The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — are re-assembling to celebrate the 2010s. Today we move to the dark yet beautiful “Calm After The Storm” by The Common Linnets. The duo consisted of Waylon and Ilse DeLange who have both had dealings with the contest for The Netherlands since. Waylon performed solo in 2018, while Ilse was part of the team behind this year’s winner Duncan Laurence.
“Calm After the Storm” was a prime example of an unlikely success story. Nobody had the Netherlands down to even qualify, let alone come top ten, nor top three. Our own Wiwi Jury even had them ranked 30th out of 37 even, based on the studio version. But once the Linnets took to the stage in Copenhagen, a continent’s mind was changed for good.
Simple staging brought Ilse and Waylor together, facing each other whilst they sung of heartbreak and grieving a relationship. They looked into each other’s eyes as they sang the at times brutal lyrics. The chemistry was there and Europe was sold. The Common Linnets gave Conchita Wurst a real challenge to the title, eventually coming in second place. It was no minor feat considering the media attention on the eventual victor. Do the Wiwi jury still mop up tears after five years or are we yeehawing along with Waylon’s 2018 track “Outlaw In ‘Em” by now?
The Common Linnets – “Calm After the Storm”
“Calm After the Storm” reviews
William: Among the best-staged entries ever, “Calm After the Storm” is a masterclass in intimacy. The panning of the camera around the two singers, the eye contact, an LED that conveyed loneliness and isolation, the palpable sense of a story between the two singers — this type of performance can’t be bought but must be born. Those various elements came together to create something at once restrained but emotionally overwhelming. The studio cut still does nothing for me — a song built on this kind of emotional connection between two people must be experienced live. But on stage it was beautiful — three minutes that really took you somewhere.
Score: 9/10
Angus: Five years ago I thought it’d be a toilet break, as it happened I didn’t leave the room for the three minutes “Calm After the Storm” was on. This was an innovative performance in every sense of the world. It channelled real artistry, a quality song and a novel use of camerawork to really create a moment on stage. Conchita may have been the story of the night, but the chart success was all The Common Linnets.
Score: 7/10
Lucy: “Calm After the Storm” was not remotely on my radar pre-contest despite loving most things involving a guitar, but I — much like the majority of Europe — was shook when The Common Linnets took to the stage in the semi-final. The chemistry between Ilse DeLange and Waylon was exceptional and really brought viewers into the emotion and story of the song, making your heart break along with theirs. Despite this narrowly missing out on the Eurovision trophy, Ilse guided Duncan Laurence to victory in 2019, so I guess she ended up winning eventually, but what a great attempt this was in 2014.
Score: 8.5/10
Bernardo: I clearly remember the moment “Calm after the Storm” blew everyone out of the water, mostly because the best moments for us Eurofans is when we are proved wrong. Ilse and Waylon came out of nowhere with a superbly staged song with clear and intimate vocals that pulled you into a different dimension. In a sea of predictable and cliche entries, this stood out for its warmth and timeless quality. The fact it was entry with no intentions of winning was exactly the reason why it did so well.
Score: 7/10
Kristin: “Calm After the Storm” flew a little bit under the radar prior to the contest, just like Conchita did, but when it came to life on the stage in B&W Hallern, we all knew that something magical was about to happen. Suddenly, this beautiful and mild-mannered country ballad became a sensational show in all its simplicity. The staging, the way they reached the audience and the connection between Ilse and Waylon was a slam dunk. Eurovision 2014 saw an extremely strong top 3 results and it was difficult to choose between them, but twist my arm and “Calm After the Storm” would have to be my choice in the end. Conchita was indeed a worthy winner, but I would not have minded a Common Linnets win either. In my books, a few things are more satisfying than an emotional country ballad about a heartbreak and driving away from your problems. “Calm After the Storm” brought all that emotion in abundance and served it in a bulletproof Nashville style.
Score: 9.5/10
Julian: Calm After the Storm is a well-deserved second place. It is such an unobtrusive song and that is why me and probably almost whole Europe loved it. It wasn’t there to come out on top, battling against the other songs. They just stood on the stage, performed their song and had fun. And that’s why they had so much success.
