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Netherlands: Strong interest in Eurovision 2025 brings surprises – What Cornald Maas and Anouk’s manager revealed

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Excitement for Eurovision 2025 is surging in the Netherlands, as the selection committee reports a heightened number of entries from artists and songwriters. Cornald Maas, a member of the special committee tasked with choosing the artist and song to represent the country, recently discussed the process on the public television show Eva, revealing that many submissions have come from artists who had previously expressed reluctance or intended not to participate.

Increased Interest from Artists and Songwriters

Maas noted that this year has seen an unexpected surge of interest, as artists who initially stated they wouldn’t participate ultimately submitted their proposals. This has boosted the committee’s optimism, as the range and quality of submissions have expanded. Although he withheld specific names, Maas emphasized that the committee must make careful decisions given the diversity and quality of the songs submitted.

Anouk Ready with Songs for Eurovision – Waiting for the Call

On the same program, the manager of renowned artist Anouk, who successfully represented the Netherlands in 2013 with Birds, expressed her readiness to return to Eurovision. He noted that Anouk has already prepared a collection of songs she deems suitable for the competition and is awaiting a potential official invitation from Avrotros, the organization responsible for the Netherlands’ Eurovision participation.

Time Pressure and the Aim for a Strong Entry

As Anouk’s manager pointed out, time is of the essence, as Eurovision preparations require significant effort and organization. Anouk’s interest in returning has fueled speculation that the Netherlands will attempt a high-caliber entry aimed at a top position. The Eurovision committee, including Cornald Maas and its other members, faces the challenge of selecting an act that not only reflects the country’s current music scene but also has strong potential in the competition.

The selection process is expected to conclude soon, with everyone eagerly awaiting the announcement of the final choice for Eurovision 2025. Will it be Anouk or a new artist who will carry the Netherlands’ flag in the upcoming event? The coming weeks will be crucial, with rumors and anticipation building, as the Netherlands prepares for a memorable return to the Eurovision stage.

In the meantime, we can remember Anouk’s last Eurovision entry, Birds, which ended a 14-year drought by placing the Netherlands in the top 10.

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

Cornald Maas and Stefania will host Eurovision in Concert 2025!

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Despite the current uncertainty regarding the Dutch participation in the contest, Eurovision in Concert will return in 2025 for its 15th edition. This event, which consistently hosts the vast majority of the participants each year, as well as numerous past Eurovision representatives, has become a staple and is rightfully considered the biggest pre-party event. Read more

Netherlands: The Ducth commentator, Cornald Maas, answers to Edward af Sillen!

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Earlier yesterday, through a post in his personal account in X, Edward af Sillen, the scriptwriter for the previous three contests in Sweden (2013, 2016 & 2024), parallels the two cases of a contestant’s suspension, in Eurovision 2024 and in Euro, that of Joost Klein and the Turkish football player, Merih Demiral.

His post received both positive and negative reactions, saying that the comparison is out of place. Cornald Maas, the Dutch commentator, stated the same below Edward af Sillen’s post. In detail, he commented the following:

“Oh really? No better/more meaningful comparisons? You can try better (I hope)”

The Dutch disqualification, is a topic that concerned both fans and the EBU itself, which stated in its recent statement on everything that happened during Eurovision 2024, that the simplification of the rules and everyone keeping up with the regulations (members of delegations, artists, fans) is of crucial importance for the smooth running of the contest in the future. However, it’s only logical that the Dutch commentator is negative about the whole treatment of the subject.

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

The Netherlands: Cornald Maas thinks he will know the Dutch entry by mid-December!

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Cornald Maas, who is Dutch Eurovision commentator and selection procedure committee member and almost stepped down hist role due to the controversy that revolved around the Netherlands’ choice of Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper, had a short interview with Shownieuws on Monday and shared a few details regarding the act that will travel to the Eurovision Song Contest held in Malmö, Sweden for the Netherlands in 2024:

“We are dropping more and more songs and then I hope – but that is quite a rich and varied range, also in terms of genres – that we will have it out by mid-December.”

Cornald also coments on the sessions that will take place in the selection process, where the committee will be larger than it used to:

“But we still have a series of sessions to go with a larger committee than before.”

