Joost Klein‘s emotional music video for “Europapa” has helped him break Dutch streaming records — and it’s also the most-streamed Eurovision 2024 video on the official Eurovision YouTube channel.
But beyond the bright outfits, viral dance moments, and smile-inducing party vibe, it also emits inspiration. The music video tells the story of an orphan traveling Europe.
“I’ve always tried to implement my life story,” he says of his art. “The shortest version would be I lost my parents at a young age. I’m trying to deal with that throughout the years. Now I’m 26. I got the chance to use this platform — probably the biggest stage ever — to share that emotion.”
“I think the story of an orphan traveling, trying to get known, to get his name out there. That’s the main core of it. My dad was one of my biggest inspirations. He taught me an open mind. He taught me not to look at labels. Just people are people and that’s where the sentence ends.”
At the end of the music video, we see a family photo burning. Joost tells me it’s a copy of an actual family photo of him and his parents on holiday in Norway.
So why does the photo — and a house — burn at the end of his journey?
“It took a lot of sparring with the director. I’ve known him for like ten years plus, and I told him about all the years of therapy and how in certain therapy sessions they make you write down your story, a part of your story, and then you have to burn it to make room for new energy. Don’t let your traumas only be your burden. It can also be something that moves you in a new direction.”
And Joost has definitely moved. As he continues to rack up accolades and prepares for Eurovision, the emotional roller coaster has, in his words, become “the entire theme park.”
“It’s crazy. It’s actually insane. I feel very honoured. I grew up loving marketing. I love commercials, I love marketing, I love thinking about aesthetics and ways to market myself. It’s my life. I got it tattooed on my leg. The fact that marketing is marketing now? It’s crazy.”
“It feels like my YouTube video is a TikTok — the amount of views is like a TikTok.”
why does he mention eurovision 1983?
1983 is the year his brother was born. His older brother and sister took care of him after the death of his parents. He has the birth dates of his siblings tattooed on his fingers.
Joost his first time live of the Esc24 Track, last nite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3EgX7A3ThE
And it’s glorious. What a guy.
For those worrying this song will not sound good live: Joost absolutely crushed Europapa yesterday at his 013 gig.
I like the song, i think It IS funny and i am really curious to see how It is staged at Eurovision but sorry I dont buy all this crap about messages. When singers “explain” their songs It seems they want to make It sound deeper and more dramatic than what the song really is.
I agree completely thats why Israel, Croatia and Finland shouldnt qualify!!!
All those reading into those lyrics with a deeper meaning………………………….
Why can’t song lyrics have a deep meaning behind them?
They should, you misread my words.
The video confirms the message so I have no idea what you’re harping on about. Seems to me you have not experienced much drama in your life yet.
love his enthusiasm (l)
He achieved everything by himself I can only admire it, Let his positivity be an example.
The kind of songs that everybody listens to during ESC week but a few months later nobody cares anymore. I prefer songs that I can listen to during the rest of the year as well and don’t annoy me after 2, 3 spins.
Europapa will be a great addition to the rest of the material Joost already got on his name.
No matter the final ESC result he will keep on touring and doing his amazing live shows at Europe’s biggest outdoor festivals.
And I also dont want to relisten to this years ESC entries of Luxembourg, Malta, Cyprus, Greece, Georgia, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Austria, Latvia, Israel, Poland or Croatia.
But hey its EUROVISION. One time in a year.
Lets enjoy.
San Marino, Czechia maybe I missed another one or 2??
In the ESC24 pack are only a few captivating artists for me.
Im NOT saying the others are bad, only not interesting enough for me.
I agree, it’s not the best year, but let’s enjoy it!
Thank you-Bedankt
You know the song is a fan favourite when it’s got A LOT of haters.
I think h@te is never a good vibe guiding us thru the path of excistence for that matter.
We will only embrace eathother in healing the wounds of our hurted World.
The platform of the Eurovion Songcontest-Concours Eurovision de la Chanson.
At this moment it has been screwed up big time.
For me thats a big sadness.
Give it back to the Peoples.
Embracing eachother.
Joost his first time live of the Esc24 Track
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3EgX7A3ThE
Exactly. And people always forget that they cannot vote AGAINST a song.
To be fair his esc song is not my style, but the guy is so enjoyable, so kind, so cool that he makes the overall thing interesting.
His personal story brings something emotional to the overall act, I don’t know how Europe will respond to europa-pa but it seems he has already a huge following so I wish him good luck!
Sound advice. I won’t let the trauma of watching this childish video and facile song affect me.
If there’s one thing that’s facile it’s your reaction. Also quite disrespectful, I might add.
You might not agree with my assessment but it’s hardly disrespectful and check the meaning of facile!
Of course it’s disrespectful to make fun of a guy opening up about the trauma of losing his parents as a teenager. As for the meaning of facile, there’s nothing facile about this song. Musically it’s a very intricate tribute to the music style of gabber/happy hardcore, they even asked an original 90s gabber dj to produce the breakdown. Lyrically it’s both a tribute to Europe and to his dad. You may not like it, or not know enough about this kind of music to appreciate it, but it’s not facile.
