Road to Copenhagen 2014: The Common Linnets – “Calm after the storm” (Netherlands)

Redemption was the name of the game in 2013 for the Netherlands. After a horrific stretch of 8 years of not qualifying for the final, the Netherlands sent one of their biggest names, Anouk.

It paid off, and even secured the first Dutch top 10 finish of the century. What a relief that was too, and surely they want to keep on qualifying. This year, I fear the odds are against them. Semi 1 is looking to be a bloodbath.

Opting for internal selection again this time, a new duo The Common Linnets was formed of popular Dutch country singer Ilse DeLange, and relative unknown Waylon. They are performing a very subtle country downtempo. Certainly a risky strategy – but Anouk at least showed you don’t necessarily need to bring the pyro and dancers in order to get noticed at Eurovision.

Eurovision 2014: Who will #JoinUs in Copenhagen?

Less than 5 months to go before the Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark. By this point in the year preparations are usually well under way from the national delegations, and indeed the first national final is being held on Saturday. Makes it a bit more exciting to think the first song is nearly here, but there’s still a long way to go.

We haven’t even got the final list of countries yet, and while the application deadline last month threw up a few surprises, there are still changes afoot. The final roster isn’t due until January, but for now it looks like we say a sad farewell to Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria & Cyprus, all for financial reasons. However we are welcoming back Poland and Portugal so it’s not all bad news. Bosnia & Herzegovina was coming back too but today it seems they’ve not secured funding and have pulled out. Also in the balance is Greece, keen to stay in but are currently without an EBU broadcaster. It seems the EBU are also keen to keep as many countries in, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see a few more unexpected appearances in January.

We’ve got theme art too! DR unveiled the “#JoinUs” slogan earlier this year, but now we have a diamond logo. I wasn’t convinced by Malmö’s butterfly idea but that turned out to be fabulous, I can only imagine how versatile the diamond could me in motion, so I’m all for it.