Back in March, a then relatively unknown Duncan Laurence performed “Arcade” live for the first time on Dutch TV show De Wereld Draait Door.
Now, several months later and on the other side of this momentous Eurovision win, The Netherlands’ man-of-the-moment returned to the show to perform his newly released single “Love Don’t Hate It”.
The presenter still remembers Duncan’s performance from March: “I will never forget the first time that you performed ‘Arcade’ here. Your mother was in the audience, and you were very nervous. We all thought it was a very beautiful song, but we didn’t know it was going to be this big. We all know what happened next, you won ESC for the first time in 44 years and the rest is history.’’
Duncan responded: “I can remember that moment very well. I was nervous at the time, but I am tonight too.’’
Duncan also confirmed some momentous news: after winning Eurovision, he accepted a deal with the legendary Capitol Records. Many of you will remember that he recently released his Official 1 Mic 1 Take video, recorded from Capital Studios in Hollywood.
As for his new number “Love Don’t Hate It”, which we’re deeply in love with, Duncan appears to have teased it over the summer. During today’s interview he mentioned that he wrote the track during his stay in Los Angeles over the summer. At that time he’d posted this picture along with the caption: “I wrote a very very awesome song today. Who knows. Maybe it will be Arcade’s follow up.’’
“Love Don’t Hate It” could be considered a rebuke to all haters and to anyone who dares to condemn a romance. With that Duncan Laurence continues to stand for what he has spoken about before: pure love, in all its diversity: “We should all love each other, no matter what you look like, where you come from or who you love.”
This morning, Duncan woke up with a sore throat. But he wasn’t going to let that sabotage his big night. “I’m very nervous”, he said before hitting the stage. Although it’s evident in the clip that Duncan is suffering from a sore throat, he continues without autotune or backing vocals. The majority of the performance is flawless anyway. After the song finished, Duncan let his disappointment be known: “I sounded like a hoarse canary.”
No matter. The world knows what he normally sounds like. Behind the scenes of tonight’s show, he received a 4x platinum award for “Arcade”. As an added bonus, “Love Don’t Hate It” has already hit #1 on iTunes in The Netherlands.
Do you like Duncan Laurence’s new single? What do you think of his performance tonight? Let us know in the comment section down below!
I do believe there is an agenda. American companies want to make sure that esc stars don’t steal their thunder. They sign with esc stars just to keep them down. Don’t do that. Be independent even if you have to sell your house.
Maybe Salvador is the smart one after all, even though he is snob af.
But have you heard anything about Salvador lately? .-.
Where is Polegend Godgarina?
This can be a blessing or a curse, ask Saara Aalto, Darude and others. What happened with Mikolas? He was very happy about what he signed too.
Those American record companies can drop you at any moment. Duncan is no longer working with the Dutch producer of Arcade, Wouter Hardy and the two also aren’t in touch anymore. Capitol doesn’t think the songs Duncan and Wouter made together are good enough, so a bunch of new ones have been made. I don’t think it’s a wise thing to not even talk to the people who made Arcade the success it is. What happens if Capitol decides to drop Duncan? He is burning bridges.
You are right, sadly these companies seem to just block artists from going to someone else. That’s all, they just want to make sure their favorites don’t have competition. Is very important in which country the artist pays taxes. Who cares about a guy from Czech Republic or The Netherlands. Be as independent as you can be, this is my advice. Don’t trust that somebody else will make you a star.
Wait so arcade is actually 4x platinum? I didnt know that, someone better update wikipedia xD
It will be updated when it is on the NVPI site.
By the way, I love his song <3
Congratulations to him for signing with the label and gaining the 4x platinum for Arcade <3 plus his performance was great even with that sore throat, I admire him <3
now that katy perryshed is officially over, halsey is sick with photosynthesis as well as a 2018 fad and sam* smith is collecting moderate flops with no album in the foreseeable future, duncan will be capitol records’ cash cow! congratulations!
Ahw the interview was a real throwback.