The Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — is reviewing and rating the 37 competing songs in Eurovision 2025. Next we review the Netherlands, who have chosen Claude with “C’est La Vie”.
Were we living our best life listening to this song? Read on to find out!
Claude – “C’est La Vie” (Netherlands Eurovision 2025)
Review: Claude – “C’est La Vie”
Deban: Paying tribute to one’s mother without referencing “Mother/Maman” in every verse is a standalone skill. In this year’s Dutch entry, you’ll find quality song craftsmanship that rests on a well-structured format, and honed with a compelling melody. Elements of African highlife and Franco-Caribbean zouk are present, and the universality of its lyrics weaves in and out of English and French languages. In summary, this is genius. However, in reality, “C’est La Vie” penetrates a lot deeper. First-generation immigrants are facing a diminishing reality in an increasingly xenophobic world. Claude’s escapist anthem is a joyous symbol of hope.
Score: 8.5
Jonathan: It’s … fine. “C’est La Vie” is a well-produced pop track with an added emotional pull to draw you in a little further. But once we’ve reached the end of the first chorus, I’m left waiting for an explosion that never comes – it’s two more minutes of the same (still enjoyable) thing. Lyrically, it’s not ground-breaking either, though the simplicity makes it easy for non-French speakers to sing along. There’s certainly potential for this to come alive on stage. For now though, the product here is “good,” but it fails to reach “great.”
Score: 6.5
Ruxandra: This song doesn’t feel like it was just written and ended up with Claude; it feels more like a song made specifically for him and his voice. I appreciate the fact that it’s autobiographical, as I think it really helps when it comes to delivering emotions. The song has a solid structure; it has everything it needs, and the transitions between parts are very smooth. What I noticed in the live performance, and really appreciated, is that they allowed Claude to focus on the music. You don’t have to do everything all the time—rather than losing his breath dancing, he focused on singing and delivering the emotions of the song.
Score: 9
Tomas: Claude is a really good performer and I like this entry; however, it’s not one that I truly really enjoy. I think the lyrics lack depth — although the first verse of the song makes me excited with the story being told, it looses it later on. It sort of becomes too much of a world cup anthem, especially the chorus, which is extremely catchy. Nevertheless, I’m sure Claude will deliver a strong performance and will bring the Netherlands to the final!
Score: 4.5
Netherlands Eurovision 2025 ranking
In the Eurovision 2025 Wiwi Jury, we have 17 jurors but only have room for four reviews. The remaining scores are below:
|
Andreas: 6.5 Antranig: 9 Bernardo: 7.5 Burak: 7.5 Cinan: 6 Jordi: 8 Lucy: 8.5 |
Pablo: 7 Scarlett: 5.5 Simon: 8.5 Suzanne: 8 Tom: 8 William: 9.5 |
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 high of 9.5 and a low of 4.5.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 7.60/10
What do you think of the Netherlands’ Eurovision 2025 entry? Share your own score and review for Claude’s “C’est La Vie” below!
How do you say “dark horse” in Dutch? I’m in love with this song!
There isn’t an expression that’s exactly the same in Dutch: you could say “lachende derde” (smiling outsider)
There is no direct Dutch term for it. In general, the English word “outsider” is just used for it, and people sometimes also speak of “de verrassing” (translation: the surprise).
This could have been a grand slam, but it’s… a run enough to run up the score by a point.
NETHERLANDS – First of all, I am so happy to have Netherlands back at Eurovision. After their unfair DQ last year, I was afraid they would bail. I’d understand that decision after the way they’ve been treated, but I am thankful that they decided to be bigger than that and greet us with another interesting entry. This is such a rollercoaster of a song for me. The melody in the chorus gets an immediate attention, and the gorgeous piano strings at the beggining add something extra to this package. The song is hummable, easygoing, yet emotionally charged. At first, I… Read more »
Some people care about lyrics, i personally dont and neither will the average viewer. The build up is beautiful and the upbeat chorus is kind of unexpected. Once we get the chorus it turns into a feel good song. Its the kind of song a lot of people will appreciate. It has something classical eurovision yet also sounds modern. Very catchy and definitely can see it being a dark horse and win it all. It really comes down to the performance. The Dutch aren’t the best in staging songs though. Claude himself is very charming. This and Czech republic are… Read more »
a completely new director, and creative director we will soon know if it works out or not.
Often miss, but also regularly hit. I think the best staging I ever saw at Eurovision came from the Netherlands: “Calm After the Storm” (2014). Douwe Bob had a nice staging in 2016. And Arcade actually too, because that song didn’t need much. And looking back I actually thought Europapa was good last year too, although the creative director had hyped it too much in advance.
The Netherlands 9,5/12
It’s an ok to good song, but this year’s lineup makes it look like a masterpiece. Top 10 I guess
I would not be mad if this won.
The Netherlands is my number 4. This song is deliberately simple, because it is about the simplicity of a childhood memory of a melody. Here’s how I hear it: Each verse is a framing of the story behind the memory. Each Pre-Chorus describes the melody. Each Chorus IS the melody. The Bridge rises above the melody and expresses emotion at remembering it. The Outro grounds us back to the tonic note, i.e. back to the present. That’s all. Nothing complicated, just a simple idea expressed very effectively for three minutes. So why is this my number 4? Emotion. It’s just… Read more »
The F Sharp Minor is enough to suggest that his mother died when he was a child, but maybe that’s just me.
No his father was murdered. They flet. And his mother song to him c’est la vie. Don’t become coldhearted. Thats the way it is.
Sadly, this just doesn’t stick with me. I want to like it, but I can’t help but feel it’s too repetitive and overly produced. The whole thing just feels very empty. It’s very radio friendly so I’m sure many people will like it, but I just don’t feel it.
