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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

 

 

The Netherlands: Daniël Dekker critiques AVROTROS and the selection process for Eurovision 2023!

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Daniël Dekker, radio presenter and former member of the Dutch selection committee for Eurovision, spoke to Story magazine and critiqued AVROTROS for the Dutch Eurovision 2023 entry!

The radio presenter was part of the selection committee that brought great results for The Netherlands over the last decade, including a victory in 2019. He is not a part of the jury ever since, and he expressed his disappointment with the selection of Mia & Dion by the broadcaster for Eurovision 2023.

“In my time, it would have been unthinkable that those same artists would only perform at a pre-party, like in Barcelona, for the first time. We knew that artists as Anouk, Waylon, Ilse DeLange and Trijntje Oosterhuis could sing. But you also want to hear them perform the song. And with Duncan, who was less known to us, I went into the studio. Ilse, who mentored him, was there too. When I heard him sing “Arcade”, I knew that it was good. More than good.”

Mia & Dion was the first Dutch act that failed to qualify in almost a decade. Daniël expressed his disappointment by the way they were treated by local media, stating that no other artist in the future should have to deal with such media coverage.

Despite AVROTROS’s efforts to work on vocal problems that Mia & Dion faced, even having the former winner and composer of “Burning Daylight,” Duncan Laurence as their mentor, Mia and Dion failed to secure a ticket to the Grand Final, finishing in 13th place in the first semi-final with only seven points. Moreover, the country’s non-qualification also had an impact on viewership, marking a significant decline compared to 2022.

A selection method for the Eurovision 2024 entry is yet to be decided, while the return of a national final to select the Dutch entry will be discussed, with many people including commentator Cornald Maas being against this selection process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XAsam043OY

Source: Story

The Netherlands: Viewers’ interest wanes as Mia & Dion fail to qualify for the Grand Final!

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Viewers’ interest in the Eurovision Song Contest continues to wane as Dutch duo Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper failed to qualify for the final.

More generally, there was critisism of the duo by serveral compatriots and also by the country’s own National Broadcaster. A few days before the rehearsals started, statements were made by the country’s public television Avrortos and also by a composer of the song and Eurovision 2019 winner Duncan Laurence.

You can find more about it in our articles here and here.

The Dutch delegation did their best to “rescue” the song and the artists reputation, but they did not succeed and this was shown by yestrday’s exclusion.

Viewers who tuned in to watch the first Semi-Final averaged 2,124,000 and had a 40% audience share. Although the competition was the most-watched show, viewership was down 100,000 from 2022.

During the competition, up to 4,727,000 viewers tuned in to watch the broadcast via NPO1, up from nearly 5.1 million viewers in 2022.

The conclusion is that interest will be lost even more, because this year’s participation was the first since 2015 to not qualify, with the qualifying streak ending in 2023.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the latest developments regarding Eurovision 2023! Follow us on all social media, so you do not miss a thing of what will happen in Liverpool:

 

Eurovision 2023: The Netherlands’ Second Rehearsal!

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Second to last act to come up on the stage are Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper from Netherlands with their balad “Burning Daylight”.

Who are Mia & Dion?

Mia Nicolai is 26 years old and she grew up with music. She has been taking violin and piano lessons since the age of three and received a very creative upbringing from her family, with drama, ballet, music and storytelling. After living in London, Melbourne and Mexico, she moved to Los Angeles where she resides permanetley. Her first single titled “Set Me Free” was released in 2020.

Dion Cooper is a 28 year old and he has always dreamed of becoming an artist and making music. He picked up a guitar at the age of fifteen and he has never put it down ever since. In the following years, he began to sing and write his own music and in 2021 released hus first EP called “Too Young Too Dumb” making a million streams on music platforms.

Among the writing team of the song “Burning Daylight” was the Dutch winner of Eurovision 2019 Duncan Laurence. The song made a huge impression on the entire selection jury, being unanimously chosen as the Dutch entry for this year’s Eurovision.

The Rehearsal

Unfortunately this year, accredited journalists don’t get the chance to watch the first and second rehearsals, so we only get the information and content that the organizers officially release to the public.