Maas also confirms a few artist names that have submitted songs from the Dutch selection process of 2024:

“Numidia, Joost Klein, April Darby, Caro Emerald – or her name is The Jordan now – they have all said in the media that they want to. They have all submitted songs and I won’t say anything else about it, haha.”

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOf-oKDlO6A

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest!

Source: Shownieuws
Photo: Corinne Cumming / EBU

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Netherlands: Cornald Maas Almost Resigned Amid Netherlands’ Eurovision 2023 Controversy

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Cornald Maas, revealed that the controversy surrounding the Netherlands’ Eurovision 2023 entry nearly pushed him to step down from his role.

The controversy revolved around the Netherlands’ choice of Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper for Eurovision 2023, particularly their live performances of their song “Burning Daylight” at pre-parties leading up to the competition. These performances faced intense criticism and even ridicule within the Dutch media.

Speaking on the NPO radio program ‘Mischa!’ earlier this week, Maas expressed how the relentless criticism by Dutch media of Mia & Dion had a lasting and detrimental impact on him and those close to him. Despite these challenges, Maas ultimately decided to remain part of the Dutch Eurovision team, as Eurovision has a special place in his heart.

Even though the song was revamped to help the artists better perform it, “Burning Daylight” did not advance to the Grand Final of Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool, marking the first Dutch entry not to qualify since 2015.

Maas says that the criticism by local media affected even his family. He also added:

“It was not over in a day or a week. There were so many untruths that were debated. In consultation with AVROTROS, I did not respond to this so that the oil slick would not get bigger. That went against my character and my nature.”

Affected by this controversy was also Eurovision 2019 winner Duncan Laurence, who was one of the writers of the entry and was appointed to train the artists for the Eurovision stage.

After the end of Eurovision 2023, AVROTROS acknowledged that mistakes were made in selecting “Burning Daylight” for Eurovision 2023. Consequently, there have been changes within the Dutch Eurovision team, with Twan van de Nieuwenhuijze appointed as the Head of Delegation for the Netherlands and the new chairman of the selection committee.

The Netherlands will select its entry internally for Eurovision 2024 and Cornald Maas remains as part of the selecting jury.

Source: RTL Boulevard

 

 

Eurovision In Concert: Cornald Maas and Charlotte Perrelli will be the hosts of the 2024 edition!

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Eurovision in Concert will return in 2024 for its 12th edition. Having in its line-up each year the vast majority of each contest’s entrants, as well as the presence of many past Eurovision representatives, it has certainly established itself and is not unfairly characterized as the biggest pre-party of Eurovision season.

As we get closer to the main event, more details are announced. The organizers have revealed that the hosts of the 2024 edition will be Cornald Maas and Charlotte Perrelli.

https://twitter.com/ESCinConcert/status/1709909755639087235

Who are the hosts of Eurovision in Concert 2024?

Cornald Maas is no stranger to the Eurovision community. He first start commentating Eurovision for Dutch television in 2004. In 2006 he became a regular commentator, a role he maintains to this day, having stepped away from that role between 2011 and 2013. He has also served as co-presenter of the Dutch selection on 2006 and 2007, while from 2022 he is a member of the committee that selects the country’s act for Eurovision.

Charlotte Perrelli is one of the most recognizable female personalities in Sweden. Having established herself as a successful singer in Sweden, she has also represented her country in the competition twice. In 1999 with “Take Me To Your Heaven” she was crowned as a winner, while in 2008 with “Hero” she finished 18th place in the final. She has taken part in Melodifestivalen in three more occasions as a performer(2012,2017,2021), having also hosted the 2003 and 2004 editions.

This great celebration for fans will be held on April 13, 2024 at the AFAS Live Venue, in Amsterdam. Information on the availability of tickets is expected in the coming months.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

Source: EurovisionInConcert

The Netherlands:Commentator Cornald Maas is hesitant towards a national final possibility

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The experienced Dutch commentator of Eurovision, Cornald Maas, voiced on Twitter his negative attitude towards the possibility of hosting a national final for the selection of the future representatives of the Netherlands.

