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Intense criticism of Joost Klein and his behavior in the Netherlands: “It’s not good for Eurovision”

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René van der Gijp and Johan Derksen did not have many kind words for Joost Klein, an artist who gained fame due to his eccentric behavior, especially in relation to the Eurovision Song Contest. During the Vandaag Inside show, the two hosts openly expressed their frustration. Van der Gijp commented, “He should be put in an institution. You shouldn’t send him to Eurovision anymore.”

Eccentric performance or annoying behavior?

Joost Klein is known for his striking and often provocative performances. What may seem funny to some fans has started to irritate many others. Johan Derksen, a regular panelist on the show, bluntly called Joost a “nobody”: “What a little idiot that guy is. He thinks he’s funny and interesting, but he’s really a nobody,” said Derksen. Guest Aran Bade agreed, adding, “It started as a joke, but now it’s just annoying. He shows no respect for his audience or the people around him.”

Impossible to have a normal conversation

Aran also described how difficult it is to have a normal conversation with Joost. “When you ask him something serious, you get weird answers. For example, he once said to me: ‘My car is broken, call the roadside assistance (ANWB)’,” Aran joked. He pointed out how Joost’s comments are becoming increasingly nonsensical. Derksen added that he doesn’t understand how people are seriously considering sending Joost back to Eurovision: “It’s just ridiculous.”

Criticism after gala

According to the show’s guests, Joost’s strange behavior is not limited to his statements but extends to his public appearances as well. A recent example was his disrespectful behavior at a gala in honor of André van Duin. Joost reportedly left the room before Van Duin had even finished his speech, something Aran described as “shameful.” The panelists were baffled that AvroTros is considering sending Joost to Eurovision again.

Personal security

René van der Gijp emphasized that Joost’s “act,” his indifferent attitude and behavior, has become really tiresome. He compared it to another artist, Stefano Keizers, who follows a similar approach: “It might be fun the first time, but when someone keeps doing it, it gets old.” Another notable aspect is Joost’s constant personal security detail. During the aforementioned gala, he once again had a bodyguard by his side, something the show’s hosts found puzzling. “Who’s paying for that? He always has someone next to him,” they wondered. Van der Gijp then made a sharp joke: “Is the bodyguard worried something might happen, or that Joost might jump off a balcony?”

Joost Klein close to representing the Netherlands at Eurovision 2025!

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RTL Boulevard reported on Saturday evening that Joost Klein is in talks with AVROTROS about his potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, set to take place in Basel. The broadcaster AVROTROS informed Boulevard that there is no news to share at this time.

RTL Boulevard reporter Aran Bade estimates that around November 1st, not only will the Netherlands’ participation in the Eurovision Song Contest be confirmed, but also the artist who will represent the country in Switzerland. According to sources close to RTL Boulevard, there is a strong chance that Joost Klein will once again represent the Netherlands at the music festival. On Friday evening, Joost Klein posted a screenshot on his Instagram stories showing the phrase “joost klein 2025” on his laptop screen. It remains unclear whether this post followed possible talks with AVROTROS.

It will likely take a few more weeks for an official response from AVROTROS on whether the Netherlands will participate and, if so, which artist they will send to Basel.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Source: RTL Boulevard

Netherlands: These are the Eurostars that will perform at Het Grote Songfestivalfeest 2024!

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Het Grote Songfestivalfeest concert took place for the first time in late 2019 to promote the Eurovision 2020, which was scheduled to be held in the Netherlands. After three years of great success, the great Concert returns once again this December, live from the capital of the Netherlands!

Participants in the concert will include former winners and contestants of Eurovision, throughout its history!

