NPO have revealed that a special focus group has been tasked to think about the creative concept for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. This group, called the ‘Magic 100’, has had the chance to speak about their visions for the upcoming contest.
“Sincere and spontaneous”
Executive Producer Event for next year’s shows, Sietse Bakker, has explained the idea of the Magic 100 to Dutch newspaper AD. There, he says that the organising team did not want to limit their meetings to an office in Hilversum at the NPO headquarters. Instead, they wanted opinions from people in the country. Creative Advisor Cornald Maas then came up with the idea of the Magic 100.
“The Dutch like it real”, says Bakker. The over the top identity of the contest perhaps doesn’t quite fit in with how the Netherlands would handle a show. Instead, Bakker says they want to strike a chord with the audience at home. That doesn’t mean the party element will be gone – far from it, even, as that is what Eurovision is about. However, jokes written by scriptwriters way before the actual show? Bakker doubts that we’ll see those in May. The Magic 100 have indicated sincere and spontaneous as two keywords for a contest in the Netherlands.
More than just celebrities
The Magic 100 consisted of several celebrities, or authorities, in the field of culture, media, politics, music and fashion. Aside from the group of well known people, the organisers also went out on the streets to ask people there how they envisaged a Eurovision Song Contest in the Netherlands, resulting in Bakker’s statements above.
NPO have not revealed all members of the Magic 100. However, they have revealed that over 170 people were interviewed and special workshops were held last week. They chose to publish a selected list of well known Magic 100 members. On the list, we see the 2019 spokesperson for the Netherlands, Emma Wortelboer as most famous name for the Eurovision community, especially as she thanked Madonna for her autotune… Also on the list are influencer Anna Nooshin and comedian Howard Komproe. Below, you can see the full list, as well as their jobs.
- Anna Nooshin – Social media influencer and TV personality
- Howard Komproe – Comedian
- Lucien Spee – Managing director of Amsterdam Gay Pride
- Sjoerd Raaijmakers – CEO of media company Vice NL
- Karin Swerink – Mormer chief editor of Vogue, now of LINDA.
- Kim Putters – Director of the Institute for Social Research
- Alexander Klöpping – Founder of Blendle
- Bo The – Co-founder of social media company Boomerang Create
- Sil Geurtsen – EndemolShine
- Rick Brink – Special elected Minister for Disability Issues
- Berna Toprak – Editor for Women Inc.
- Emma Wortelboer – TV host
- Nicky Bruining – Event manager at FunX Media
- Tim Vermeulen – Program director at Dutch Design Foundation
- Conrad van Tiggelen – Marketing director at tourist board NBTC
- Chris Heijdenrijk – Program manager at SAIL 2020
- Lanette Lanting – Child inclusion advisor at Missing Chapter Foundation
The list above shows the variation of those contributing to the Magic 100. Both men and women are represented, as well as various ethnical backgrounds. It adds to the NPO idea to be innovative and show multiple sides of the Netherlands during the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam.
Do you like the way the Dutch are handling Eurovision 2020 so far? Let us know!
