Netherlands: AVROTROS responds to the Ukrainian complaints about Joost Klein!

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The Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS has responded to the information that emerged from the Ukrainian public broadcaster yesterday regarding the connection between Russia and the artist selected to represent the Netherlands in Eurovision 2024.

Is Joost Klein pro-Russian?

According to an article published on the official website of Ukrainian public television, Joost Klein‘s discography includes a song that embodies his love for Russia. The song in question is named “Jackass”, and it was published on March 11, 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It was recorded in cooperation with Russian musician CMH. The lyrics are seen as contentious as well. For instance, there is controversy over the lines listed below:

Hi, my name is Joost Klein

I love Russia man,

I really wanna marry a Russian woman

I want a Russian lady

I want some Russian babies

 

Apart from his collaboration with CMH, Joost Klein has also worked with Russian Village Boys, a rave group based in St. Petersburg, on a track that was released in February 2023.

Furthermore, while the Russo-Ukrainian War was still going on in July 2022, Joost Klein performed live in St. Petersburg.

AVROTROS’ response

According to an AVTROTROS spokesperson who responded through De Telegraaf, Joost Klein has never made any political remarks that support Russia.

Joost never used his music to express political views.

The Russian Village Boys have actually stated their opposition to the war, as numerous X users have brought to light. Their Instagram post indicates that they departed Russia shortly after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

A few days earlier Joost Klein was announced by AVROTROS as the representative of the Netherlands in Eurovision 2024. More details about his participation will be announced in the coming months.

Stay tuned on EurovisionFun to stay up to date on all the latest news about the world’s largest music competition!

 

Ukraine: Suspilne on Joost Klein and his song about Russia!

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Yesterday, AVROTROS, the Dutch national broadcaster, revealed that Joost Klein will represent The Netherlands at Eurovision Song Contest 2024. Just a day following his reveal as the Dutch representative, his background has already raised concerns among the Eurovision community, even with a participating broadcaster drawing attention to it.

Specifically, Suspilne, the Ukrainian national broadcaster, published an article today about the Dutch rapper, Joost Klein and his relations with Russia.

According to this article, Joost Klein has a song in his discography in which he expresses his love about Russia. The song in question is called “Jackass“, was recorded in collaboration with CMH, who is a Russian artist and was published on March 11, 2022, following the Russian invasion in Ukraine. The lyrics are also considered controversial. Indicatively the lyrics in question are the following:

Hello, my name is Joost Klein
I love Russia, man
I believe, you wanna merry Russian woman

[…]

I want a Russian lady
I want some Russian babies

Along with his collaboration with CMH, Joost Klein has also collaborated with Russian Village Boys, a rave group from St. Petersburg, released in February 2023.

Furthermore, Joost Klein has performed in St. Petersburg in July 2022 during the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The reactions

Users on X (formerly Twitter) have mixed feelings regarding Joost’s collaborations and admiration for Russian culture. Some of the claim that his actions are despicable and that no one can admire a culture based on terror and genocide. Others state that loving Russian women or admiring the Russian culture does not necessarily mean that someone approves the country’s political regime.

Suspilne does not places itself on this certain issue. Although, bearing in mind that a national broadcaster decided to cover this issue, a sensitive one, indicates that it has raised concerns. The fact that a Eurovision artist has collaborated with Russian artists and the most important, has performed in Russian territory following the invasion, is not looked up kindly by the Ukrainian broadcaster.

A similar issue was, also, raised last year regarding Olesya Ochepovska, member of Vesna (the Czech representatives). Ochepovska is of Russian origin and there were allegations that herself supports the war, something that she denied.

As mentioned before and following an extensive internal selection, Joost Klein will represent The Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö. His song is expected to be released at a later stage.

https://youtu.be/3XAsam043OY

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all news!

Source: Suspilne

The Netherlands: Joost Klein is off to Eurovision 2024!