The official account of the concert on Instagram announced new participants regularly, and this process was completed just a few hours ago. Here are the artists who will participate in the concert in alphabetical order and the songs they will perform:

  • alyona alyona & Jerry Heil – “Teresa & Maria” (Ukraine 2024, 3rd Place)
  • Anne-Marie David – “Tu te reconnaîtras” (Luxembourg 1973, 1st Place)
  • Baby Lasagna – “Rim Tim Tagi Dim” (Croatia 2024, 2nd Place)
  • Bambie Thug – “Doomsday Blue” (Ireland 2024, 6th Place)
  • Elena Tsagrinou – “El Diablo” (Cyprus 2021, 16th Place)
  • Gjon’s Tears – “Tout l’Univers” (Switzerland 2021, 3rd Place)
  • Go_A – “Shum” (Ukraine 2021, 5th Place)
  • Guy Sebastian – “Tonight Again” (Australia 2015, 5th Place)
  • Johnny Logan – “What’s Another Year” & “Hold Me Now” (Ireland 1980 & 1987, 1st Place)
  • Käärijä – “Cha Cha Cha” (Finland 2023, 2nd Place)
  • Katrina – “Love Shine a Light” (United Kingdom 1997, 1st Place)
  • Kristian Kostov – “Beautiful Mess” (Bulgaria 2017, 2nd Place)
  • Loreen – “Euphoria” & “Tattoo” (Sweden 2012 & 2023, 1st Place)
  • Maggie McNeal – “I See a Star” & “Amsterdam” (Netherlands 1974 & 1980, 3rd and 5th Place)
  • Marcus & Martinus – “Unforgettable” (Sweden 2024, 9th Place)
  • Marlayne – “Alles Heefy Een Ritme” (Netherlands 1986, 13th Place)
  • Marija Šerifović – “Molitva” (Serbia 2007, 1st Place)
  • Nemo – “The Code” (Switzerland 2024, 1st Place)
  • Nicole – “Ein bißchen Frieden” (Germany 1982, 1st Place)
  • Poli Genova – “If Love Was A Crime” (Bulgaria 2016, 4th Place)
  • S10 – “De Diepte” (Netherlands 2022, 11th Place)
  • Sakis Rouvas – “Shake It” & “This Is Our Night” (Greece 2004 & 2009, 3rd and 7th Place)
  • Verka Serduchka – “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” (Ukraine 2007, 2nd Place)

The great Concert is a co-production of the Dutch public broadcaster, AVROTROS with PILOTSTUDIO and will take place on December 12 at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, and it will also be broadcasted on television, recorded by the Dutch national broadcaster.

The host for the evening will once again be Edsilia Rombley (Netherlands 1998 and 2007, host of Eurovision 2021), who is expected to perform her own entries as well.

Stay tuned, as the Dutch producers may announce some moresurprise participants in the future!

Junior Eurovision 2024: Stay Tuned will represent The Netherlands in Madrid!

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Today it was The Netherlands’ turn to select their entry for Junior Eurovision 2024. Just a while ago, Junior Songfestival 2024, the Dutch national selection for Junior Eurovision 2024, was concluded. Junior Songfestival served for another year as the country’s selection method for the children’s contest and was broadcasted live from Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Hosted by Stefania (JESC: Netherlands 2016 as a part of “Kisses”, ESC: Greece 2020-2021) and Matheu Hinzen (JESC: Netherlands 2019) and following the combination of votes from a kids jury, a professional jury and public voting, Stay Tuned were crowned as the winners with the song “Music“.

The following four acts competed for the Dutch representation in Madrid:

  • Veronika – “Dreams Are Built to Last“
  • Ruben – “Colors of My Heart“
  • Dunyah, Hidde, Saïda – “In M’n Prime“
  • Stay Tuned (Inkar, Miucha, Niek and Chiara) – “Music“

The voting process

A professional jury along with a kids jury and a public vote decided in equal shares who would fly the Dutch flag in Madrid.