As we know so far, Mia and Dion are standing on a small revolving stage, it penetrates a beautiful effect as they move around each other against the backdrop of spotlights in the arena. It’s a complex camera set-up that makes the whole performance feel really intimate. There is a harmony on their voices compared to the staging and the outfits that makes that really special and powerful that everyone will have goosebumps.

Netherlands Second Rehearsal 1

Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

Netherlands Second Rehearsal 2

Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

Below you can watch a small clip from the Dutch second rehearsal, once it’s published on YouTube:

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

The Dress Rehearsal for Netherlands and the rest of Semi Final 1 will be held on the 8th of May.

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Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for all the latest developments regarding Netherland’s entry in Eurovision 2023!

Source:

 

Eurovision 2023: The Netherlands’ First Rehearsal!

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The Liverpool Arena is busier than ever with the Dutch representatives Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper rehearsing their 2023 entry “Burning Daylight”.

Everything about Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper

Mia Nicolai is an Amsterdam-born Dutch singer who is mostly based in Los Angeles.She kicked off her music career in 2018 with the release of a cover of Glenn Miller’s song “At Last” and has released an array of commercial singles ever since.

Dion Cooper is a Dutch singer who first rose to prominence with his participation in the sixth season of the Voice of Holland in 2015.He released an EP in 2021 and is set to represent the Netherlands this year with the song “Burning Daylight”,co-written with Duncan Laurence among others.

The Rehearsal

Well, this is sad and dreamy and uplifting all at the same time. Mia and Dion are on a small revolving stage, and it creates a beautiful effect as they move around each other against the backdrop of spotlights in the arena. It’s a complex camera set-up that makes the whole performance feel really intimate – if you’re watching live in the arena next week, you should definitely watch the video version too, because it presents a completely different perspective. They are both vocal powerhouses, and the harmonies are really quite special – you can see their costumes on the backstage picture below.

@eurovision Haunting, mesmerising, and enchanting stuff from Mia & Dion 🥺🧡 #Eurovision2023 #Eurovision @Mia Nicolai @Dion Cooper ♬ original sound – Eurovision

Corinne Cumming – EBU

Sarah Louise Bennett – EBU

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source:eurovision.tv

Netherlands: Jan Smit leaves Eurovision Selection Committee

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Dutch presenter Jan Smit has officially decided to leave the Eurovision selection committee.  The committee has been in charge of the preparations of the country for Eurovision.  Smit was part of the Eurovision selection committee for ten years.

Jan Smit was one of the Eurovision presenters during the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.  He is also well-known for his role as the Dutch Eurovision commentator.  Jan communicate his decision to broadcaster AVROTROS in November 2022.  However, the news was not made public until very recently.  There were some speculations regarding Smit’s departure including his alleged opposition to the selection of Mia and Dion as the Dutch representatives.  Nevertheless, Mr. Jan Smit has denied these rumours.

Jan will continue working as the Dutch commentator for Eurovision 2023.  He will be joined by Cornald Maas, who is also a member of the selection committee.

Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper will represent Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.  They will perform in the second half of the first Semi-final.

You can watchour reaction by the Eurovisionfun team to their song Burning Daylight in the video embedded below

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for more news about Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023!

Source: Ad.nl

The Netherlands: National final for Eurovision 2024?

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After Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper were heavily criticized for their vocal performance in their two appearances at the eurovision preparties, AVROTROS director Eric van Stade hinted that holding a national final for the selection of the country’s participation in Eurovision next year is being considered.

Netherlands: “We know what’s wrong with it, the creative team is working on to get the vocals right”!

He explained to the Dutch press office ANP that the return of such a selection method has been discussed many times in recent years:

“Even after the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, the decision whether the Dutch entry should be chosen by the public or not will be discussed again, in a serious way with all involved. We have to look for a concept that works. Of course, we’ve all seen this not work in the past. We want to avoid that.”

