with a landslide. De oude muzikant “De oude muzikant” (the old musician) was a song about an old, forgotten musician who once was a big star in Paris. You can find the lyrics here. The song was written and composed by Pierre Kartner, the man he worked with in those days. Bens performance in Luxembourg knew a lot of struggle. Especially during the general rehearsal, Ben had troubles with the technicians, as he was not happy with the lightning. He stopped the rehearsal, while the entire jury was watching. It can be the reason for his low final score. Rumour has it that the technicians took revenge by giving Ben Cramer lousy exposure on stage. Note that the musician in the video is composer Pierre Kartner. Final score Two jury members, one younger than 25 and one of 25+ formed the jury per country. They could both give a song a mark of 1-5, making it 10 per country. Only the jury in Luxembourg (7) and France (6) were a little bit enthousiastic about “De oude muzikant”. With a total of 69 points Ben Cramer only became 14th.

UEFA 2020 eighth finals: DAY 2

We already go to the second day of the eighth finals in the European Soccer Championship. The first match is between Czech Republic and The Netherlands. For this match, we go back to 1968. The Czech Republic did not participate, but one of the most popular Czech singers, Karel Gott, represented Austria. He sang “Tausend Fenster”. The Netherlands were represented by one of their most popular singers: Ronnie Tober. He sang “Morgen”. During and after Eurovision, the two became friends. They remained so until Karel Gott passed away in 2019. The other match of today will be between Belgium and Portugal. We have only one song here that combines both countries. In 2005, Belgium was represented by Nuno Resende. The singer was born in Porto but moved to Belgium with his family when he was 12.

UEFA 2020: DAY 11

It’s day 11 of the European Championship soccer already. Today, no less than four matches will be played. To start with Ukraine against Austria. Both countries once had an act containing a burning fake piano. It was Mélovin who played the piano in his song “Under the ladder” in 2018. He was not the first one to do so. In 2015 The Makemakes had a piano burning during the performance of “I am yours”. The second match is between North Macedonia and the Netherlands. Both countries once had a song about darkness and light. The 2012 North Macedonian entrant Kaliopi sang “Crno i belo”, which means black and white. The Dutch sisters of O’G3NE sang “Lights and shadows” in 2017. Russia will meet Denmark tomorrow. It was back in 2000 when Russia and Denmark ended up in the top, Denmark as the winner, Russia as the number 2. When The Olsen Brothers won with “Fly on the wings of love”, Alsou was the runner up with “Solo”. Another match will be the the one from Finland against Belgium. In 1977, both countries were favorites to win the contest. Both ended up disappointed. Finnish Monica Aspelund and her “Lapponia” ended up in 10th place, while Belgian Dream Express brought their “A million in one, two, three” to a 7th place.

UEFA 2020: DAY 7

We already face the 7th day of UEFA 2020. Again, three matches will be played. The first one will be Ukraine against North Macedonia. Both countries have had a contestant who faced troubles because of his or her identity. Gaitana sang “Be my guest” in 2012. The song is a soccer anthem, with the music being based on the vuvuzela. Yuriy Syrotyuk, politician of a nationalist political party, said that with this contestant people might think Ukraine is an African country. Gaitana is half Congolese. 2021 North Macedonian contestant Vasil faced a petition because in the video, something that looked like the Bulgarian flag was shown. Vasil also has the Bulgarian nationality. The second match is Denmark vs Belgium. We all know that the only Belgian winner, Sandra Kim, was a 13 year old child. But it was also a child star who participated in the 1985 contest for Denmark. It was Leah Bundgård, the 8 year old daughter of Søren Bundgård. Søren was the male half of the duo Kirsten & Søren. The third and last match will be between The Netherlands and Austria. That reminds us of 2014, when it was either one of them to get the win. It was the duo Common Linnets for the Netherlands coming second with “Calm after the storm”. It was Conchita Wurst for Austria winning with “Rise like a Phoenix”. But hey, you published “Rise like a Phoenix” before? Touché, but who minds watching Conchita’s performance twice?

Problems around Dutch voting

Yesterday evening many people in The Netherlands, who voted by text message, did not receive any confirmation of their votes. Strangely enough they only got the confirmation in the night, with the message that their votes were received and they were too late with their vote. As many Dutch viewers complained about this, EBU decided to investigate everything. The outcome of this investigation was that there was a technical malfunction at Dutch provider T-Mobile. EBU decided not to count in the votes as this is a problem of T-Mobile, not of the EBU. Furthermore, the entire voting went well. If this is the end of the story or not… we don’t know it yet.

Road to Rotterdam: The Netherlands

Host country The Netherlands will be represented by Jeangu Macrooy this year. He would have participated last year and was immediately chosen by Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS to do the job in 2021. The song he will sing is called “Birth of a new age”.