Professional Jury

The professional jury consisted of Roxeanne Hazes, Jim Bakkum and Anne Appelo:

12 points – Veronika

10 points – Stay Tuned

9 points – Ruben

8 points – Dunyah, Hidde, Saïda

Kids Jury

The kids jury consisted of Sep and Jasmijn, last year’s winners, along with the girl group Joy!:

12 points – Stay Tuned

10 points – Veronika

9 points – Dunyah, Hidde, Saïda

8 points – Ruben

Audience’s Votes

12 points – Stay Tuned

10 points – Veronika

9 points – Dunyah, Hidde, Saïda

8 points – Ruben

The winner

Following the combination of the above and with a total of 34 points, Stay Tuned were crowned as the winners of Junior Songfestival 2024 and will therefore serve as the country’s representatives in the 22nd Junior Eurovision Song Contest that will take place in Madrid in November.

Junior Eurovision 2024

Seventeen countries will take part in the 22nd edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest:

  • Albania – RTSH
  • Armenia – AMPTV
  • Cyprus – RIK
  • Estonia – ERR
  • France – FT
  • Georgia – GPB
  • Germany – ARD/NDR
  • Ireland – RTÉ
  • Italy – RAI
  • Malta – PBS
  • North Macedonia – MRT
  • Poland – TVP
  • Portugal – RTP
  • San Marino – RTV San Marino
  • Spain – TVE
  • The Netherlands – AVROTROS
  • Ukraine – UA:PBC

The 22nd edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be held on November 16 in Madrid, Spain, following the country’s second-place finish last year and the refusal of the winning country, France, to host for the second year in a row. The slogan for this year’s contest is “Let’s Bloom!”, while Ruth Lorenzo, Marc Clotet and Melani Garcia will serve as this year’s hosts.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

Dutch public broadcaster granted extension by EBU to decide on Eurovision 2025 Participation

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The Dutch public broadcaster, AVROTROS, has been granted an extension by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to decide whether it will participate in the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place next May in Basel, Switzerland.

This announcement followed the first meeting between the EBU and AVROTROS, which was requested by the Dutch side to discuss what happened behind the scenes at the contest in Malmö. Among other issues, these events led to the exclusion of the Dutch representative from the final for non-competition-related reasons.

As a result, the Netherlands will not have until September 15th, like other countries, to confirm its participation in the EBU, but will have until November 1st. This timeframe is considered reasonable to allow the dialogue between the EBU and AVROTROS to be completed and any misunderstandings to be resolved.

Cornald Maas, the commentator for AVROTROS at the contest, expressed his support for Dutch participation, stating that he believes the most appropriate response to this year’s events would be a strong entry in Switzerland rather than an absence.

“I believe the best response is to participate and have a good entry. It’s a better answer than staying home, complaining, preaching, and amplifying your own annoyance for another year,” Maas said.

Meanwhile, 29 countries have already confirmed their participation in Eurovision 2025 in one way or another, and the remaining question marks can now be counted on the fingers of two hands.

How many countries will ultimately participate in Eurovision 2025?

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Netherlands: Joost Klein had a previous confrontation with the camerawoman

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The camerawoman to whom Joost Klein made a threatening gesture is said to have had an earlier altercation with the Dutch representative during the week of the Eurovision Song Contest. This is reported by the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet based on the reports of the police interrogations of Klein and the woman, after the incident that cost Joost Klein his place in the Eurovision 2024 final. Aftonbladet published parts of the police reports and thus more details are revealed.

The previous incident reported by the woman allegedly took place when Klein was returning backstage. The singer had asked the woman to stop filming, which she did not do “because she had signed a document agreeing to the filming. I was just doing my job,” he said. According to the woman, the Dutch team apologized after this incident and promised that Klein “wouldn’t react this way again” during the festival.

When Klein made a threatening gesture towards her during the second incident, the woman did not react at first “because I thought Joost was joking”. Klein “became angrier. I felt scared and vulnerable,” the woman reportedly said during her first police interview the night before the final of the Song Contest.

