Together with Ilse De Lange he almost brought the Eurovision trophy home to The Netherlands four years ago. And this year Waylon wants to beat his 2014 result all by himself. Last week he revealed the next step in that process….and you’ll have the chance to watch it all unfold.
Since 2013 Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS has chosen its Eurovision singer internally. Although they’ve stuck with this method again in 2018, we’ll at least get something like a televised selection show.
Starting on February 23, the singer will grace the stage of De Wereld Draait Door, a legendary Dutch TV show, as a special guest. Waylon will present one new song from his upcoming album The World Can Wait every weekday until March 1.
Now the most exciting part of all: one of those five songs will be his Eurovision entry for Lisbon! But we won‘t know which one it is until he reveals it afterwards… This man knows how to build hype AND promote his work!
Songfestival.nl reported earlier this week that Waylon and his team have already decided which song will represent The Netherlands. But of course the planned system is a great opportunity to see how fans, media and the Dutch public react to the chosen song. It’s fair to assume that Waylon and his team might reconsider their decision if another song turns out to be more popular.
The final decision will be revealed after his five TV gigs. The song reveal date is expected to be March 3. With Estonia, San Marino, Finland, Poland and Iceland choosing their song on the same day, we‘ll get 6 new songs in a matter of hours.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE NETHERLANDS IN 2018?
After coming second on Holland’s Got Talent, Waylon established himself as a singer in The Netherlands. He performed well in the Dutch charts, nurturing his own sound built around his love of country music and rock. His recent work, however, contains a lot of pop, blues and edgy soul sounds. That makes it hard to predict what sound we’ll get at Eurovision 2018.
Ahead of Eurovision 2014, The Common Linnets’ Eurovision entry didn’t excite fans or the press and many predicted them to fail. (Ilse later expressed regret over how they introduced the song to the public). But after their emotional and non-typical Eurovision performance, Europe fell in love with them. They placed second, which remains the best result for The Netherlands since winning the contest in 1975.
Waylon spent several months working on his new album and even attended writing workshops in Nashville to get inspired for his new record. Little is known for now, so we’ll have to wait and see what the versatile artist wants to show Europe in his second Eurovision attempt.
What do you think about Waylon’s exciting day-by-day presentation? Which kind of style do you expect from Waylon? Let us know below!
It’s getting exciting here! I love how they build the suspense! Looking forward and hope for sth good!
Keeping my fingers crossed. Is he very noticeable without Ilse? It’s been nice seeing the Netherlands make such a comeback in recent years, so I hope he doesn’t torpedo it.
I have the feeling his song will be a total disappointment. Hope to be wrong, though.
I feel like they just want to look at the buzz for each song, without giving away the choice of the entry to the public. Maybe I’m being too cynical.
Since being informed that Waylon is the chosen artist for The Netherlanads. It is an interesting choice once again. As stated above i totally agree that Waylon on is own is a very versatile artist, a very competent performer singing in different styles and genres. I am very intrigued to see what Waylon has to offer with his upcoming album. This is a wise move. I am seeing the Eurovision entry as a package, with the other songs bolstering his chosen entry. The build up is very clever. this will encourage interest at least. Hopefully we will see his versatility… Read more »
I am really looking forward to hearing Waylon’s song. Waylon is a really great musician and I hope he can create a new magical song that will do good!