Do you realize that there are videos with subtitles? I mean we know what the lyrics say in Dutch and I am sorry but the singer can say whatever he wants to sell his song BUT taking only the lyrics, the actual song itself, I dont see anything about orphans or traumas… If you want to deliver a message why dont you deliver It instead of wrapping It Up in Europa pa euro pa pa and synths and a weird looking MV with people laughing and acting “cartoonish”??
You must be very bad at interpreting lyrics. Does he have to spell it out for you? He sings “I’ve really lost everything, except time, so I’m traveling everyday, for the world is mine”. He also sings about how he feels lonely in Germany, and he feels pain in Italy, because there’s nobody to help him. Then he refers to Stromae’s Papaoutai, which literally means “daddy where are you?”
I’m not even talking about the few closing lines which are even more obvious.
Yet again I disagree with you on every aspect. I’m fluent in Dutch and I don’t consider this to be a particularly effective way to tackle either theme. Please don’t try to intellectualise it by suggesting that I’m ignorant of this genre. It’s Pop music. Unlike you to me, I have made absolutely no personal comment about the performer so again I repeat I am in no way being disrespectful. You like the song, ok. I don’t. You think it’s complex and sophisticated. I don’t. Let’s just leave it at that.
You might not agree with my assessment but it’s hardly disrespectful. Look up the meaning of facile.
easy in French
Has a slightly different nuance in English
I didn’t love it at first, but on reflection… it’s not bad. The emotional backstory behind the lyrics helped me appreciate it more. It’s not quite as silly as it seems.
Fair enough but I’m just not a fan of this kind of thing
It affects you enough to post this pointless negativity
Please!!!!!
I’m kind of baffled how ESC fans slam the plasticky Swedish pop but accept these forced TikTok trend cr*p acts. Like what’s the difference? The one is manufactured for radio and the other for going viral on social media, both lack artistic value in the same way.
I suggest you look at Joost’s back catalogue, he’s not manufactured and has considerable artistic value.
Breaking News: Donny Ronny (Stefano Keizers)is gonna do Joost’s staging!!
Thats no plastic Ana, be ready shewing it up and recycling it!!
Joost is Baas!
Than the staging can be brilliant or the other way around, you never know with Stefano K.
The video is a riot, but it doesn’t seem to be the sort of song which can be easily reproduced on stage. I predict a Subwoofer-type result for both this and Croatia.
Top 10 you mean?!
Joost is our national teddy bear. You just want to give him a hug.
Yes, that’s true. He is such a warm and happy person.
I don’t like his hair cut.
Rotterdam2025
Neeeee Ouwe, dit klopt niet met wat je eerder hebt gezegd.
Eden zal Joost opvreten met die verrotte keuze van de corrupte AvroTros.
Nu geen upvotes vissen.
I love the outro and hope he keeps it in the performance. The spoken word reminds me of Zet De Tijd Even Stil by Rolf X Wouters.
Judging from the duration of the video and taking out the intro seconds, it seems that the song includes (or may include) the last spoken words. If the performance ends that way, oh, I hope for the best for Europapa.It will be Top-3.
I like him. I have seen almost all songs now, and this is one of the very few I come back to. Creative and gabber dance.
At first I didn’t get the message of the burning windmill, but luckily it has another meaning than what I thought at first.
I think it will be top 2.
He’s totally into marketing. He recruited his Dutch fans on Instagram when the song dropped, asking them to boost views and comment “12 points to the Netherlands” under the YouTube video. He’s building fake hype instead of learning to sing live. This is one of those acts that end up very low on the jury scoreboard. Having in mind the banger from Croatia is for sure winning public vote by a landslide, this will end up around 12-13 position in the finals.
That’s only what you hope..we shall see…
I don’t think the dated sounded song from Croatia has a chance. Only the Eurovision fans like it. Not the general public. But hey, we will see …
Could be, but BL has almost the same melody as Dikke Titten by Rammstein, will it be original enough?
the odds are/were manipulated by a Croatian betting collective, (like last year) isn’t it the same
I am not sure about juries, but televoting can place him top 5.
Hey !
How nice and creative guy.
I like it, the dance with the Asian girls and the hardvore dance, the emotions at the end.
Joost is so personable, probably the most personable act of 2024.
I can totally see this guy dominating the televote.
Definitely the contestant who has caught most of my interest this year. Too bad that due to other circumstances he’ll probably have attention diverted from him even if he does well
I really enjoyed the interview. Still think the song is like Scooter meets 2 Unlimited. Good Luck.
Scooter and two unlimited are different genres of EDM, but they share the nineties vibe. No one says fe Slimaine’s song is a copy because there were ballads before… people should try to understand EDM. This is 2024.
Legend!
What about the trauma this horrendous song gave me?
Poor you..
Then, write a song about it.
Absolutely.
This guy is a star!
<3