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Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS has revealed that Joost Klein will represent the Netherlands at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö.

The Dutch internal selection procedure

After the submission window closed in early October, the Dutch selection committee was tasked with reviewing over 600 proposals. These 600 entries were whittled down to nine, and finally to five. In order to assess their vocal prowess and prevent a recurrence of the circumstances that led to the nation’s first non-qualification this year after eight years of successful participation in the competition, the five artists were asked to perform their songs live in front of the selection committee. His vocal and performance abilities were therefore taken into consideration when choosing the Dutch representative.

A few words about Joost Klein

Dutch rapper, composer, and former YouTuber Joost Klein was born on November 10, 1997. He is known for his songs “Scandinavian Boy”, “Wachtmuziek” and “Friesenjung“, and his albums M Van Marketing, Albino and 1983. Even though the majority of his tracks are hip-hop, he frequently incorporates electronic music elements into his performances, such as drum and bass, hardstyle, and gabber.

More details will be revealed soon.

You can listen to a sample of his work here:

 

What do you think of Joost Klein? Tell us in the comments!

Stay tuned on EurovisionFun to stay up to date on all the latest news about the world’s largest music competition!

 

Netherlands: The representative will be revealed on December 11!

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The wait for the announcement of the Dutch representative at Eurovision 2024 is almost over. Following an extensive internal selection, it is now confirmed that AVROTROS will announce its Eurovision 2024 participant on December 11.

The process of the Dutch internal selection

Following the closing of the submission window on early October, the Dutch selection committee had to evaluate more than 600 submissions. Those 600 submissions were shortlisted to nine and then to five. The five favorites for the Dutch representation were asked to sing their songs live in front of the selection committee in order to have their vocal abilitites evaluated and not repeat this year’s scenario, which led to the first Dutch non-qualification in eight years of a successful course.

Hence, one of the criteria under which the Dutch representative will be chosen will have to be the live vocals and performance skills.

The three potential candidates

Moreover and according to the radio station “Radio 538“, there are three candidates most likely to represent the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, all of them females. Specifically, those three artists are

  • Karsu
  • Numidia and
  • Ilse DeLange

Numidia and Karsu became famous after taking part at “Best Singers”, a musical competition in the Netherlands. Numidia’s song for Eurovision 2024 is written by a former Eurostar, Douwe Bob who represented the Netherlands  in Eurovision 2016 and according to him, had also submitted a song for himself.

Ilse DeLange is the one of “The Common Linnets” duo, that represented The Netherlands at Eurovision 2014, finishing second. Although and according to her manager, Ilse DeLangewill not be taking part at Eurovision 2024.

The Netherlands were represented at Eurovision 2023 by Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper with their song “Burning Daylight“. Their performance did not convince the European audience, failing to qualify to the Grand Final of the competition.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all news!

Source: AVROTROS

Netherlands: Three artists claiming the ticket to Malmö!

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The internal selection trhough which the Dutch public television will select their representative for Eurovision 2024, is almost over! In very few days we will learn the artist that will fly the flag of the Netherlands in Malmö. Three female artists, are still in the selection process, according to recent news. Read more

Eurovision 2024: 37 countries will join the 68th contest in Malmö!

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The Eurovision season has officially started! Just moments ago, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the participants’ list of Eurovision 2024 in Malmö. In total, 37 countries will participate in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest.

