The Netherlands has finished fourth at Junior Eurovision for two years in a row. Now, 14-year-old Ayana is hoping to get her country back on the podium with the first Japanese-titled song in Eurovision history. Ayana will sing “Mata Sugu Aō Ne” at Junior Eurovision 2021.
Scroll down for “Mata Sugu Aō Ne” lyrics.
The Netherlands in Junior Eurovision 2021: Ayana “Mata Sugu Aō Ne”
Ayana Voss, more commonly known by the mononym Ayana, is a Dutch singer of British and Japanese ancestry. She lives in North Holland with her English father and Japanese mother.
Ayana stormed to victory at The Netherlands‘ national final Junior Songfestival 2021, thus earning the right to sing for her country at Paris’ La Seine Musicale in December.
The song contains lyrics in Dutch, English and Japanese.
“Mata Sugu Aō Ne” is the first song in both Junior Eurovision and Eurovision history containing Japanese lyrics to represent a country at the song contest. Efendi’s “Cleopatra”, which was set to represent Azerbaijan at Eurovision 2020, also contained one repeated Japanese phrase, but ultimately never made it to the Rotterdam stage following the contest’s cancellation.
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What do the “Mata Sugu Ao Ne” lyrics mean?
“Mata Sugu Aō Ne” translated to English means “When I see you again”.
Ayana’s song is about missing your loved ones. It’s a theme close to her heart — the COVID-19 pandemic has meant she has not been able to see her family in Japan for a very long time.
The lyrics describe Ayana’s dream to fly away and see her loved ones again, as she sings: “Wish I could fly away, I miss you every day”.
But the song is more than a love letter to her family — it is an homage to Japanese culture. She dreams of seeing the cherry blossom trees, singing: “Naar de kersenbloesem toe, oh / Ik wil alles daar beleven” (English:”To the cherry blossom, oh / I want to see everything there”).
Ayana closes out her song with the line “Als ik je weer zie” — the Dutch translation of “Mata Sugu Aō Ne”, or “When I see you again”.
“Mata Sugu Ao Ne” lyrics — Ayana (The Netherlands JESC 2021)
Written and composed by: Ferry Lagendijk
Original Dutch, English and Japanese textAls ik toch vandaag nog kon Want ik mis elk moment dat ik daar ben I miss you every single day Als jij ook tegelijk naar boven kijkt I miss you every single day In mijn dromen kan ik zweven Wish I could fly away Wish I could fly away (Mata sugu aō ne) You are so far away (Mata sugu aō ne) Mata sugu aō ne |
English translationToday if I only could ‘Cause I miss every moment I’m there I miss you every single day If you look up at the same time I miss you every single day In my dreams I can fly Wish I could fly away Wish I could fly away (When I see you again) You are so far away (When I see you again) When I see you again |
*Note: ‘Ikigai’ is a Japanese concept with no literal English equivalent, ‘ikigai’ roughly translated means ‘the reason to live’.
What do you think of “Mata Sugu Aō Ne”? Will you be voting for The Netherlands’ Ayana at Junior Eurovision 2021? Let us know in the comments below.
stop looking at a kid like that
I love how the Netherlands finally took a turn off the beaten path this year, as most recent entries since 2014 have been very much on the safe side which obviously meant they wouldn’t get an easy top 3 result. While I do think this one won’t get a top 3 result either, the creative inputs of both the Japanese instruments and language, add for something very new and unexpected. I really hope this will do well enough next month, as I cannot wait to find out how they will stage it.
Did she write the song her self?
…….it’s Japanese.
I love ” Mata Sugu Ao Ne ” sung by Ayana the song, the lyrics and her voice are beautiful. I am proud of “our “song and wish her good luck in Paris.
Very beautiful ballad and the story behind it makes it even more beautiful, everybody can relate with the lyrics, everybody has or had in his life someone he missed, touching topic.
It’s cool because after Hong Kong being involved this year we have a little bit of Japan too, Asia is present this year, very good choice The Netherlands and good luck!
““Mata Sugu Ao Ne” is the first song in both Junior Eurovision and Eurovision history containing Japanese lyrics to represent a country at the song contest.”
False. The Serbian Junior Eurovision entry of 2006, “Ucimo strane jezike” (we study foreign languages), contained lyrics in eight languages, with Japanese being one of them.
Eight! I didn’t know that, it’s huge, it must be the record of languages used in a song in both esc and jesc I guess, interesting… or maybe I’m wrong.
I might be wrong but according to the internet the languages in Serbia’s JESC 06 song are
1. Serbian, 2. English, 3. French, 4. German, 5. Italian, 6. Spanish, 7. Russian, 8. Swedish and 9. Romanian.
Wow nine! So even huger! I have to go to listen this song.