Whatever you thought or think of his performance, Joost Klein was and is a worthy representative on behalf of the colorful Netherlands with the bizarre ‘Europapa’.
Shortly before the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, director Jean Philip De Tender of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) once again emphasized that this week’s cultural event is apolitical. “It is a music event,” he said. “It is not a competition between governments or governments, it is a competition between 37 public broadcasters.”
De Tender was not convincing. It remains a fact that the EBU is an organization of public broadcasters that are made possible by governments – in the case of the Netherlands, this may soon be impossible due to a changed political climate. It remains a given that the participants represent countries.
If the Eurovision Song Contest is not political, why as an organization? prior to reject an entry with which the Israeli participant would refer to October 7, 2023 and ask for a different text? How can this pressure be reconciled with the EBU’s opinion on the right to freedom of expression?
Everything is political. So also Joost Klein’s entry. The one, dressed in a suit with the color of the European flag, with Europapa wrote a smart and layered paean to a political union where residents do not need a visa and can effortlessly visit their preferred countries. And that just before the European elections.
Suppose that Joost had called for a Nexit, the return of our billions from Brussels, that he had brought a distaste to gender measures, climate madness and diversity nonsense, to the beat of marching music from the 1930s and a bed of violins. Zero chance that AVRO/TROS would have let him go to Malmö on behalf of ‘us’.
An enigmatic boy with a permanent grin has been deliberately sent to Sweden. Who has won over young and old in recent weeks with a genuine earworm. This sends a clear signal on behalf of the Netherlands: here you can process a trauma on bouncing beats, here you can make fun of traditions and average taste. Regardless of appearance and preference, you belong.
Whatever has happened and is about to happen, that message has been delivered. That profit has arrived.
Tags: Netherlands sending Joost Klein Eurovision Song Contest song praise Europe DVHN commentary