In detail, the following countries will take part in Malmö:

 Albania – RTSH

 Australia – SBS

 Armenia – AMPTV

 Austria – ORF

 Azerbaijan – İctimai

Belgium – RTBF

Croatia – HRT

 Cyprus – CyBC

Czech Republic – ČT

 Denmark – DR

 Estonia – ERR

 Finland – YLE

 France – FT

 Georgia – GPB

 Germany – ARD/NDR

 Greece – ERT

 Iceland – RÚV

 Ireland – RTÉ

 Israel – IPBC/Kan

Italy – RAI

 Latvia – LTV

 Lithuania – LRT

Luxembourg – RTL

 Malta – PBS

 Moldova – TRM

Netherlands – AVROTROS

 Norway – NRK

 Poland – TVP

 Portugal – RTP

 San Marino – SMRTV

 Serbia – RTS

 Slovenia – RTVSLO

 Spain – TVE

 Sweden – SVT

 Switzerland – SRG / SSR

 Ukraine – UA:PBC

 United Kingdom – BBC

Whilst Romania is currently not confirmed to compete next year, talks are continuing with TVR on their potential participation as well. That means we might have 38 nations competing in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest.

Luxembourg, one of the founding members of Eurovision as well as successful, having won the contest five times, will return after three decades long absence. In fact, Luxembourg’s return was known to public since May and it was even announced during the Grand Final of Eurovision 2023.

North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Montenegro still remain out, claiming financial reasons.

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden during 7-11 of May 2024, following Loreen’s second win in Liverpool.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!

Netherlands: Jacqueline Govaert is really positive on the country’s next participation!

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Jacqueline Govaert was one of the latest members to be added to jury of AVROTROS, the Dutch public broadcaster, in order to select the best possible song for Eurovision Song Contest 2024.

Talking to RTL’s camera, Jacqueline said some very interesting things ad she is very positive on the next Dutch participation:

“Yes, I have heard some songs, it will be a lot of fun and yes, I have a very good feeling about this year. I’m very excited for sure. They all sang their songs live which is also really cool, because it’s very different from just listening to a recording. This is my first time on the selection committee, so I don’t know how things were done before. One thing I notice though is that this process went very well. First of all, I have a lot of love for pop music and songs, so first you listen to all the songs and then it’s up to you to decide which song is best. And you also think, “What song fits in there? Who’s going to be able to pull it off?” So there are many aspects involved. Cornald Maas is of course also one of the juries, and he has a lot of experience. So he cares more about the history of Eurovision. And so we all strive to achieve the best results.”

You can watch the whole interview of Jacqueline Govaert HERE.
Do you think her positive feeling will translate in a good result for the Netherlands?

Last year, Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper represented the Netherlands with the song “Burning Daylight”. The entry placed 13th in the semifinals, marking the country’s first elimination since 2015.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Dutch participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!

Junior Eurovision 2023: France is the big winner!

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The 21st edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest has just come to an end. Following a tense voting sequence, France with Zoé Clauzure and her song “Coeur” was crowned the winner of this year’s edition just moments ago. Spain finished in 2nd place and Armenia in 3rd place.

The show

Following Lissandro’s win last year in Yerevan, the contest was moved to France for the second time in just three years. Palais Nikaïa, at the homonymous city of Nice, opened its doors today for delegations from the sixteen participating countries. The show was hosted by Laury Thilleman and Olivier Minne.

The number of the participating countries remained the same as last year, as Serbia and Kazakhstan withdrew, while Germany returned after a year of absence. The Junior Eurovision family, also, welcomed a new member, Estonia which made its first appearance today at the stage of Palais Nikaïa.

The show began with Spain and was concluded with the performance of The Netherlands

  1. Spain: Sandra Valero – “Loviu“
  2. Malta: Yulan – “Stronger“
  3. Ukraine: Anastasia Dymyd – “Kvitka“
  4. Ireland: Jessica McKean – “Aisling“
  5. United Kingdom: STAND UNIQU3 – “Back to Life“
  6. North Macedonia: Tamara Grujeska – “Kaži mi, kaži mi koj“
  7. Estonia: ARHANNA – “Hoimame kokku“
  8. Armenia: Yan Girls – “Do It My Way“
  9. Poland: Maja Krzyżewska – “I Just Need a Friend“
  10. Georgia: Anastasia and Ranina – “Over the Sky“
  11. Portugal: Júlia Machado – “Where I Belong“
  12. France: Zoé Clauzure – “Coeur“
  13. Albania: Viola Gjyzeli – “Bota Ime“
  14. Italy: Melissa and Ranya – “Un mondo giusto“
  15. Germany: Fia – “Ohne Worte“
  16. The Netherlands: Sep and Jasmijn – “Holding On to You“

The interval acts

Shortly after the the beginning of the Online Voting’s second phase, we had the chance to watch what the French prepared for the interval acts this year.

