Purely due to public voting, Joost Klein is through to the finals of Eurovision after having performed last and hyped up the crowd who seemed to already know all the lyrics before the song even started.
This year was also the first year that only the public would be voting in the semi-finals.
Only short bits from the rehearsals were released. When Eurpapa started, the song and full theatrical performance, thought out with his creative director Govert Meit, were seen by a global audience for the first time.
Though making an audience party is not new for Joost, he already impressed many with his theatrical shows at festivals like Lowlands.
At the end, however, the audience wasn’t just moved physically, but also emotionally as a picture of Joost’s deceased parents was shown and his emotional speech at the end of the song made the audience go quiet.
Investigation
Despite placing for the finals, Joost was not present at the official rehearsals today but was present at the flag parade.
According to the EBU, the organisers of the festival, an investigation was launched after “an incident” involving the singer. In a statement the EBU said, “He will not be rehearsing until further notice.” AvroTros, the Dutch broadcaster, confirmed this and wants to wait for the results before speaking on it.
Not having Joost participate in the rehearsals was clearly a last-minute decision, AD reported, as after Luxembourg’s performance decor for Europapa was already being brought to the stage until the stage director signalled they had to be brought back.
The only way Joost can still participate in the contest is if he participates in the jury show on Friday evening, where the points from the country’s juries will be given.
Contentious press conference
Yesterday evening, Joost was present at the press conference with all the other artists who were through to the final, including the Israeli singer Eden Golan.
When a Polish journalist asked Golan if she thought about how her being there could endanger other artists and the audience because of the many threats and protests, a press officer said she didn’t have to answer that question. Joost, who was seated with his head under the Dutch flag came out from under it and asked “Why not?” after which Golan proceeded to answer the question.
Whether this is the incident the EBU is referring to is still unclear.
Joost has removed all the recent Eurovision videos from his Instagram stories.
photo: Ruud Janssen/EBU