Score: 7.5/10
In the Wiwi Jury we have 24 jurors but only have room for six reviews. The remaining scores are below:
Antranig: 6.5/10
Pablo: 8.5/10 Robyn: 10/10 Sebastian: 6/10 Jonathan: 6.5/10 Deban: 5.5/10 Calvin: 6/10 Luis: 10/10 Oliver: 9/10 |
Edd: 7/10
Lukas: 6/10 Barnabas: 8.5/10 Florian: 10/10 Steinunn: 9.5/10 Natalie: 9.5/10 Katie: 7/10 Tom: 8.5/10 Charlotte: 7/10 |
We have removed the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. This is to remove outliers and potential bias. We have removed a low of 5.5 and a high of 10.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 7.91/10
What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!
Sorry, how are they the “moral” winner? Austria won fairly and squarely, through both public vote and jury vote.
Maybe because they win all possible ways would be a better winner. Both for esc,, the reputation and music generally. Many people think so. And that cw never should hane won
Preach! Including me too. Imagine being Austrian and rooting for The Netherlands to win. It was hell.
I remember to this day my sheer and complete joy that this did so well on the night and that it got the staging these total pros deserved! I’ve been a fan of Ilse de Lange since I was a Dutch teenager listening to ‘the Lonely One’ on the radio 🙂 YAY!
It is a really simple song and is delivered in an understated way. I don’t think anyone can blame for the 2014 jury of the time thinking that this wouldn’t do well at ESC. Major props need to go to the Dutch team that year and the performers for pulling a Sobral-esque moment on the stage with this, especially considering that the song was not that sophisticated. For me, personally, 2014 is one of the three strongest ESC years post-2000 and this is just about in my top ten. I do like it a lot and happy with the placing… Read more »
I am not a huge fan of the 2014 contest. Conchita, Common Linnets, András Kallay-Saunders and Aram Mp3 – that’s about it. Most songs were really banal, trite and commonplace.
Among my favourite entries all the time. The best one in 2014, easily. If Conchita performed in suit, they would sweep it. Music lost to “message”.
If ABBA performed in suits, would they have won? I’m not sure I agree with your assessment…
They would, they had the best song
I don’t know what is more insincere. Their review in 2014 or now. https://wiwibloggs.com/2014/04/05/netherlands-jury-reviews-common-linnets/43619/ They claimed that the studio version was so terrible, but the staging changed everything. I loved the studio version already and the music video. Calm after the storm was a programmed megahit at Eurovision and at the charts, but Eurofans were unable to see it because the song is not tacky, catchy, extravagant, dramatic, flamboyant, shiny and so on. But the song was perfect from the getgo and meant to slay. What did the staging do? Well, it was very tasteful and intimate, but the notes… Read more »
I mean… it’s still a song contest in a way. I would think the full studio version is the most important thing to assess a song and not “all we had to go on was…”. It’s literally what an entry focussing on music is all about. lol
They couldn’t see CATS doing well, but thought Same Heart could win LMAO
I’m glad some of you got some taste since April 2014 when you rated this 4.44 🙂
Being on holiday in Georgia, just heard Netta’s Toy during a Georgian feast played as a gift for Israeli audience, it’s still alive 😀
So nice to see the high ranking. This song is amongst my Top 10 of all time <3
My favorite that year was Armenia.
This is nice too.
I don’t want to be negative, so instead I will just congratulate the Common Linnets for doing so well. 🙂
The stars really alligned for this one. I think the song itself deserves more praise, as the beautiful mood-setting country ballad it is. But the presentation is what it makes so special. The best camerawork I had witness in the contest, the perfect led background for that stage and an undeniable chemistry between Ilse and Waylon, two of the most gorgeous and intense people to ever cross an Eurovision stage. Pure elegance. It’s a 10/10 for me. Conchita was the face and name of that year, but this was my winner.
Ooo. We disagree. That’s unusual.
Hope you are doing well.
I’m OK, Mask. I hope you’re doing well too. 🙂 Indeed, I guess it’s the first time an entry that I love get the trademark polite silence from you. But knowing a little of your musical background and your love for playing Eurovision tunes in piano, I can see why, the structure here is very simple (which, correct me if I’m wrong, is something we see a lot in country music). Though I have to agree with Bean, I also think it has all the chords it needs.
