Following an incident on Friday the 10th of May, it was revealed that the Semi-Final performance of Joost will be used for tonight’s Jury show.
Footage from 2nd Semi-Final to be used
In a statement to the media, the EBU had the following to say:
The investigation into the incident with the Dutch artist in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest is still ongoing. Discussions are also taking place between the EBU and AVROTROS, the Dutch participating broadcaster.
While the investigation continues the EBU has decided that Joost Klein will not perform during Dress Rehearsal 2 of the competition which is voted on by juries in the 37 participating countries.
His performance from Semi Final 2 will be used instead.
At the time of writing, the EBU is yet to reveal further information.
Joost had represented The Netherlands at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, and had participated in the second semi final; which he qualified from. Joost had been expected to perform 5th in the final.
Who is Joost?
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 at Eurovision
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.
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Image Credit: Corinne Cumming / EBU
Rory Gannon