Netherlands: Jeangu Macrooy sings “Birth of a new age”

Also host country The Netherlands presented it’s entry tonight. The song is called “Birth of a new age” and is written by the singer Jeangu Macrooy himself in collaboration with Pieter Perquin, aka Perquisite.

Stefania

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NameStefania Liberakakis Born17 december 2002 Nationality🇬🇷 Greek🇳🇱 Dutch National Selection– In Eurovision2021 Rotterdam2020 Rotterdam (cancelled) SongLast dance (2021)Supergirl (2020) Biography Stefania Liberakakis is a Greek/Dutch singer and actress, born in Utrecht. When she was 9 years old, she already participated in the tv-show The Voice Kids. After this, she sang in the children’s choir Kinderen voor Kinderen. In 2016, Stefania represented the Netherlands at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest as a member of the group Kisses, together with Kymora Henor and Sterre Koning. Their song “Kisses and dancin” reached an 8th place. In 2018 and 2019, she played a role in the tv-series Brugklas and the additional movie Brugklas: de tijd van mijn leven. She also played a role in the movie 100% Coco New York. As a solosinger she released five singles so far, including a duet with Dutch singer Jannes. In 2020, she was supposed to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Supergirl”. However, due to the corona crisis, that didn’t happen. Greek television ERT invited her for the 2021 contest. The song she sang was called “Last dance” and became 10th in the contest, the best score for Greece since years. Right after the contest, Stefania went to Athens for promotional purposes. Stefania released the song “Mucho Calor” on June 25, 2021. She made three appearances at the Mad Video Music Awards 2021, performing “Last Dance” in collaboration with Archolekas, “S’agapáo sou fónaxa” in collaboration with Petros Iakovidis and “Mucho Calor”. Entries Last dance Country🇬🇷 Greece Year2021 LanguageEnglish LyricsSharon Vaughn MusicDimitris KontópoulosArcade BackingsKirsten Michel DancersMarkos GiakoumoglouGeorgios PapadopoulosKostas PavlopoulosNikos Koukakis Results Semi Points: 184Position: 6Running order: 4 Results Finals Points: 170Position: 10Running order: 10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhZhJFp0vVw Supergirl Country🇬🇷 Greece Year2020 LanguageEnglish LyricsSharon VaughanDimitris KontópoulosArcade MusicDimitris KontópoulosArcade Backings– Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/dJxCINWp_j0

Jeangu Macrooy

© EBU/Thomas Hanses About Quick Facts NameJeangu Macrooy Born6 november 1993 Nationality🇳🇱 Dutch🇸🇷 Surinamese National SelectionInternal Selection In Eurovision2020 Rotterdam (Cancelled)2021 Rotterdam SongGrow (2020)Birth of a new age (2021) Biography Jeangu Macrooy is a Dutch singer of Surinam origin. He was born in Paramaribo. His musical career started in 2011 when he and his brother Xillan formed the band Between Towers. In january 2013 they released their debut album “Stars on my radio”. Meanwhile, Jeangu studied at the conservatory in Paramaribo. In 2014, Jeangu moved to the Netherlands to follow a study at the ArtEZ pop Academy in Enschede. That’s where he met producer Pieter Perquin. In december 2015, he signed a record contract and in 2016, his debut single “Gold” was released. It was a success: the song was used in a commercial for HBO series Game of thrones. Radio broadcaster 3FM awarded him as “Serious Talent”. In 2017, this success was followed by a debut album and a second one in 2019. He also played at festivals like Noorderslag, North Sea Jazz and Festival Mundial. In 2018, Jeangu played the role of Judas in the annual Dutch Easter tv show The Passion. In 2020, Jeangu Macrooy was supposed to represent The Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest. Due to the cancellation of the contest, that didn’t happen. Also the tour he planned, the Horizon Tour, had to be cancelled midway. Jeangu was invited to represent the country in the 2021 contest. He wrote the song “Birth of a new age” for the occasion. In december 2021, he was supposed to have a new tour. However, it was postponed until May and June 2022 and called “Jeangu Spring Tour 2022”. A year later, he released a new album, “Summer Moon”. Jeangu had the opportunity to play the role of Jesus in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar in 2024. Entries Birth of a new age Country The Netherlands Year2021 LanguageEnglishSranan Tongo LyricsJeangu Macrooy MusicJeangu MacrooyPieter Perquisite BackingsXillan MacrooyA Milli DancersGil Gomes Leal Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: 11Position: 23Running order: 23 https://youtu.be/o3Da5cr2fTs Grow Country🇳🇱 The Netherlands Year2020 LanguageEnglish LyricsJeangu Macrooy MusicJeangu MacrooyPieter Perquisite Backings– Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/sMcxWB90TTY