Eurovision Song Contest: Nikkie de Jager hands out points at Oldehoofsterkerkhof in Leeuwarden. For the first time ‘outside the bubble’

Nikkie de Jager is a presenter, YouTube star and influencer. In 2021 she was one of the presenters of the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam.

The Europa Party, named after the Eurovision Song Contest song, is taking place at the Oldehoofsterkerkhof during the final of the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, May 11. Europapa. That will be one viewing on big screen of the final, decorated with a program of artists from the world around Joost Klein, the Dutch participant. Such as Smooth Eel, Brunzyn, Bokoedro and Pub Tigers.

The party is organized by the province, municipality, Omrop Fryslân, pop center Neushoorn and ‘brand director’ Sipke Jan Bousema, to support Joost, who comes from these parts. During the presentation of that party, these parties already announced their ambition to have the scoring broadcast from this location.

“Pressure on the tsjettel sette,” deputy Sijbe Knol calls it, “quiet diplomacy. We have sprutted it up, the AVROTROS must of what may.” According to him, it is the first time that this scoring is broadcast “fan outside the bubble”, the Randstad studio.

24,000 euros

Councilor Hein Kuiken says that it took a lot of “back and forth talking, pushing and pulling” before broadcaster AVROTROS was attracted to the idea. There is a price tag attached to that, for the technology and things like that: 24,000 euros. The province and municipality each pay half.

When Nikkie de Jager reads out the scoring, she is standing in front of the camera on the roof of the Obe pavilion, with the Oldehove in the background. For that reason, the stage and projection screen are not in front of this one skeve tower, as first planned, but on the left (seen from Obe) on the ‘long’ side of the square.

The Oldehove will therefore be shown extensively, for perhaps 162 million viewers throughout Europe – last year’s record number of viewers.

Oldehove won’t shine in front of the camera for a long time. “But we thought we were in there last May to celebrate that moment,” says Bousema.

Bet on a crate

This is done, among other things, by light projections on the Oldehove and surrounding buildings, of text fragments by Joost in different languages. Light artist duo Kroft & Smids, Karina Kroft and Remko Smids, are called in for this, paid for from the province’s ‘language’ budget.

The program of the party at the Oldehoofsterkerkhof is filled by pop center Neushoorn. This takes place before the final starts and in between, during the commercial breaks, etc.

The second semi-final on May 9, in which Joost will put his best foot forward, can be seen on a viewing in Rhino, but for an audience between 14 and 24. This is then embedded in a program on mental health for young people. Sister Nanda Klein, educationalist and ‘child advocate’, was one of the members of the ‘think tank’ for this programme.

And, what if Joost Klein dies in the semi-final? Knol: “We underestimated that risk as nil. I bet Joost will reach the top fiif. Dat krat sil der komme.”