Will a return to Americana slow down the competition and get the Netherlands back to the Grand Final once more?
Country: Netherlands
Song Title: "Slow Down"
Artist: Douwe Bob
First Semi-Final: Position #6
Last year's entry: "Walk Along" - Trijntje Oosterhuis (DNQ - 14th Place, SF1)
After coming in second place in 2014 with the great "Calm After the Storm," the Netherlands are going back to that Americana well in an attempt to erase the memory of last year's dress debacle. (They're even building their own pop-up bar in downtown Stockholm.) Can Douwe Bob slow down the competition, either with his voice or with his drinks, and get the Netherlands back to the Grand Final once more?
I wasn't a fan of this song when it was first released, and I'm still not a fan today. This song just seems thin. The chorus is catchy, but gets tiresome pretty quickly, and seems to go on forever. Also, I still don't have any idea what it's about. On the upside, this is the better of two country-influenced songs in the competition. (Slovenia's in the other semifinal, so no one will confuse them during voting.) Douwe Bob will perform in between Croatia and Armenia, two female-fronted entries, and several slots ahead of the Russian juggernaut that is Sergey Lazarev. He shouldn't have a problem standing out from the pack. The question will be, will "Slow Down" be remembered fondly, or as a nuisance?
As much as this song bores me, I do think it'll advance as the result of lots of friendly Western European votes and several other obvious losers: Greece, San Marino, Montenegro, Moldova. (I still don't understand why people like this entry, but then I didn't like The Common Linnets either, so.) In any case, bookmakers have increased the Dutch odds from 66 to 40:1 in the past two weeks, perhaps partially as the result of the aforementioned favorable performance placement. The Netherlands will almost certainly not match their recent top-ten finishes. If he plays his cards right, though, Douwe Bob could work his way into the top half come the Grand Final.