Three days ago, the 15th edition of Eurovision in Concert took place in Amsterdam. Thirty delegations were represented, with as many artists of the 2025 edition performing in front of thousands of fans. For one of the favourite, Austria, it was the first ever live performance, an important step on a possible path to victory.
But what is the road to Eurovision victory? As we wait for the first rehearsals, we at ESCXTRA look back at the last eight winners of the contest, and at their own road to victory. This week, as a happy coincidence, we continue with the 2019 winner (who also performed in Amsterdam 6 years ago), Duncan Laurence from The Netherlands, with “Arcade”.
Don’t forget to check our previous articles from this series:
Genesis of a song: Small town boy in a big city
The slick young Duncan De Moor
In 2013, 19-year-old Dutch student Duncan De Moor started attending Rockacademie, a school which is part of the Fontys School of Fine and Performing arts in Tilburg, near the Belgian border. There, he studied pop music, production, singing, and all manners of things you would expect from a music school. Singing for his own school band, The Slick and the Suited (later shortened to The Slick), he performed in festivals across the country, which led to an invitation to take part in the 2014 season of The Voice of Holland as a solo artist.
Duncan auditionned with Ed Sheeran’s “Sing”, and managed to convince three judges to turn around. He chose Ilse DeLange, the 2014 Dutch representative to Eurovision, to coach him, and managed to reach the semi-finals. This was his first step towards Eurovision.
Years in the making
In 2016, close to graduate from Rockacademie, Duncan left the Slick, and started to work on solo projects. Through his work with Sony Music Publishing, he met Joel Sjöö, a 37-year-old Swedish producer who had momentarily moved to Rotterdam to live with his Dutch girlfriend, and who was working with Sony in Sweden. Together, they wrote almost half an album in two days, sitting in Duncan’s room on the Tilburg campus: “Arcade” was the first song they wrote together, in the very first session.
At the time, though, the song was only a demo. The process to turn it into what would become a winner was undertaken over two years, by Duncan himself and producer Wouter Hardy, whom he also met through Sony. Together, they worked and iterated for months, mainly in the Maassilo in Rotterdam — a former industrial complex turned into music studios and concert halls. The song went through several versions, and there was a point when the duo was too deep into the creative process to find a way to complete it. A break of a few months helped them, and the (almost) final production was there in 2018, with a soundscape inspire by movie music, a style Hardy favoured.
“Small town boy in a big arcade”
The title, “Arcade”, came from a single line of the lyrics, written by Duncan in reference to his own personal experience, “Small-town boy in a big arcade“.
This experience was that of a boy moving from Hellevoetsluis, a “town” of approximately 40,000 inhabitants, to Tilburg (where he studied), the seventh-largest city in The Netherlands, with more than 200,000 inhabitants. More specifically, it was his experience of visiting the Tilburg Summer Fair, the biggest fair in Europe, that had an impact on him.
To me the whole city felt like an arcade, just this whole new place full of opportunities and full of new life […].
Duncan Laurence on his experiences in Tilburg
[I pictured myself as a small-town boy, who was] just seeing all these things, these flashing lights, but also falling in love for the first time, finding out who he is, falling in love with his music.
The lyrics, however, are not just about moving from a small place to the large city (a theme central to other songs, like Slovenia’s in 2017 or Croatia’s in 2024). It is not even central to its theme. “Arcade” is a love song, about a love that does not work out, about clinging to a relationship despite realising it cannot go on for long. The main inspiration for this was not only Duncan’s own first experiences in relationships, but also the passing of a young woman close to Duncan’s family. According to him, on the day of her death, she was staring outside, waiting for the love of her life — whom she had split up with a couple of years before — to come back and say goodbye, which he never did.
When I was studying at the Rockacademie I learned that you can appeal to a large audience without losing your own story in the process. I searched for touching stories that move people, from my own life or someone else’s. I got my inspiration from the story of a loved one who died at a young age. I decided to call the song ‘Arcade’ – the words and chords came by themselves, which is why, despite the alternations in the song, it still sounds so organic. During the writing process of Arcade I received help from Joel Sjöö and Wouter Hardy and because of that it developed into a shared story and not just my own. Arcade is a story about the search for the love of your life. It is the hope for the – sometimes – unattainable.
