The Dutch contribution has been accused of being a joke contribution, while the song has a serious background.
Friday 10 May at 10:06 a.m
“Europapa” by the Dutch Joost Klein has long been high on the odds lists of Eurovision favourites.
On Thursday evening, the country progressed to the Eurovision final, which starts on Saturday evening.
Joost Klein is a well-known artist in the Netherlands, and goes by the stage name “Joost”. On Spotify, he has over 4.7 million monthly listeners. “Europapa” is also one of this year’s most popular entries on TikTok.
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– Took years of therapy
Although the song may seem like a happy song, the subject matter is far more serious. The song is about a boy who has lost his parents, and is on his way to Europe, which has also happened to Joost himself. He himself became an orphan in childhood, and “Europapa” is a tribute to them.
– It took years of therapy to be able to do something like this, and it is still very difficult, he says on the turquoise runner when the Norwegian press meets him.
Joost does not hide that the performance is very emotional for him:
– It is a very special moment. I feel very connected to those around me, and hope those around me also feel connected to me, he says, and adds:
– I am not ashamed to cry. I think that is also an important message.
Joost is open that he loves to joke around, even if the subject matter is serious.
– I am here to spread some light in the darkness.
These are further from the first semi-final:
I believe in the top three
– The Netherlands blew my braid off. Of this year’s “nonsense songs” it made a strong impression on me, says Håkon Aleksander Røssum in Eurovision Norway and adds:
– It’s not really a silly song. It has a powerful message, especially at the end. He has also subtitled what he sings in Dutch – it will hit hard. I think they end up in the top three.
VG’s reviewer Tor Martin Bøe also thinks the combination between serious themes and up-tempo song selection is refreshing:
– It’s happy hardcore at its wildest, says Bøe, and adds:
– It is refreshing that someone chooses to shout instead of crying silent tears over an acoustic guitar when you are facing a life crisis of this dimension.
See clip from Malmö here:
