Joost Klein will take to the stage on behalf of the Netherlands at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden. The 26-year-old Dutch artist has made it through a strict selection procedure and has been chosen from more than 600 entries.
From all the entries the Dutch radio and television broadcaster AVROTROS has received, Klein’s energetic performance with catchy beats and creative wordplay has ultimately led to the selection committee choosing the Leeuwarder’s submission. “In our opinion, his entry has the greatest hit potential,” the chairman of the selection committee, Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen said in a press release.
While it has been confirmed that Joost Klein will be representing the Netherlands at the Song Contest next year, the song that he will perform has not yet been revealed with no date given for its release at this time.
In the meantime, listeners eager to get a taste of Joost Klein’s style, combining mainstream pop with happy hardcore and pop punk, can check out some of his other tracks, such as Friesenjung, which was at the top of the charts for weeks in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Video: YouTube / aggu31
Joost Klein, who has performed at Pinkpop with his band and given two sold-out concerts at AFAS Live in Amsterdam, has long dreamed of representing the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest. "This has honestly been one of my goals from an early age,” Klein told NOS. “Eurovision is in my heart, kidneys and DNA. I make Eurovision music, that's no joke!"
Klein’s dream got support from thousands of fans when his open application for Eurovision 2024 led to a petition from radio station NPO 3FM. Whether this petition played a role in his being chosen is unclear, but with selection criteria for next year’s entry being made stricter, Klein had to perform multiple times for the selection committee before his dream was realised.
This year’s Dutch duo was the first entry from the Netherlands since 2015 to fail to make it into the Eurovision semi-finals, so the pressure is on for Joost Klein to make his country proud.
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