A little bit of history…
The Netherlands are another country who’ve
had their fair share of ups and downs at Eurovision. Most recently, their fortunes
have been on the down side and are rumoured to leave the contest if they don’t do well this year. I think this is a shame, as the Netherlands have provided
us with some of the best entries we’ve heard over the past few years, but if they want to be spoil sports and give in
to Eastern Europe that’s their choice. The
furthest back I can remember is 1999, when they entered the contest as hot favourites but finished in just 8th place. In 2000 they had another great song, but could only manage 13th, in 2001 got 18th and
were relegated from 2002, returned in 2003 with one of the best songs and performances of the contest, but still only managed
13th place. 2004 saw them in the Semi-Final, where they performed
last and managed to qualify comfortably. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be
and with an early draw finished with a tenth of the points they qualified with. In
2005, it seemed the only way was up, and they were one of the pre-contest favourites – the ‘dead-cert qualifier’
according to most. Glennis Grace gave an amazing performance, with a beautiful
song, but again, it just wasn’t the Netherlands
year because finishing 15th place simply isn’t enough to make it through to Final. So yet again, the Netherlands
are stuck in the Semi-Final, fingers crossed they’ve come up with the right material this time round.
Singer & Song
Treble Amambanda
Hmmm, one must wonder what the Netherlands were thinking this year when they sent this entry
to represent them. If you’re threatening to leave the contest due to your
supposedly great songs not faring well, as rumours suggest the Netherlands are, surely you should pick a dead cert winner
to prove your point when you end up not winning… no? The Dutch mustn’t
think so, ‘cuz quite frankly, this has ‘nul points’ written all over it – or at least something close
to nul points. I can’t say I’m a fan of this. Treble are three likely ladies, and are sure to give a good performance presenting good vocal talents. The problem here is quite simply the song. It’s
not really that good at all. Catchy, but not in a good way. Amambanda, as you might have guessed, doesn’t exist in any dictionary, and a lot of the song is sung
in this imaginary (supposedly universal) language, alongside some English. I
don’t think Europe will go for it – I’m surprised the Netherlands
did, it just doesn’t come across right, it lacks the sparkle a good entry needs and I think one wouldn’t be wrong
to describe this as ‘bland’.
Prediction
Won’t Qualify: 20th-23rd
in Semi-Final
If the rumours are correct, we might as well
kiss the Netherlands goodbye, as I wouldn’t
be surprised to see this right smack bang at the bottom of the results board. The
song isn’t the worst in the contest, and there’s always an outside chance (just as there is with any of the songs)
that this could do it in the Semi but it wouldn’t stand a chance in the Final.
Sorry Netherlands, this is one
of my dead-cert non-qualifiers, I hope to be reviewing a Dutch entry this time next year though :o)
Prediction after Semi-Final
Netherlands failed to qualify.
Review of the Eurovision
Performance
A review will appear here after the Contest.