The police informed the singer that the woman was demanding compensation of 7,000 kroner, over 600 euros. According to Aftonbladet, Klein told police interrogations that he had “vague memories of the event”. The singer in that questioning claimed that he made the threatening gesture towards the woman’s camera and not towards the woman herself. According to Aftonbladet, Klein also said at the first interrogation that he was innocent of the crime he was suspected of. “I don’t recognize myself in the incident,” Klein reportedly said.

Aftonbladet did not publish the full police report. Many passages have been blacked out.

AVROTROS and his manager Klein say the singer was “really harassed many times” during the Eurovision Song Contest, but would not comment on whether the Dutch team apologized to the woman after the first incident. The cameraman’s lawyer did not respond to the report.

The Swedish prosecutor’s office dropped the case against Klein in early August because there was not enough evidence to prove that Klein made his “threatening act” with the intention of causing “serious fear” to the camerawoman.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Source:nltimes

Joost Klein: “There is no time to deal with filing a lawsuit against the EBU”

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Joost Klein does not intend to take legal action against the EBU, despite initial information to the contrary, the artist’s manager announced. There is no time and space to deal with something like this, was the relevant announcement of the representative of the Dutch artist.

Joost Klein immediately after the Swedish prosecutor’s office dropped his criminal prosecution, due to doubts and insufficient evidence, he had stated through his lawyer that he was considering filing a lawsuit against the EBU.

Joost is the right person to file a police report. Joost’s manager called me and we will think about it.

Gerard Spong, lawyer of Joost Klein

This statement came immediately after the publication of the decision of the Dutch public television – AVROTROS, not to pursue the case in court, but to resolve any pending issues with the EBU through dialogue.

Today, the artist’s manager states that he will not take any other legal action himself, since he has neither the time nor the space to deal with such a thing.

I sent Gerard Spong a quick email thanking him for his interesting take, but to be quite honest, we don’t really have the time or space to work on it right now.

Rick Bakker, manager of Joost Klein

AVROTROS has stated that it will soon meet with the EBU to discuss everything that happened behind the scenes of this year’s competition. So far it has not been clarified whether the country will participate in Eurovision 2025.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Source: rtl

Netherlands: “We will soon have a meeting with the EBU about the unfair exclusion of Joost Klein – Our questions remain unanswered”!

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After the Swedish public prosecutor’s announcement of the suspension of the criminal prosecution of Joost Klein regarding the incident that happened between him and a camerawoman of the production, and also the relevant announcement of the EBU on the issue, it was the turn of the Dutch public television AVROTROS to receive position. As expected, the Dutch public television declares itself justified, characterizing the exclusion of Joost Klein from the Eurovision final as unfair and unnecessary, while stating that there will soon be a meeting with the EBU on the issue, but also on all the other questions raised by remain unanswered.

Joost Klein “innocent” beyond doubt

According to what the Swedish public prosecutor’s office announced earlier, the case file was closed for lack of evidence. This means that Joost Klein will not be prosecuted further.

The Swedish public prosecutor writes that the investigation into a 26-year-old man who allegedly threatened a woman has been closed. The investigation shows that Klein made a motion that hit the camera. According to the prosecutor, the incident happened quickly and the stories of Klein and the camerawoman are conflicting. It is therefore not possible to know exactly what happened and whether there was criminally unacceptable behavior under Swedish law.

The EBU stands by its decision to expel Joost Klein

The EBU expelled Joost Klein from the final of Eurovision 2024 as you remember, immediately after the complaint of the worker in the production of the contest. Wanting to clarify its position, the EBU immediately after today’s acquittal of Joost Klein from the criminal prosecution states:

The decision to exclude Mr Klein from this year’s competition was made in accordance with Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) rules, following an internal investigation.

At the same time, the Swedish police decided to launch a formal investigation into Mr Klein’s behavior during the second semi-final, which we understand closed today without further action.

This was an investigation into whether a criminal act was committed, not whether Mr Klein behaved inappropriately and breached Eurovision rules and procedures. Therefore, this new development has no impact on our decision, which we fully support.