Music should have won in 2014, simple as that. The fact that music also had what was quite possibly the best staging ever in the contest makes this even more of a no-brainer for me. It really ticked all the boxes, as you already pointed out. By the way, I just watched their two performances again, I haven’t watched them in years and whatever was going on between them, it is magical to watch. There was chemistry but also friction, either real or played. Knowing about their difficult relationship now makes these performances even more interesting to watch. This entry… Read more »
Hi Mr. Vanilla Bean. I just thought I should mention: This song has three chords.
I think you can figure out where my opinion goes on this. 🙂
It has all the chords it needs, in contrast to most of its competitors with more chords yet still unable to ‘strike a chord’.
But those are some lovely Gs, Cs and Ems 🙂
You guys are actually educating me here lol I don’t have a single clue about chords.
I’m not a big expert, but chords are basically groups of notes played at once. On guitar you change the chords by placing your fingers on different parts of the neck of guitar (that long thing). And yeah, in this song they’re basically like: GGGGGG, EmEmEmEmEmEm, CCCCCC, and GGGGG again the whole song, plus Em is like the easiest chord of them all, you just use two fingers there, but I don’t care, I still love it.
And since Mask plays ESC tunes on the piano, it must be quite frustrating, cause you just use 3 fingers and move them 2 keys to the left, then again 2 keys to the left and back to start, and that’s the whole song, so I kinda get his sentiment, am I right Purple Mask?
It’s the right sentiment, yes.
See, I don’t need to write anything any more – you all know what I’m going to say. 🙂
On the matter of that great on-stage chemistry between the artists: I agree that it’s a pity we won’t get to experience that again. Just think what amazingness they could have accomplished with more than three chords to a song! 😀
“Would Purple Mask like to play it on the piano?” sounds like a fun Eurovision party game. 😀
There’s a saying in American country music “You only need three chords and the truth.” I think that sums up this song.
I haven’t stopped to think about this before, Bean, but knowing that Ilse and Waylon have some kind of feud makes it even more interesting to watch now. Even more if we take the fact that he came back and it hasn’t worked well for him while she mentored Duncan to the win. To be continued?
I guess it’s “game over” as far as Eurovision appearances go. Sadly. Since Ilse co-wrote the great song of 2014 and won this year, if you want to count her endorsement and pitching of “Arcade” as her 2nd Eurovision entry and compare it to Waylon’s. Personally, I don’t see it that way and my only winner here is CATS and I want Ilse to strike again as the lead artist but I guess she’s not interested. I remember a joint interview in 2014 where Waylon said he would absolutely return solo and Ilse seemed as if she was really caught… Read more »
Well, considering she was the one who asked Duncan if he would like to try Eurovision, I would say she played an important part. I’ve read that she was with him during the rehearsals back at the Netherlands. But I agree that she probably won’t be back to the stage as a contestant. But what if they perform together as an interval act? It would be lovely.
I think your implicit dismissal of the song which actually did win is unfair. Conchita’s singing was impeccable and the song was memorable. But otherwise I agree with you and Calm has more listens than Rise on my iplayer.
I loved “Calm After the Storm” on the first listen and even hyped it up constantly whilst almost every eurofan was still sleeping on it! such a peaceful, emotive, classy and chillaxing song that stops you dead in your tracks, the live performance, staging and camerawork was nothing but magic and elegance. I knew the Dutch would earn their first Top 5 placing in 16 years at the time, though I was so thrilled for Conchita Wurst winning(and ending the longest ever drought/gap for a country winning ESC) but Common Linnets would’ve been equally worthy winners too, also became the… Read more »
My fave esc song ever, now second after Soldi.
Masterpiece!!! And please stop saying that they did well just because of the staging…it’s embarrassing…
They would have won if she had grown a beard…
Wonderful song and deserved winner in 2014.
Even much better than “Arcade”
Best from Spain
My favorite of 2014 and a contender for my favorite Dutch entry. Not much to say besides the fact that everything about this song and its performance works, and it laid the groundwork for their eventual win perfectly. Still brilliant five years later. 10/10.