Evidently, last year’s winner Lissandro who brought the contest to Nice performed his winning song “Oh maman!”.

https://youtu.be/XHs9phBCg3o?si=9qG35zZEE3ukuRSF

Later, Amir, the French representative in Eurovision 2016, took the stage singing his Eurovision song “J’ai cherché” as well as his song “Il ya”. A really colorful and vibrant performance!

Laury Thilleman also sang along with the crowd and accompanied with a piano just before the most touching performance of the night. Angelina, Valentina, Enzo and Lissandro, all of them French Junior Eurovision participants, took the stage accompanied with this year’s participants to sing “We Are the World“.

https://youtu.be/i7fo5okx4jA?si=tl-86bEgYkGuU92K

Junior Eurovision 2023 – the voting procedure

The winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was decided as following:

  • on a 50% via the Online Voting, which was conducted in two phases (before and during the live broadcast)
  • on the remaining 50% by the participating countries’ national juries. The national jury of each country will include three music industry professionals and two kids aged 10 to 15.
The national juries’ result

At the first place, there was France with 136 points, followed by Armenia with 116 points and Spain with 115 points. Both France, Armenia and Spain received four sets of 12 points from the national juries.

The results of the online voting

As Martin Österdahl informed us, people from no less than 175 countries voted tonight!

France won the online voting with 92 points, followed by Spain with 86 points and Ukraine with 83 points.

Final Results

Combining the national juries’ and the public vote, France with Zoe was declared as the winner of Junior Eurovision 2023 scoring 228 points.

France emerged as the winner of the competition for the second consecutive year, while it is the second time in Junior Eurovision history that a country has managed to win two consecutive editions, the first being Poland (2018-2019). At the same time, this is the fourth year in a row that France wins the jury voting. With France achieving its third victory this year in Nice, it is officially crowned Junior Eurovision “queen” holding a record number of victories(2020-2022-2023), a title it shares with Georgia(2008-2011-2016).

https://youtu.be/iYsEvSLQJro?si=ndhkVBis3cT0uHHH

What do you think of this year’s Junior Eurovision winner? Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all news!

Junior Eurovision 2023: The Grand Final takes place tonigh in Nice!

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The big day for all Junior Eurovision fans has arrived. This afternoon, the Grand Final of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which celebrates its 21st edition will take place!

Live from Nice, France at 16:00 pm CET, 16 countries will battle it out for the coveted first place and victory in Junior Eurovision 2023.

From Palais Nikaïa right in the center of the French city, presenters Olivier Minne and Laury Thilleman will welcome us to the 21st edition of the children’s music festival.

Running Order

France, represented by Zoé Clauzure, will perform 12th in Sunday’s grand final. The show will be opened by Sandra Valero from the Spain, while Sep & Jasmijn from the Netherlands will perform her song last.

