There was no Calm After The Storm for the Dutch trio OG3NE following Eurovision 2017, as members of the Dutch band BLØF have criticised them for choosing “Lights and Shadows” over a song written by one of their members. 

In January, OG3NE — which consists of the sisters Aimee, Lisa and Shelley Vol — made the decision to compete with “Lights and Shadows”, a song dedicated to their terminally-ill mother and written by their father and one of the girl’s boyfriends.

Although the song was a real family production, they staged a songwriting camp prior to making their decision. The camp included several nationally and internationally renowned songwriters, as well as OG3NE’s father Rick Vol.

One of the songwriters who was asked to write a a song for the trio was Paskal Jakobsen, who is the lead singer and guitarist of the famous Dutch band BLØF. He criticised their song choice in a recent interview with AD:

“On their request, I had written a song for OG3NE this year, together with an English songwriter. That one was not chosen in the end, although I still find it better than the song they chose for participating at Eurovision. It was written by their father, I understood. I am wondering why they asked all those composers to write a song in the end? Apparently they knew beforehand what it should be like.”

Band member Peter Slager added:

“Maybe I’m not allowed to say it, but choosing such a song adds some royalty value to the family.”

And today O’G3NE clapped back at the criticism, making it clear that BLØF’s contribution simply wasn’t good enough.

“You mean the attempt that didn’t even get through the first round of the selection process by unanimous voting? Sadly, it’s just all BLØF. #Ouch”

Their father Rick isn’t amused either — and he let the world know on his personal Instagram profile.

Responding to Jakobsen’s accusation that the song had been decided on beforehand, he said:

“…After reading the interview, I understood my daughters very well [for reacting that way], but personally I’m very angry. Whatever musicians/composers think of my song, everybody knows that my wife and her suffering were the inspiration for “Lights and Shadows”. It came from deep inside our hearts and it couldn’t come from deeper. A lot of people in the Netherlands embraced the song and stood behind OG3NE. How amazing was that. It should have been an indication for the men of BLØF. But compassion and empathy has turned into arrogance. It is debatable if there were another song that was better than mine, but that the royalty value was important to us is the most scandalous statement in the article.”

Verbijstering… .. hier in Maastricht, waar ik mijn vrouw bijsta tijdens slopende bestralingen, ontving ik 't bericht dat de meiden op twitter een reactie hadden gegeven op uitspraken van Bløf. De solide band afkomstig van dezelfde Zeeuwse bodem als mijn geboorteplaats Goes. Na het stuk te hebben gelezen begrijp ik mijn dochters niet alleen maar al te goed, maar ben ik persoonlijk woest. Whatever publiek of muzikanten/schrijvers van mijn liedje vindt, iedereen weet dat mijn vrouw en haar lijden de inspiratiebron van 'Lights And Shadows' is. Dieper vanuit ons hart kon dit liedje dus niet komen. Veel mensen uit Nederland hebben 't liedje omarmt en zijn achter OG3NE gaan staan. Hoe geweldig was dat. Dat zou indicatie genoeg moeten zijn voor de heren van Bløf. Maar mededogen en inlevingsvermogen heeft plaatsgemaakt voor zelfingenomenheid. Twistbaar blijft het of andere liedjes beter waren dan die van mij, maar dat 't ons om royalties te doen zou zijn is de meest schandalige uitspraak uit het hele stuk.

A post shared by Rick Vol (@ricardo_vol) on

BLØF attempted to represent the Netherlands at Eurovision in 1998, but later withdrew from consideration.

They said that Eurovision participation is very unlikely.

“Haha. No. Impossible. You can’t play live music there…I think we shouldn’t do it. But something has changed. If you had asked me six years ago, I would have shouted ‘no!’ But after Anouk and the Common Linnets, I would think about it. It can be good for your career.”