1998 is my favorite Dutch entry, but this one is up there too, for sure.
By sheer coincidence, that’s mine too!
Oh, it’s a hard one, the Netherlands gave us many, many unforgettable songs, but I guess mine is “Amsterdam” – such a classic, magical tune!
It’s a toss-up between Arcade, Calm After the Storm, and Hemel en aarde depending on the day. Amsterdam isn’t too far behind.
This entry was actually very important for The Netherlands because it sparked the interest in Eurovision and it helped us realise that with a quality song and right camerawork you can do really well (win even). This was magnificent and Im really glad that this was our entry the first time I watched the contest.
I think that praise belongs to Anouk.
I din’t pay attention to it when it was released first, but the life performance completely lifted it up. The Netherlands brought something “new” to the contest (maybe it wasn’t new, but no other country was sending something similar as far as I can remember); the staging and their chemistry did the rest. It grabs you the whole 3 minutes. That’s all you need at Eurovision. Simple yet effective.
this has always been so overrated, the votes are unsurprising. the song is an absolute bore, the performance wasn’t that special either… i just don’t get it. and i’m an ilse delange stan who owns all her cds so don’t try to come at me
Oh please, You and your comments are getting bored and with this comment you making a fool of yourself. Because you don’t get it it’s overrated? If it’s not your taste that’s fine, but because you don’t get it that doesn’t make this a bad song. Maybe it’s just you having a bad taste, ever think about that? ( although my credits to you for having all Ilse’s cd’s.)
lmfao calm down i don’t have to like every song eurofans stan now, i didn’t say it was bad just overrated n a 5/10 for me
U WOT M8
I like this song, but I also think tastes are different and it is okay when someone does not like it.
It is so sad when everyone gets attacked for its opinion.
There is no good/bad taste, it is just opinion.
I don’t like a lot of songs who are hyped and if I would write it somewhere, everyone will hate me.
People call themselves liberal and they aren’t able to respect other opinions.
So I guess you won’t be purchasing Ilse’s new album that will be released next week? It is full of ‘boring’ country mid-tempo songs and ballads.
i purchased them all in amsterdam in 2015 so i haven’t gotten self titled either yet but i’ll make sure to stream, i actually love country music just not all of it
So much better than Arcade
That is not how I remember it. CATS got a very lukewarm response at best, even in the Netherlands. The bookies had them as borderline qualifiers. Only after the first rehearsal the opinions slowly began to change.
yea i remember in april 2014 the bookies had it as a non-qualifier in the semi
Its really funny becuse my ESC 2014 experience is waay different from yours guys. I remember I was really hyped about the netherlands that year, especially after Anouks brilliant performance (my winner of 2013) and when I listened to the song for the firt time…. I cried, I dont know why I just felt the song so much in my soul, my god, I still have chills. Then I got really, really, really nervous because none of my escfriends seemed to like it, I still rooted for it though, and then, when I saw their performance in the semifinal….. wow,… Read more »
I wasn’t following Eurovision at the time, but I still think both Conchita and the Linnets were excellent and either one would’ve been a deserving winner.
Calm After the Storm was the biggest surprise of the decade. A year after Anouk managed to put an end to the poor results that characterised The Netherlands in the esc, the Common Linnets brought that dark, elegant, intimate, deeply expressive and touching atmosphere again, this time with a special chemistry between Waylon and Ilse and some of the best camera angles we’ve seen so far. Personally, I think it deserved to win, but reaching that second place after all the Dutch results of the previous decade was already a victory.
Amazing song! Maybe, if the CL would have won in 2014 and the NL would have hosted in 2015, we would not have seen Duncan in 2019 and the NL in 2020? Who knows, but I believe it all makes sense now 😀
9.5/10
Glad this has been rated so highly – it’s fully deserved! I’ve always been a bit torn over this and Rise like a Phoenix – because Conchita winning was an iconic moment but 5 years later, Calm after the storm is definitely the better song!
