Phil: Hind is clearly a good singer. We get this impression from watching the rehearsal that is on the screen before us. And, yes, usually that is enough in the contest of populist song. However, this is the Netherlands and, as such, they are usually a few years behind everyone else … No one has told Hind that being Turkish was sooooo 2003 dahlink!! She is currently wearing tight hot-pants for those that like this sort of thing – but on the night she is going to be wearing a hideous blue monstrosity that would not look out of place in a ball room rather than a sweaty contest. Vocally – she is perfect, as we would expect, but then again, this song is not the classic that some people think it is – or indeed IT thinks it is – however, it does have a something about it, probably a familiarity because it sounds like something else we have all heard before, done much better. Not qualifying I think – but am open to persuasion.
Franko: In one those happy accidents which seem to happen a lot with the Eurovision draw, the Netherlands have found themselves drawn after Armenia with a very similar song and dance routine and likely to come off the poorer for it. There’s nothing actually wrong with it. I even quite like the song for a Dutch entry but I just can’t help feeling I’ve heard it somewhere before be that the previous song or last year’s Norwegian song. I’d say borderline qualification based on the poor offerings in semi 1. Had it been in semi 2 not a chance but give them some credit for trying for a change.
Nick: I didn’t like the Dutch song before, but say the rehearsal was good. Now I’ve got Frank’s attention, that does actually pretty much sum it up. I’ve been thinking of this as the least convincing of the Armenia/Netherlands/Greece identical triplets, but there’s some real salesmanship going on here. Set looks great, a combination of real and back-projected candelabras, Hind stands there and belts out the song extremely well every time, the dancers add something to the project, and it’s certainly the best Dutch entry in several years. Really really should be the first Dutch appearance in the Saturday night show since 2004, and might cause a few problems for the other two members of the Identical Song Club.