BLØF’s guitarist Bas Kennis co-wrote Adil Aarab’s song “In Our Nature”, which was one of the five tracks in the Belgian national selection in 2016. It placed third in both the televoting and with international juries, though far behind the top 2 entries from Tom Frantzis and Laura Tesoro.

Read all our Netherlands news here

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BDoyle
6 years ago

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CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
6 years ago

We’ll never know if Bløf’s song would have had a bigger impact on the results; but once Rick Vol put forth a song of his own, it was a foregone conclusion that the family would get first priority in this matter. Or does the group believe that no other song ever had a chance, once a family member submitted one?

But then again, this band is 25 years old. Who’s to say that whatever they gave O’G3NE wouldn’t sound as nostalgic as what the girls ultimately went with? In any case, the public wasn’t sold on what they sent.

beccaboo1212
6 years ago

Aw, but I loved “Lights and Shadows”! 🙁

Ilse
Ilse
6 years ago

I like BLØF, but why so bitter? Maybe they didn’t know beforehand and just wanted to see what else could have been picked. Then again, I thought Lights and Shadows was kind of an average song.

Fishy
Fishy
6 years ago

It is Amy not Aimee

GJ OG3NE
GJ OG3NE
6 years ago

Holland has some jackasses 😀 who knew… in fact that song just didnt connect to the public as much as the jury’s , i think it was the running order that hurt them , the song was well ritten and composed , OG3NE sounded great , alot better then Australia and Norway that placed higher, so they should all be proud. As far as that BLOF group , we all have met such idiots at some point in our lives 😀

Stan
Stan
6 years ago

Did anyone hear the songs they rejected? The song they eventually performed, wasn’t very good, but it could have been the best choice. It’s a decent album track at best.

Personally, I don’t think it’s very tastefull to come to Eurovision with such a personal story… It’s an entertainment show and I wouldn’t want to entertain people with my family’s darkest stories.

bbb
bbb
6 years ago

What is ”royalty value”?

Chicken Kyiv???
Chicken Kyiv???
6 years ago
Reply to  bbb

The money you get from royalty/copyright payments.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
6 years ago

Aren’t OG3NE allowed to pick whatever song they want? Sounds like sour grapes from a group not good enough to get chosen themselves to me. If you are a serious songwriter, you need to deal with rejection all the time!

Héctor
Héctor
6 years ago

Well, I thought the same when the decision was revealed. When they shortlisted to three songs, I already know they were going to choose the one writen by their father. So obvious… I understand the personal weight the song has and they have strong beautiful voices, but overall the performance looked like a Christian comercial. I deeply dislike the song too.

Jonas
Jonas
6 years ago

Whatever the real truth, the system was not very transparent – so it’s understandable that other songwriters may have this impression. Both parties could have used a little more tact, though.

Alex
Alex
6 years ago

I believe they are kinda right. It’s not so far to have your dad write a song for you as you are more connected especially if it is written for your mother.

OGENE would have had a better chance with a better and catchier song, especially in televoting.

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

“It can be good for your career.”
As I said before, some acts are doing Eurovision to promote themselves rather than their countries.

Richardinho
Richardinho
6 years ago

‘why to have an open call for songs while you want to pick your fathers song’

How does anyone know that they wanted to pick their father’s song beforehand?

esc1234
esc1234
6 years ago
Reply to  Richardinho

helooooo, chances are that they would pick a song written by their father and the BOYFRIEND of one of the girls. LOL.

Richardinho
Richardinho
6 years ago
Reply to  esc1234

If that was the intention from the start, why have the song writing camp?
Try thinking it through first, dude.

esc1234
esc1234
6 years ago

that was a shady answer…. ok he has a point that why to have an open call for songs while you want to pick your fathers song. The girls could have answered a bit more politely.

azaad
azaad
6 years ago
Reply to  esc1234

that pun though. I am living for this post ESC drama!

Salvador, Robin, Alex, O’G3NE, Sunstroke Project, Yulia, Manel and Jacques….at this rate only Nathan the adorable will remain shining rather than shaded.