The Netherlands used the Nationaal Songfestival as a selection method in the years 2009-2012. During this time period, the Netherlands failed to qualify for the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2013, the country returned to selecting its entry internally, with Anouk finishing in the top 10. The following year, the Netherlands reached second place in the final with “Calm After The Storm”, performed by The Common Linnets. Finally, the Netherlands won in 2019 with internally selected “Arcade” by Duncan Laurence.

We remind you that the Eurovision commentator for the Netherlands, Cornald Maas, has expressed his negative attitude towards the possibility of holding a national final to select the country’s future representatives.

You can watch the Eurovisionfun team’s reaction video for the dutch entry:

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding the dutch Eurovision 2023 entry!

Source: songfestival.be

The Netherlands: Listen to Burning Daylight, the country’s entry for Eurovision 2023!

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The Netherlands’ public broadcaster AVROTROS revealed in early November that Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper will represent their country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool.

The song is titled “Burning Daylight” and is in English. It was written by Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper, dutch Eurovision 2019 winner Duncan Laurence, as well as Jordan Garfield and LUKAZ.

Listen to “Burning Daylight” below:

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

Who are Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper?

Mia Nicolai is 26 years old She grew up with and around music, as she has been taking violin and piano lessons since the age of three and has received a very creative upbringing from her home, with drama, ballet, music and storytelling. After living in London, Melbourne and Mexico, she moved to Los Angeles where she resides permanently. Her first single titled “Set Me Free” was released in 2020. Her second single “Mutual Needs” was aired on the Zane Lowe Radio Show.

Dion Cooper is 28 years old and has always dreamed of becoming an artist and making music. He picked up a guitar for the first time at fifteen and has never put it down since. In the following years he began to sing and write his own music and in 2021 he released his first EP ‘Too Young Too Dumb’, followed by the single “Fire” released with Maxine, which reached almost a million streams within a few months.

What do you think of Burning Daylight? Tell us in the comments and stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all developments regarding the dutch participation in Eurovision 2023!

The Netherlands: Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper share hints about their participation!

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Just three days before the release of their song, Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper, who will represent the Netherlands at Eurovision 2023, have revealed some information about the meaning of their song.

The song they will perform in Liverpool is co-written by Duncan Laurence (Eurovision 2019 winner) and his partner Jordan Garfield.

As a brief explanation of the meaning of their song they posted the following:

The Foundation of our song

What makes us human?
We all know life can be tough. It can feel impossible, draining and lonely.
But we’re not alone. We’re more the same than we are different.

If we can let go of what doesn’t serve us and grow from it as individuals and as a society, then we can create a world that’s rooted in love, connection and expression.

A world that everyone has a place in.

We can build a new life by learning from our past and focusing on a new and brighter future.

Here’s to that future.

Mia Nicolai is 26 years old and her interest in music started at the age of three. After living in London, Melbourne and Mexico, she moved to Los Angeles where she is now residing. Her first single called “Set Me Free” was released in 2020. Her second single “Mutual Needs” was broadcast on the Zane Lowe Radio Show.

Dion Cooper is 28 years old and has been playing guitar since he was 15. He released his first EP, “Too Young to be Dumb” in 2021.

As a reminder, Mia & Dion’s song will be released on Wednesday, March 1

Source: AVROTROS

Netherlands: Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper song to be released on March 1!

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Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper’s eurovision song will premier on March 01, 2023.

Dutch broadcaster AVOTROS made the announcement.   The duo was internally selected to represent the Netherlands in Liverpool.  Both Nicolai and Cooper are credited as songwriters along with Dutch Eurovision winner Duncan Laurence and his partner Jordan Garfield.

Mia Nicolai has been involved in music since the early age of three.  She has lived in London, Melbourne, Mexico, and currently resides in Los Angeles.  In 2020 she released her first single “Set Me Free”.  After that she released “Mutual Needs” as a second single which was aired in Zane Lowe Radio show.

Dion Cooper, 28 started playing the guitar when he was 15.  In 2021, he released his first EP “Too Young Too Dumb”.

The Netherlands was represented by S10 in Eurovision 2022 with the song “De diepte”.  S10 finished in 11th place in the Grand Final

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgOnu7ux2-k&ab_channel=EurovisionSongContest