Jean Philip De Tender, Deputy Director General and Media Director of the EBU

Essentially, based on the above announcement, the criminal responsibilities of Joost Klein, which do not exist according to the Swedish prosecutor’s office, are separated from the violation of the competition regulations that were violated in the incident in question, a conclusion reached by the EBU after an internal investigation which he did.

AVTROTOS justified after the latest updates

The Dutch public television, which from the very beginning had proposed a different kind of punishment for Joost Klein than the ban, which they considered excessive, as you now realize, feels vindicated.

In its announcement, AVTROTROS states that they will soon have a meeting with the EBU to discuss both the unfair, as they describe, the exclusion of Joost Klein, and all the other questions they have addressed regarding what happened behind the scenes of the competition, questions for which they have not yet received answers.

From the beginning we have said that this disqualification was unnecessary and disproportionate and that is what it has now proven to be.

We are still very disappointed that the Europapa adventure of Joost Klein and the whole of the Netherlands was brutally ended in this way. The next step is that a meeting with the EBU management will take place about this matter in the short term.

This unjustified disqualification will be central to this meeting. We will also discuss all our other objections about the way things are going behind the scenes at the Song Festival, which we previously sent in an extensive letter of objection to the EBU and which have remained unanswered to date.

AVROTROS’s approach is and remains that the Song Festival is about artists and their musical message. The floor is now given to the EBU.

AVROTROS

AVROTROS will apparently await this meeting before deciding whether to participate in Eurovision 2025.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Source: AVROTROS

Netherlands: AVROTROS predicts that the country’s chances of competing in Eurovision 2025 are slim!

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Regarding their participation in Eurovision 2025, The Netherlands has some news that isn’t exactly encouraging. As we previously informed you, Anouk, the well-known Dutch singer who represented the country in 2013, has openly stated that she would like to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest once more in 2025.

The Netherlands: Anouk wants to return on the Eurovision stage!

Anouk’s statement was no joke. She has a track and a proposal ready for Eurovision indeed and according to her manager, the issue with a potential Anouk’s participation are the broadcaster’s decisions. Kees de Koning claims that AVROTROS has not made a final decision about participating in Eurovision 2025.

Because of current problems with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), following the disqualification of Joost Klein, AVROTROS is unable to make that decision at this time. Before choosing a new entry, AVROTROS wants to be sure that the circumstances will be right. As a result, the broadcaster believes there is little chance the Netherlands will compete the next year in Switzerland.

In September, AVROTROS will decide whether or not to take part in the contest.

In 2024, Joost Klein represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest with his song “Europapa”. The Dutch entry was declared one of the ten finalists on the second semi-final. However, only hours before Saturday’s Grand Final, the singer’s “inappropriate behavior” led the EBU to disqualify his entry.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

Source: rtl.nl

Netherlands: Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen steps down as Head of the Dutch delegation

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After a year of service, the Head of the Dutch delegation, the well-knowned to fans, Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen, resigns from his position, to continue his career at NOS.

Through a post on his personal account on Instagram, Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen, announced his resignation from this position, while revealing that he will now work as Editor-in-Chief of Events at NOS. In detail, he stated:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen (@twanvdn)

“From mid-August I will begin working as Editor-in-Chief at NOS Events! I will be working with familiar faces and new colleagues on (live) programmes for national events, commemorations and celebrations. After five years of working on Eurovision, this great opportunity came at the right time. So excited!”

Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen had a very important role in Eurovision in recent years, being the Head of the Contest from 2019 until 2023, while in 2024 he was the head of the Dutch delegation.

AVROTROS, the Dutch public broadcaster, confirmed that they are not yet looking for a new head of delegation as they have not yet decided whether they will participate in the next contest, following the incident that took place in Malmö, following the disqualification of Joost Klein.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Dutch participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, in Switzerland!

Source: ad.nl