It’s a curious thing that the first song ever heard in a Eurovision Song Contest, and the last song ever heard in a Eurovision Song Contest come from the same country. The unassuming Dutch have this particular record, and I can hardly think of a better country for this to apply to.
I know the last song we heard wasn’t actually in competition. It had already won, and as you know – unless you’ve recently returned from Proxima Centauri – you’ll know it was performed by today’s birthday boy Duncan Laurence (né Duncan de Moor). His was a darn good winner of the contest in Tel Aviv, and proves that a song doesn’t need sparkly frocks, complicated dance routines, or clucking noises to be a winner. It’s a song contest, so very refreshing when a simple song wins. In his semi-final, Duncan scored off every jury except one, and from every country’s televote. In the Grand Final he again scored points from every televote, even if eight juries let the side down. So a popular winner, and a darn nice guy. What more could a contest want?
Duncan is 26 today.
Gefelicteerd, Duncan!