One of the best Eurovision songs ever and my clear favourite of 2014. When I listen to this song, everything else disappears and there’s only Ilse, Waylon and that calming, hypnotizing music. I forget that it’s Eurovision, I just see two past lovers having an honest and peaceful talk about their relationship. Their chemistry is almost palpable, the staging feels very organic and never steals the spotlight, but still stays in viewer’s memory, the lyrics are touching (though obviously improved by Common Linnets’ wonderful interpretation), the melody is simply timeless, the vocals and harmony just perfect. One of the rare… Read more »
Definitely the hardest year of the 2010s in terms of accepting a result. I still think that 2nd place is a bad joke, especially considering what won.
I disagree here, cause to me “Rise Like A Phoenix” is still an awesome song, too often overshadowed by singer’s image. But of course I’d have had nothing agaist if the Netherlands had won that year 🙂
I liked the song as well, but definitely not its interpretation. I wish someone like Kelly Clarkson had sung it.
It’s ironic that they did very good with a song so intimate, when they don’t even like each other.
They probably liked each other back then. The storm came long after the calm of 2014.
What happened?
They had some disagreements already before the show, and after ESC their visions on music and The Common Linnets were too different. And there are rumors going around that Ilse behaved difficult
CATS wasn’t written by Waylon. Something he never got over and what resulted in his 2018 entry. Even the OTT staging and Waylon’s response to all criticism was probably a result of him wanting to be better then Ilse.
Well. He failed miserably with that performance. And his song was actually my favorite. And wasn’t Ilse the one who invited Waylon in 2014 in the first place? If I remember correctly, it was her alone who got chosen and then she decided to go with the CL project, right?
Yes, I think that is how it went.
As for Outlaw in em, I loved the song presentation, but when I saw what happened in Lisbon I was mainly very embarrassed. I get it that it is difficult or maybe nearly impossible to completely change the performance on such short notice. But he could have reacted a bit more graceful and not in his typical arrogant way. I guess AVROTROS also learned from it, because they went for an almost unknown performer with a lot less ego this year.
No, back in Copenhagen there were already some troubles between them. I saw some footage of them walking from the dressing rooms to the stage area in which they completely ignored each other.
Oh tell me everything, that sounds exciting. They must be amazing actors then, giving such performances and smiling like the happiest Dutch people ever in the green room.
Ilse calls it the darkest period of her life. They cancel any performance where the other also performs. And maybe without their feud the Netherlands even wouldn’t have won this year.
I would love to find out the whole story behind what caused Ilse to call this successful journey the darkest period of her life. That’s the story Netflix should make a movie about. Very intriguing.
Lots of articles written about it. For example this:
https://www.ad.nl/show/manager-veroorzaakte-breuk-waylon-en-ilse~a7bbc80f/
But what is meant with the “oud zeer” (“old sorrow”) remains a mystery.
She still refuses to talk about what happened, aside from that it wouldn’t have worked out anyway. She got attacked by the press and public for months because Waylon did talk about it and blamed it all on her. So we still don’t know the whole story because Ilse is not sharing any details and Waylon is not telling the whole story.
Now this should have been the Dutch winner in the 2010s. I was rooting 100% for The Netherlands to win in 2014, especially over my own country and was very, very disappointed when they didn’t. Unlike the Eurovision bubble, I recognized “Calm After The Storm” for the great song that it was all along. The tasteful, intimate, one-of-a-kind performance only added to what had already been the best entry of its year, proven by the song’s deserved success after the contest. It was the only song that year which had a life after Eurovision. I so wish The Common Linnets… Read more »
I was more then happy with them getting second place and I never held a grudge against Conchita, who is one of the most iconic winners imo. The 2014 contest will always be very dear to me. I think the people from North Macedonia will have a similar feeling about this year’s contest. Sometimes you can be very happy with a non winning great result for your country.
Definitely seemed like Austria and the Netherlands had mutual respect. After all, the Netherlands gave Austria 12 and Austria gave the Netherlands 10 (with the televote putting them first). Although I will also say that Austria giving their top score to Armenia was a remarkable turn-the-other-cheek move considering how Aram MP3 had talked smack about Conchita. (The Armenian televote gave Austria 10 but the juries sunk it).
RLAP was number 1 in the Austrian charts, but CATS ended up higher in the year-end charts, at 7th place.