Tomorrow, the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest will take place in the Malmö Arena. Sixteen countries compete for a spot in the final. One of them is Joost Klein, representing the Netherlands.
But who is he? Let’s give him a spotlight.
Hans and Ella Klein (Joost’s parents) already had 2 children aged 15 and 14, when Joost was born on November 10, 1997 in Britsum (province of Friesland). Despite growing up in a loving family, Joost did not have an easy childhood. He was bullied for his white-blonde hair and introverted character.
At the age of 12, he lost his father to a serious illness, and less than a year later he lost his mother.
His life was turned upside down. Despite the loving care and support of his brother and sister, Joost has to temporarily stay with a host family.
Joost finds comfort in making and posting YouTube videos. He is building his own community there, including other upcoming artists, with whom he will collaborate later.
Career
YouTube
In 2008, Klein started a YouTube channel called “EenhoornJoost” (UnicornJoost) at the age of 10. His videos ranged from sketches to mini-docs. In 2015, his channel now had 50,000 subscribers. Later that year, he was named a YouTube talent, and his number of subscribers increased to almost 88,000.
Around 2017, Klein stopped making YouTube videos and focused more and more on making music and video clips, which he did under the name Joost Klein.
Music
In 2016, Klein released his first album called “Homeless.” In 2017 and 2018 he was briefly signed up to musiclabel Top Notch, but Klein decided to set up his own label: Albino Records. On January 18, 2019, he released his first album on his own label: “Albino”.
During the years that followed, Joost released several albums and often appeared on stage at major festivals. In between all the music, he also releases a poetry collection (Albino) in 2018.
In 2022 he performs “Florida 2009” for the first time. The song is dedicated to his parents. He wrote the first part shortly after the death of his father, the second part shortly after the death of his mother.
(subtitles available)
The song
“Europapa” was selected from more than 600 entries through an internal procedure. In December 2023, Klein was presented as the representative of the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest. The committee consciously chose a different genre than had been usual for the Dutch entry, in the hope of being able to distinguish itself from the other participants.
The song is both an ode to Europe and to Klein’s parents. The first person in the text is a child who travels through Europe to discover himself and to tell his story to others.
The end of the song contains a message that Klein received from his father during his upbringing: “the world has no boundaries”.
Eurovision in Concert
In Amsterdam, last april, during the Eurovision in Concert weekend, our reporter Kal spoke with Joost.
Will Joost manage to make it to the final? No doubt about that. Will he win the Eurovision Song Contest? We’ll know this Saturday.
