NETHERLANDS

The Dutch entry was premiered via the radio on December 11th during the show "Gouden Uren" and then debuted on TV during "The Voice" the next day. The song to be sung in Vienna will be "Walk Along" sung by Trijntje Oosterhuis.

The national broadcaster AVROTROS, like the last few years, decided to internally select their act for Eurovision. Back in November the rumours were confirmed that Trijntje would be the artist and that she would be singing a song written and produced by former Dutch Eurovision competitor, Anouk.

The song will bring is a mid tempo, slightly country-ish number - it certainly sounds like an Anouk track! It reminds me slightly of "One good reason" in 1999. It has a very repetitive and ear-wormy chorus The verses are very simplistic and don't stand out, however this over-emphasises the catchy chorus. Within one listen, the "why-ay-ay-ay" part of the chorus is stuck in your head forever. Having heard the song on and off now for the past week, I would like the song to have an ever so slightly faster tempo as I think this would get people flag waving and clapping much quicker

Trijntje is a well polished and experienced performer having been in the music business since the 90's. She has great stage presence and movement, knows where to look for the cameras and how to interact with the crowd, as well as how to present herself. Her voice suits the song well and she has decent pronunciation and vocal power. She also looks really good although if she wears a similar outfit in Vienna, I'd like here to have a slightly better hairstyle or even a jaunty hat!

Keeping in mind that this is an Anouk number - I don't think there will be many changes to the song and its production! The performance on the voice was quite minimal but will need to be thought through a bit more for Austria. I don't want to see dancers, as it isn't a dancy track and would take too much attention away from Trijtje. I'd like to see a row of male/female backing singers (maybe Ilse and Marco could be persuaded to join in considering they enjoyed the Voice performance so much!) I'd also suggest it needs a consistent and quite plain background, nothing too busy

This is a very strong song with a very catchy tune. The chorus is not too repetitive but gets inside your head. This will appeal to those who just watch the contest on the night and the viewers will remember it..... Enough to vote for it? I'm not that sure. You can certainly tell that the Dutch are striding along in confidence at the moment when it comes to Eurovision and I think this should easily qualify to the Saturday night.

ARTIST - Trijntje Oosterhuis

SONG - Walk Along

MUSIC - Anouk Teeuwe

LYRICS - Anouk Teeuwe Tobias Karlsson