The Netherlands are third to pick their entry for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest, choosing Trijntje Oosterhuis' "Walk Along". Have a few years of internal selections given them tunnelvisie?
It is far too early for countries to be selecting their Eurovision Song Contest entries. It's not even Mystery Hunt yet.((Or Christmas, I guess. We each celebrate the holidays in our own way.)) Nevertheless, the Netherlands has done another internal selection and chosen Trijntje Oosterhuis' "Walk Along". The past two competitions have been good to The Netherlands, with Anouk's "Birds" placing 9th in 2013 and The Common Linnets' "Calm After the Storm" giving Conchita Wurst a run for her money in pursuit of the Eurovision crown this year. With this kind of momentum and Anouk helping to write this year's entry, how does this kandidaat measure up?
I'm underwhelmed, you guys. I wasn't the biggest fan of "Birds", but there was a level of depth to the song that was rare for a Eurovision entry, and none of that feels present here. Everything feels a little too generic - the lyrics are a well-trod romantic path, and the chorus feels built more for a yogurt commercial than the Eurovision stage. Internal selection has done wonders for the Netherlands' chances in the competition, but I fear they're a little too confident about this one. The Netherlands is generally slower to reveal their entry, and here we have their 2015 entry before 2014 is even done. They're not a country to mess with their entry once it's released, so I don't see the point in revealing this now vs. closer to the competition when it would have more potential success.
As long as they've got close to six months to figure this out, I hope they really take the time to make the performance for this special. If they're not modifying the song to make it a little more memorable, the least they could do is make sure this isn't just Trijntje with some backing singers for 3 minutes on the stage in Vienna.
I haven't always been fanatical about the Dutch entries - "Ik Ben Verliefd" still comes to mind as a horrible entry from years past - but the last few years they've shown themselves to be a contender again. I hope this year's entry doesn't cause them to lose their momentum.