Duncan Laurence
After Arcade I wrote a lot of songs, but to me Arcade feels like the heart of the matter and as the beginning of my search for how I may mean something to others with my songs. Of course I have been busy for years, yet to me Arcade feels like the start of my career, I want to reach people with my music, maybe help them and give them something for along the way. In the case of Arcade I created an advise for myself, an hopefully for others as well.
A life’s lesson: you define your own happiness.
Thus was born “Arcade” : a deeply personal story, but a common work, built over months an months of trials, experimentations and constant improvement. The final production, with 165 different tracks, was ready to live on. But no label wanted Duncan’s songs at the time. Until Ilse DeLange got involved.
Earning the ticket: Duncan’s guardian DeLange
A new selection process for AVROTROS
In the 2000’s, and until 2012, the Netherlands had used a national selection to select their Eurovision entry. This was not always a wise move in their case: since the introduction of the semi-final, they had only qualified once to the final, in 2004. After that came a streak of eight consecutive non-qualifications, which remains an unbeaten record to this day. For 2013, Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS decided to shake things up and to go internal. The new selection process was to look for established artists, in a way similar to what France has been doing these past few years: finding a strong name first, with the choice of song coming later.
This new format, inaugurated by Anouk in Malmö 2013, clearly had better results, although they remained mixed: from runners-up in 2014, to non-qualifiers in 2015, with Waylon getting a low 18th position in Lisbon 2018. To prepare for 2019, AVROTROS was still keen on an internal selection, but was more focused on finding a good song, without looking for particularly famous singers.
Duncan had met the 2014 Eurovision runner-up Ilse DeLange (who sang as half of “The Common Linnets”, with Waylon) in the 2014 season of The Voice of Holland, where she coached him all the way to the semi-final. After this, they stayed in touch, with Duncan making her listen to his latest compositions and songs. DeLange was the first to think of sending “Arcade” to Eurovision, in late 2018.
She submitted the song to AVROTROS, and it was eventually selected by a small panel, on which sat the two Dutch Eurovision commentators (Jan Smit and Cornald Maas), DJ Daniël Dekker and AVROTROS director-general Eric van Stade.
On January 21, Duncan Laurence (which had become Duncan’s stage name) was announced as the Dutch representative. There was some disappointment in The Netherlands, which had been used to bigger names (with many rumours flying left and right in the months that preceded the announcement). But Duncan and Ilse were quick to defend this choice, and to reassure the public that going for a younger talent was a good choice.
In the past few years many well known artists represented The Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest. I’m not well-known, but that’s also a good thing; The Netherlands has a lot of young and talented musicians. My participation proves that nothing is impossible. You can suddenly get the opportunity to represent your country on an international stage. I’m very proud to represent my country… I will give it my all!
Duncan Laurence, after he was announced as the Dutch representative for Eurovision 2019
Duncan is special. His songs are very international and authentic. Duncan has the personality needed for a big opportunity like this. For him, music always comes first.
Ilse DeLange, about Duncan’s participation in Eurovision
Standing out in a week of reveals
“Arcade”, like “Toy” in 2018, was released very close to the end of the selection season. But it was not the only one : from the super Saturday of March 2 to the Sunday of the following week, March 10, 23 Eurovision songs were revealed across Europe, from national and internal selections. Not counting the Monday (which saw no release or selection), this meant about 3 new songs on average every day.
“Arcade” was released on the Thursday, March 8, along with the Swiss and San Marinese entries, and a few hours before the national final in Belarus. Out of these four, Switzerland and The Netherlands, who were already high in the odds (around 7-8th) jumped into the top 3. “Arcade” made quite the impression, with its production and its videoclip.
And just like “Toy”, “Arcade” became the main contender for victory in the contest. But with live performances and pre-parties, things could still change.
