Europapa track set a record: what is known about the representative of the Netherlands at Eurovision 2024 and why he has a chance to win

The Netherlands has every chance of winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, which will take place in Malmö, Sweden, in May. The 26-year-old rapper Joost Klein will represent the country on the international song stage. The performer broke the Internet with his incendiary track Europapa, which has already become the record holder of this year's competition.

The fact is that on the official Eurovision YouTube channel, where videos of all this year's participants have already been published, Europapa has gathered the largest number of views. As of now (at the time of writing), this figure has reached over 16 million. For comparison, the track from Ukraine has collected 4 million views, and the bookmakers' favorite, Croatia, has 3.4 million.

Such rapid growth in popularity among viewers is a real phenomenon that can guarantee the Netherlands a chance at the crystal microphone. While songs from other countries can't even reach five million views, Joost Klein is gaining a growing fanbase.

This also affected the bookmaker's rating. Immediately after the National Selection in the Netherlands, bookmakers did not place high bets on Joost Klein, placing him as high as 21st. However, after seeing such huge popularity among European fans, analysts raised the singer from 21st place to fifth.

What do you know about the eccentric Dutch singer and his equally eccentric track?

According to Joost Klein, participating in the Eurovision Song Contest has been a long-standing dream of his. In an interview, he said: "This is a dream come true. I watched Eurovision with my parents, glued to the screen, year after year. I am honored to represent the Netherlands and I am ready to do my best to achieve the best result."

Europapa is a song about uniting Europeans and European countries. It was co-written with rapper Donnie in the Dutch language.

The chairman of the Dutch selection committee believes that the song is a real hit that should appeal to the European public. In particular, he said: "In the song you will hear a familiar combination of party and nostalgia. We believe that with Joost's enormous creative potential, he will be able to put on a great show in a completely original way, and the Netherlands and Europe will be in for a pleasant surprise. We look forward to working with him."

Euro fans have found another sign that indicates that the Netherlands will win this year's Eurovision Song Contest. The users pointed out that in 1974, the UK hosted the show in Brighton, although Luxembourg won in 1973. An analogy can be drawn with the last Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Liverpool, although the winners of 2022 were the Ukrainian Kalush Orchestra.

Just like 50 years ago, Sweden won in the UK. Back then, it was the cult band ABBA with the song Waterloo, and now it's Loreen with the contest track Tattoo. By the way, users even noticed that both songs end in "oo". Back in 1974, it was the Netherlands that took the first place, so Eurofans are sure that the ending of the story will also repeat itself.

However, the personality of Joost Klein raises many questions and even provokes discussions. It turned out that the Dutch musician collaborated with Russian colleagues after the full-scale invasion. In March 2022, he released a joint track with Russian rapper CMH (Ruslan Tushenkov) called Jackass. Moreover, in the single, Joost sings about his love for the aggressor country and its women.

In particular, the following lines can be seen there: "Hello, my name is Jost Klein / I love Russia, man... / I love a Russian girl / I believe that without a negative Russian movement / I want a Russian woman."

And this is not the end. In February 2023, another Joost Klein song was released in tandem with the Russian Village Boys.

It is not known how conscious or unconscious the artist's position is. But after the facts about his love for Russia, which the singer broadcasts in his music, more and more Ukrainians are expressing hope that Joost Klein will not win this year.

As a reminder, Eurovision 2024 will take place in Malmö, Sweden. Traditionally, the song contest will be divided into 2 semi-finals and the final. Ukraine will perform in the first semi-final under the fifth seed.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, the first preparty of Eurovision 2024 took place in Madrid, Spain, where participants from almost all countries met each other for the first time and shared their impressions of each other's songs. Ukrainians alyona alyona & Jerry Heil were greeted with applause and compliments.

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