Have you noticed something start to happen, and it’ll only happen more and more? yes, it’s the post-2000 births. Those performers who were born after 1 January 2000. They won’t have been alive for three of Sweden’s wins, or the sole appearance of an African nation.
While she wasn’t the first, today’s birthday girl S10 (née Stien den Hollander) is one of that ever-growing 21st Century generation. When she did her stuff in 2022, she did something that hadn’t been done for 12 years. No, she didn’t have a barrel organ. She sang in Dutch. She even did something that hadn’t happened since 1998 – she sang in Dutch in a Saturday night final. In her semi-final, S10 scored off every country’s jury vote and televote. That’s impressive. In the Grand Final, those scores weren’t quite repeated, but she did finish 11th. So if you don’t remember Charlotte Nilsson-Perrelli, and prefer your own native tongue, than you can still do well.
S10 is 23 today.
Gefeliciteerd, S10!