Joost Klein’s home province is getting behind him with Friesland announcing a large Eurovision event on the night of the Eurovision 2024 Final.
The Oldehoofsterkerkhof in Leeuwarden will be turned into a Eurovision party as Joost Klein’s home province show their support for the Dutch representative. The province of Fryslân, the municipality of Leeuwarden, pop venue Neushoorn and presenter and program maker Sipke Jan Bousema are all collaborating on the project.
Organisers are expecting between 2,000 and 7,500 people to crowd the Oldehoofsterkerkhof to watch the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.
As part of the event, organisers have started discussions with AVROTROS to try and get the Dutch points announced live from the event. Sipke Jan Bousema told Omrop Fryslân that:
They were positive, but now they have to see if it is possible. I understand that they are currently busy with the launch of the song that will be released on Thursday, but I hope to get clarity soon.
The Netherlands has announced its points in the Eurovision Song Contest live from Hilversum the home of Dutch television for decades.
Last week, Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS announced that the song by Klein is called “Europapa”. What the song will sound like is not yet known. However, Klein did state that his performance will be “a big party”. The song will be revealed during De Middag/Avondshow (The Afternoon/Evening Show) which will be broadcast on Thursday February 29 at 16:45 CET.
Klein’s song was selected from over 600 submissions by AVROTROS. In their statement, the broadcaster says that “the European hit potential of his song convinced the selection committee that Joost should compete for the Netherlands”.
Image Source: AVROTROS | Source: Omrop Fryslân
The Netherlands debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 and has gone on to compete in all bar four contests. To date the Netherlands has won the contest on five occasions; 1957, 1959, 1969, 1975 and most recently 2019. Prior to Duncan Laurence’s victory in Tel Aviv, the Netherlands had been waiting 44 years for their next victory. Duncan Laurence won the contest in Israel with the song “Arcade”.