  1. 🇪🇸 Spain: Sandra Valero – “LOVIU”
  2. 🇲🇹 Malta: Yulan – “Stronger”
  3. 🇺🇦 Ukraine: Anastasia Dymyd – “Kvitka”
  4. 🇮🇪 Ireland: Jessica McKean – “Aisling”
  5. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Stand Uniqu3 – “Back to Life”
  6. 🇲🇰 North Macedonia: Tamara Grujeska – “Kaži Mi, Kaži Mi Koj”
  7. 🇪🇪 Estonia: Arhanna – “Hoiame Kokku”
  8. 🇦🇲 Armenia: Yan Girls – “Do It My Way”
  9. 🇵🇱 Poland: Maja Krzyzewska – “I Just Need A Friend”
  10. 🇬🇪 Georgia: Anastasia & Ranina – “Over The Sky”
  11. 🇵🇹 Portugal: Julia Machado – “Where I Belong”
  12. 🇫🇷 France: Zoé Clauzure – “Cœur”
  13. 🇦🇱 Albania: Viola Gjyzeli – “Bota Ime”
  14. 🇮🇹 Italy: Melissa & Ranya – “Un Mondo Giusto”
  15. 🇩🇪 Germany: Fia – “Ohne Worte”
  16. 🇳🇱 Netherlands: Sep & Jasmijn – “Holding On To You”

https://youtu.be/VXq-V3KBcN0?si=bLAAG-bbUqdX6O4Q

Voting

Online voting will determine 100% of the public vote as voting by phone or SMS is not possible. As it was until now in Eurovision, the public decides by 50% on the results, with the remaining 50% coming from the votes of each country’s juries. The JESC 2023 Jury will include three music industry professionals and two children aged 10 to 15 years.

The vote for Junior Eurovision 2023 is divided into two phases:

 -Phase 1: voting begins at 8 pm today (CET time) in Friday. This round of voting will remain open throughout Saturday, closing at 15:59 on Sunday, shortly before the show begins.
–Phase 2 :takes place during the live broadcast. The window will open after the appearance of the last country, Ukraine. The second phase will last about 15 minutes.

You can watch the Grand final of Junior Eurovision 2023 through the official YouTube channel of the competition:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOf_y8Tz6uw

Which country do you think will succeed France and win the 20th edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest?

Junior Eurovision 2023: The Online Voting starts now | How to vote for your favorites!

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n opThe countdown for the Grand Final of Junior Eurovision 2023 has begun. In less than two days from now, Palais Nikaia will welcome the young artists from the sixteen participating countries.

Out of the sixteen participating countries, only one will be crowned as the big winner of the competition. Hence, following the second rehearsals that were conducted the past two days, the Online Voting, which will determine 50% of the final result, has now officially started.

How to vote | The rules

Just like in recent editions, the voting for Junior Eurovision 2023 is open to the public. What you need is to:

  1. have an internet connection
  2. and a device to connect to the contest’s site.

You can vote for your favorite songs on the contest’s page, but only after watching a short recap of all 16 songs. This video includes snippets from the second rehearsals, which resemble the performances we will watch on the Sunday show. Once the recap is over, viewers will be able to vote for their favorite three entries, neither more nor less. Since, no geographical restrictions apply, fans can even vote for their own country if they wish so, in case it is participating.

We remind you that these are the 16 participating countries in the order they will perform on Sunday:

You can cast your votes here!

 

The two phases of the Online Voting

The Online Voting for Junior Eurovision 2023 is divided into two phases:

Phase 1: The voting began at 8 pm today (CET time). the vote submission window will remain open throughout Saturday and will close at 15:59 on Sunday, November 26, shortly before the show begins.
Phase 2 : it will take place during the live broadcast. The window will open shortly following the final performance of the show, namely The Netherlands. It will remain open for approximately 15 minutes, in a similar way to how it is conducted in the adult Eurovision.

The votes submitted in the two voting phases will be summed up following the conclusion of the second phase and will be calculated as a single result.

Junior Eurovision 2023 – the voting procedure

The Online Voting has replaced the familiar televoting via phone calls and SMS and hence it is the one that will determine 100% of the public’s vote. Therefore, the winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will be decided as following:

  • on 50% via the Online Voting, which will be conducted in the two aforementioned phases
  • on the remaining 50% by the participating countries’ national juries. The national jury of each country will include three music industry professionals and two kids aged 10 to 15.

You can check this explanatory video regarding the voting procedure:

https://youtu.be/3lzh9b3hq1w

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all Junior Eurovision news!