NETHERLANDS (THE) – Jeangu Macrooy – Birth Of A New Age
Ik heb achttien maanden Nederlands geleerd, en het enige wat ik heb is deze stomme blogpost.
Jeangu was supposed to welcome the world last May, but the world didn’t come. Sadface. And he was supposed to welcome the world this May, but me and Montaigne aren’t coming. Evensadderface.
He’s delivered two very different, yet equally personal songs. Grow became my absolute favourite last year, because frankly last summer it was either that or crying on the floor and eating bread, and I’m not allowed to eat bread these days.
Birth Of A New Age is something a bit different though – packing a much more vibrant and positive emotional punch, in contrast to the deep and quiet introspection we had before.
Jeangu has a lot going for him with this one. It’s utterly unlike anything else in the contest, it’s a strong composition with multiple memorable hooks, and there’s no doubt that he’s going to belt it out like it means everything (which it very possibly does). There’s definitely room for a powerful visual presentation and the Dutch have a great recent track record for crafting the right show for the right song, and a lucky pick in the running order lottery means it’s likely to get context that it can shine in.
It’s not the winner, but it’ll pull some jury love, it has a decent chance of scraping the top 10, and I reckon that’s exactly the kind of respectable result the Dutch are hoping for.
Nick’s Score: 8/10