We all remember Trijntje Oosterhuis and her song “Walk Along” which came crashing down in the semi-final in 2015 and her oh-so-awful costume. But in a recent interview on Dutch radio, the lady of soul revealed she has no regrets about her Eurovision experience — including wearing her controversial dress.
Trijntje paid a visit to visited NPO Radio 5 to talk about music, Eurovision and her upcoming Christmas tour A Christmas evening with Trijntje which runs from December 10th until December 30th.
From her long career in music, her Eurovision participation is what was talked about the most. Although she does not consider her Eurovision experience as one of the musical highlights of her career. As she told to NPO Radio 5:
“I’m just a singer and a musician and then you don’t belong to Eurovision. Eurovision is all about what it looks like on television; the visuals… it’s a totally different branch. But I have learnt things from it as well, since I’m in the same industry. It would be crazy to isolate yourself from this part of the entertainment world. But I have to be honest, I feel way better at being a musician. I had never done it in my career before, but I was aksed so many times it made me think, ‘Why shouldn’t I?'”
One of the most infamous things to happen at her Eurovision participation was that dress and the big fuss made about it. Trijntje explained what she thought about the whole situation:
“Everybody can have their own opinions. I thought the dress was totally amazing. The reason why I did not wear it was because the floor of the stage was very slippery and I had high heels. I was quite scared and I did not want to stand on those heels anymore. And I was pregnant at the same times as well and nobody knew that. So, I felt ill all the the time.
So, in the end I said, “I have to wear something else,” because the dress would not fit with trainers. Looking back, I just should have done that, not caring and going on stage with trainers and that dress. Because I love that dress so much! There is really nothing wrong with it!”
Trijntje wore the infamous dress once on television, it was during a duet with TV host Jan Versteegh as part of the show It Takes Two back in April. The dress was originally sold for a charity action back in October 2015.
Even after Eurovision, controversy did not stop when “Walk Along” composer and Trijntje’s bestie Anouk added fuel to the fire by saying Trijntje was naive in what she had done. Trijntje said she was not hurt by Anouk’s comments:
“I think someone is entitled about their own opinion. And I can imagine that Anouk was disappointed that her composition that her song had not achieved more than it had. I think you should not be naive about it if you are participating in such a competition. I have participated because I wanted to finally experience it.
I think Anouk — everybody knows what she is like — should have taken responsibility for what she says. I find it a pity for her that she is so disappointed about it. Because I was not carried away when I stepped into it. Such comments Anouk made will hurt you if you are sensitive. But like I said, I’m not easily carried away, so I was not hurt by her words. She is allowed to have her opinon. We have such a different taste and opinon. Like, if she said: “Trijntje sang very bad,” that would have hurt me.”
Trijntje’s life has definitly moved on since the Eurovision participation. She stays her classy and souly self and will hit theaters and churches with her Christmas tour around the Netherlands this December.
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Picture: Warner Music Benelux BV
Trijntje was one of my favs to go to ESC.. before she actually went. She is the biggest JAZZ singer in NL, her albums are craycray. And when she went to ESC she picked the most terrible pop song there is? Her dress was perfect for a big jazz song in the capital of fancy music there. She should have told everyone she was pregnant to begin with… Everytime I saw malta in Stockholm rubbing her belly made me go “yeah we know whatever”. Trijntje, please come back with a jazz song.
@Polegend Godgarina
Apparently, Russia knew their song was not enough but they wanted so much the victory that they used all the gimmicks they could in order to secure it. Fortunately, there are juries.
Oh cmon as if she didn’t know it’s a TV show! The previous Dutch entry wo the public over their flawless stage performance which fit the lovely song! She should accept that the performance was a big mess and she looked bad.
She should won that dress, perhaps people would still remember her
@ (j)esc fan: of course you are right. It is a song contest, so music is What should be jugded. Of course The contest also has a visual side, But IT is less important
her song was my fav, I still can’t believe how low it’s been rated. Apart from that dress everyone is making fuss about, Trin had wonderful song and top notch vocal manners, she deserved at least to be in final. I’m still holding a grudge!
@ (J)ESC Fanatic – “Eurovision is not all about the visuals, it’s mainly about the song” – tell that to Sergey Lazarev’s amazingly performed dated and forgettable song winning the televote.
That first dress was weird but much better than the one she actually used on stage. She looked like a potato sack
Dear Trijntje, I loved your song and I think you were robbed but you have to realize something. Eurovision is not all about the visuals, it’s mainly about the song. But when the whole presentation is as awful as yours was, then people get easily distracted.
Queen Trin! Her song was one of my favorites of 2015, I even bought her album ‘Walk Along’ when I went to Amsterdam <3
The problem is not the dress at all, the real thing is that she DOESN’T has the body to wear it… If you want to wear that dress you MUST have a thin, elongated super model body… Not a recently giving birth body… Oh and the song was also a big NO NO
Honestly, I liked that dress more than the one she wore on stage.
There is room for good music at Eurovision. See every Dutch entry except Trijntje in the last few years, they all made the final comfortably. Her song was just crap. It seems she and Anouk just don’t realize this. But they’ve both lost it, everything Anouk releases these days is utter garbage.
I remember the song well. And have forgotten about the dress. Music is of course the most important factor in ESC. Never a good sign if someone remembers the dress, and forget about the song.