After a rather successful second place in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, the Netherlands are now looking for their next entrant. According to newspaper AD, the broadcaster is in the final stages of finding their internally selected entrant.
The Dutch broadcaster is most likely going to do what they’ve proven to be good at in the past two years: send one of the country’s biggest and most experienced names to Eurovision. However, it seems the broadcaster does have a smaller budget this year, which could lead to some minor issues. Both Anouk and The Common Linnets had a large budget they could use the way they liked. The new entrant will have to work with less money, although Avrotros will probably allow the selected artist to use the money in the way they think is best. Most newspapers in the Netherlands assume that Avrotros has shortlisted three possible entrants for Vienna. Those will be introduced below.
Since summer, the Dutch have been rumouring multiple entrants, and nothing is sure about any of these acts. The first act people spoke about was Alain Clark. The 35 year old singer is known for his soul and pop songs, mostly in English. It has been confirmed that Clark did indeed talk with Avrotros about a possible participation. You can listen to his latest single Whatever by clicking here.
The second act who was most likely in talks with Avrotros is Dotan. The 28 year old singer-songwriter is a less experienced name on the list: his breakthrough single Home was only released this year. His music has clear indie influences. Speaking about Eurovision, Dotan has said he would not turn down an offer to participate. Later he said he and Avrotros agreed not to speak about it, which also indicates that he might be one of the candidates. You can listen to his hit Home by clicking here.
The last act added to the list is the most uncertain one. Only today, AD revealed who they assume it is: Trijntje Oosterhuis. Oosterhuis is one of the most popular artists in The Netherlands at the moment. The 41 year old rose to fame in the 1990s together with her brother in a group called Total Touch, but went solo after. She’s currently a coach on The Voice of Holland, together with Ilse DeLange, and her last album was produced and mostly written by Anouk (together with the team who also wrote Birds, Martin Gjerstad and Tore Johanson). It’s safe to say she has enough people in her environment to tell her what Eurovision is like. You can listen to Trijntje Oosterhuis’s single Knocked Out by clicking here.
Like Ilse last year however, Oosterhuis may be considering asking her group to join her to Eurovision: the Ladies of Soul. The Ladies of Soul are four Dutch singers with a passion for soul music, joined by saxophone player Candy Dulfer. Two of the singer should be rather familiar to Eurovision fans: Edsilia Rombley (1998 and 2007) and Glennis Grace (2005). The other singer is Berget Lewis, who also tried to go to Eurovision back in 2005. You can listen to their latest single Up Till Now by clicking here.
AD expects the talks to be in their final stages. If that’s true, then Avrotros is using approximately the same timing as they did last year, when they revealed The Common Linnets as their entry for Copenhagen on 25 November.
