During the first final rehearsals of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, the Netherlands’ performance was surprisingly skipped. Joost Klein (26) was supposed to take the stage as the fifth act, but instead of the singer, singer Eden Golan appeared on behalf of Israel, who actually comes after the Frisian in the running order. Joost was featured in the opening of the show.
After Israel, the show continued with Lithuania. Show management has not yet provided an explanation for the change. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) reports that an investigation has been launched into the incident with Joost Klein. The Netherlands will not be rehearsing for the time being, they say.
AVROTROS confirms the EBU’s investigation following an incident. “We are awaiting the outcome of this investigation and do not want to say anything about it until then.”
Aran Bade is present on location and calls it a ‘remarkable’ event. He goes behind the scenes to find out what is going on.
The images below show that Joost can be seen at the start of the show, but that his rehearsal is canceled last minute. The props of the Dutch act are held back on stage:
The second rehearsal on Friday evening is a very important one. The international professional juries use this show to determine which countries they will award points to. These votes count for half on Saturday. The other half determines the audience.
In the special Eurovision Song Contest special of The BLVD Podcast, Aran from Malmö discusses Joost’s striking behavior during the press conference after the semi-final:
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Tags: Joost Klein major absentee Eurovision Song Contest rehearsal incident RTL Boulevard