In response to Dutch sociologist Sjors Joosten’s article, published in NRC Handelsblad, arguing that the Netherlands should follow Sweden’s example and organize a Melodifestivalen-style national final, Cornald Maas stated:

Hear hear? I would say: think think. Leaving out the upcoming competition: All (Dutch) national finals since 2004 have resulted in only a single qualification to the final. From 2013 onwards (internal selection), we are always in the final. Or maybe you just want an orange national celebration?

In a subsequent tweet, after having being asked why the selection method is not democratic anymore,he commented the following:

It doesn’t work at the moment if we want to guarantee quality. The music industry is not willing to participate in a national final in the Netherlands, unlike in Sweden. Even “in the background”, big/good names with good songs do not want to compete here, as it has been proven more than once.

In spite of the fact that holding a Dutch national final does not seem likely in the near future, Cornald Maas did not rule out seeking for alternative,more democratic selection processes such as plebiscites.

The Netherlands is a country that has established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the competition,with a considerable amount of remarkable entries that gave them various top-10 placements,including a 9th, a 2nd and even a top position in the scoreboard ever since the reintroduction of the internal selection process.

The Greek cooperating broadcaster ERT may find themselves at the crossroads between the internal selection and the national final on account of the fact that ever since the implementation of a selection process similar to the Dutch one (submission of proposals by interested artists and selection by an artistic committee), they have returned to the final (2019) and to the top 10 subsequently (2021,2022).

 

Do you think a Melodifestivalen type national final could be successfully held in Greece? Would it capture the interest of well-known/respectable artists and record companies? Would the Greek public make the right choice?

 

Write us in the comments and stay tuned in Eurovisionfun for more things about Eurovision!

Sietse Bakker: “Eurovision is a big party for Europe, I can’t imagine it going without a public”

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With whole Europe literally at the heart of the coronavirus pandemic and with major events coming up in the coming months, the fate of Eurovision 2020 remains unknown. However, the producer of this year’s contest, Sietse Bakker, made a statement to be discussed. Not too long ago, he said he could not imagine Eurovision without an audience.

The commentator on the broadcast of the competition for Dutch public television, Cornald Maas, and the producer of this year’s event, Sietse Bakker, also backed different positions today from what they saw in the spotlight yesterday, from Slovenian public television director Natalija Gorscak.

In particular, Natalija Gorscak, has revealed that the EBU is planning a plan B in case the pandemic does not crack in the coming weeks.

“At the EBU they are preparing as if Eurovision is normal. I am personally in touch with the administration, which has a plan B in which we will be more involved [the national broadcasters]. In Slovenia, this is supposed to be done in the TV studio.

If this scenario goes ahead, each member will broadcast their participation from a television studio. That’s what they think. Everything is under discussion, but in principle it acts as if Eurovision was in Rotterdam [as originally planned]”

Events in the Netherlands with more than 100 people are currently banned. This ban is valid until 31 March, although the measure is expected to last. Many events scheduled for April in the Netherlands are already postponed.

Contest commentator and production team consultant Cornald Maas proposes that Eurovision be postponed for the next year.

“If this quarantine is renewed again, it will be impossible to run the competition in time. We cannot begin preparing the site without knowing for sure if the event will take place. Also, we have no guarantee if the delegations will refuse to arrive, some already refusing to go to the Netherlands for postcards. At worst, it will be postponed for a year, but I know everyone is working to make the competition run smoothly”

In a similar vein the statements by Eurovision 2020 producer Sietse Bakker.

“We still have two months left, so hopefully the situation will calm down in the coming weeks. We are in constant contact with the Municipality of Rotterdam, the GGD (Ministry of Health) and the RIVM (Dutch National Institute of Public Health and the Environment) and follow their instructions. Currently, the agency is still working in full swing, but is considering other scenarios. The Eurovision Song Contest is, of course, a party for Rotterdam, the Netherlands and Europe, and I can’t imagine it can take place without the public”

Sietse Bakker, producer of Eurovision 2020

However, final decisions are not expected before the middle of next month. It is clear, however, on the basis of the above that the Dutch do not want a competition without audiences, journalists and fans making Eurovision the largest music party on the planet every year.

Source:ESCKaz