Too repetitive for my liking with fat too many la, la, las…and quite forgettable. Still, an upgrade from last year’s mess…so well done, Netherlands I suppose.
One of my fav of the year definetely easy to listen and to sing along. The lyrical content is very simple ngl, a bit cliché, which doesn’t bother me personally but I can see why others can be bothered by it. But imo it can be a contender this year. Good luck to Claude.
22nd place: The Netherlands: Claude seems likeable and the song has a decent melody, but it falls kinda on the “pleasant but basic” side. Also, I can’t help but notice how basic the lyrics are, as even a non-French speaker can understand half the song. Though I have nothing against the song, which just seems harmless enough, I am really surprised of how high in the odds it is.
Mmm… tbh, while I can appreciate the quality behind the song and the vocals, it leaves me rather cold. I can’t agree with the odds here. Slimane was way above. Maybe the live performance will be superb but the song itself doesn’t feel like a winner.
1. Lithuania (7.75)
2. Cyprus (7.5)
3. Czech Republic (6.75)
4. Spain (6.75)
5. Latvia (6.75)
6. Italy (6.75)
7. Australia (6.75)
8. Switzerland (6.75)
9. The Netherlands (6.75)
10. Greece (6.5)
11. Norway (6.5)
12. San Marino (6.5)
13. Poland (6.5)
14. Estonia (6.25)
15. Ukraine (6.25)
16. Slovenia (6.25)
17. Denmark (6)
18. Luxembourg (5.25)
Well ok but what’s the link with Slimane here?
Netherlands for sure receiving a lot of goodwill this year after last years debacle. Truth be told- the lyrics of this one are pretty average when translated to English. The production is quite good though, but we have no idea how this will come across live. Unfortunately his skin tone will make him suffer in the televote, as we all know that televoters are quite biased towards white performers overall… so I cannot see this scoring top 5 at all with the televoters, but I would love to be proven wrong and see another black victor at Eurovision…but after Cesar… Read more »
Deban he has a problem against the song of Louane? She has no right to pay tribute to her mother and talk about transmission? If he knows his story, he can’t throw that kind of spade.
Nope she has not the right to use the word maman to talk about her mum lol, it’s too literal…be ready for Louane’s review…
I don’t think he means that Louane can’t pay tribute to her mother, but rather that there’s other ways to do it than singing “mother, mother, mother” the whole time.
Well if it’s the best way she feels herself to pay tribute to her mum we are nobody to say how she has to do it, or if it’s wrong or right, it’s her way that’s all.
For a French male like me, this song is of a rare atrocity and mediocrity + inanity.
0,7/10
C’est La Vie won the French OGAE vote, and I assume there’s some French males in that group of voters as well, so apparently your generalization doesn’t quite fly.
Most people are shallow, so it makes sense that this song ranks well…I am speaking of what surpasses the epidermal, that is to say the very substance, the quiddity of a thing.
Okay I am maybe biased because I am french but I really love the song : very catchy with a good rythm, and easy to sing !
I’ be really happy if he wins!
I dunno why the Wiwibloggs jury are creaming their knickers over this. It is typical Eurovision Jury bait. Nothing special at all.
Well if wiwibloggs jury likes this entry, good for them. If you don’t like it, hard luck for you and move on.
The Netherlands this year are mid table for me. By that i don’t dislike the song it is a good pop song its just that there are imo better songs ahead of c’est la vie.
This song should definitely finish in the top 5.
Netherlands – This song is probably the most radio-friendly of the bunch this year. Claude has a lovely voice, and the song is a gentle toe-tapper. It lands in the “just nice” area in my ranking, and I can see this one doing well but it’s really nothing more for me personally. 6/10
Completely agree with the scores here. I feel like The Netherland are being slept on by fans this year. For me I still see it as a potential winner that can come top 5 with both juries and televoters.
How is this currently 4th in the odds? Any AI program could write songs and lyrics a million times better and deeper than that. NON merci.
If you’re so critical, why you write one for him .
Am I the only one who doesn’t think this is an amazing song?
Don’t get me wrong — it’s a good song. But for Eurovision? Meh. Nothing groundbreaking, nothing that makes me go, “Yesss, this is fresh, this is new, I’m obsessed!”
Sadly, I’m just not feeling it like that. That said, I do think it’ll land comfortably in the jury’s top 10 — the vocals and melody are solid, no doubt.
Just sharing my opinion here… please don’t come for me!
After recent years, something that isn’t groundbreaking is actually groundbreaking. Eurovision has turned into a gimmickfest and a song that doesn’t try to be different is something different. Duncan Laurence was just like that. His song was better than C’est La View, for sure, but still. C’est La Vie is still a heartfelt song that lots of people resonate with.
if it was a movie this would be Oscar bait with no success.
A song that I loved when it was realeased but I unexpectedly got bored after 3 listens. Don’t know why. I still think it’s a top 10 finish but it was in my top 3 some weeks ago.
Tomas: “…and I like this entry” before giving it a 4.5/10.
28. Netherlands – Claude – C’est La Vie – 5/10 – unfortunately this starts with that jazz lounge vibe which I absolutely hate. It thankfully leaves that behind and builds into something a bit more palatable with promising drum production. However, this is unfortunately layered over by what to me seems like a child-like melody. I’m also not a fan of the language merging, I’ve always felt this is awkward and unnecessary. It is not overtly irritating like some other tracks in the contest this year but has a number of ingredients which mean it doesn’t really work for me.
Ever the contrarian, Kosey!
One of my favorites this year. Mix of languages works here and doesn’t feel weird or out of place. Hope he brings great staging.
Even though this is one of my faves, can’t see it win. Hopefully top 5
8.5/10