Today the rehearsals for Eurovision 2024 continue in Malmö. Countries rehearsing on Day 4 include Latvia, San Marino, Georgia, Belgium, Estonia, Norway and The Netherlands. The last to rehearse today is The Netherlands’ Joost Klein.
Joost Klein’s first rehearsal
The next to take to the Eurovision 2024 stage at Malmö Arena in Malmö was The Netherlands’ Joost Klein. Joost will be competing in this year’s competition with his entry “Europapa” following on from his internal selection by broadcaster AVROTROS
Following Joost’s first rehearsal a clip of what went on was posted on the official TikTok account of the Eurovision Song Contest. The clip showed him before and after he took to the Eurovision stage for the first time, as well as giving us some insight into how well his first rehearsal went.
What did we learn about Joost Klein’s staging?
Joost Klein serves up a visual smörgåsbord for his staging, as per the Eurovision live blog. While the Frisian singer serves up his characteristic dance moves and blue big-shouldered look, there also is plenty happening around him. A blue and yellow bird plays the keys, while LED wall flies through the lyrics. All the while, Joost is flanked by two female dancers in white tracksuits.
What we thought of Joost Klein’s first rehearsal
After The Netherlands’ first rehearsal, Daniel gave his initial thoughts on the snippet that we saw.
Who is Joost Klein?
A Friesland native (which gave name to his 2022 album Fryslân) Joost Klein got his start on YouTube, initially making sketches and mini-documentaries, before releasing his debut EP in 2016. Mainly a hiphop artist, Joost also mixes influences of drum & bass, hardstyle and gabber into his songs.
Joost lost both of his parents during childhood, which is the inspiration for a number of songs including Europapa, as well as others such as Florida 2009 and Papa en Mama. Joost regularly performs at festivals in the Benelux such as Pinkpop and Lowlands, and has to date released 8 studio albums. His first breakthrough into the European market was with the song “Friesenjung”, a collaboration with German rapper Ski Aggu, which is an adaptation of a song by East Frisian comedian Otto Waalkes, the song reached number 1 in both Austria and Germany.
His song for Eurovision, Europapa, which was written alongside 6 others, is already a commercial success in both the Netherlands and Flanders in Belgium.
The Netherlands’ Eurovision Journey
The Netherlands are one of the founding countries of the ESC, having performed the very first song ever on the Eurovision stage back in 1956. While the result of “De Vogels van Holland” is unknown, the Netherlands have clocked 5 wins, with their most recent in 2019. However the Netherlands are also known to have had the longest ever non qualification streak in the semi-final era – they missed out on the final a whopping 8 times between 2005-2012.
The most recent Dutch entry to the Contest was in 2023, when Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper represented the nation with “Burning Daylight” – written by Eurovision winner Duncan Laurence. The Netherlands failed to qualify for the final in Liverpool, placing 13th with a total of 7 points from the televote.
What do you think of “Europapa”? Can The Netherlands get into the final with this stage show? Let us know your thoughts! Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok as we prepare for Eurovision 2024!
News Source: That Eurovision Site / Eurovision.tv
Photo Credit: Corinne Cumming / EBU
That Eurovision Site 
Rory Gannon