Introduction

• Participant(s): Jeangu Macrooy                            
• Song: Grow
  
• Writer(s): J.A.U. Macrooy
• Composer(s): J.A.U. Macrooy & P.L. Perquin
• Broadcaster: AVROTROS
• Social media:          
  
• Team review: 

This year the Netherlands would have been the Eurovision host country. The decision to cancel the ESC this year, was not easy, but due to the Corona pandemic such a big show with thousands of people in the Ahoj Arena, all the artists, delegations and journalists, the ESC could have not been held under these conditions. What a tragedy for the Netherlands, they have been waiting so long to host the ESC again, and then there is this unforeseen situation with the Corona crisis. Therefore Rotterdam and the Netherlands are going to prepare the 2021. Some countries will stick to their singers from 2020, others not. But there will be all new songs in 2021, according to the EBU rules.

For the Netherlands it should have been the Surinamese singer Jeangu Macrooy to represent the Dutch colours in Rotterdam. Luckily, the host broadcasters AVROTROS, NOS and NPO have confirmed that Jeangu should be the choice for 2021 as well.

Jeangu Macrooy was born in Paramaribo, Suriname in 1993. In the age of 13 he received a guitar from his parents and Jeangu started to make music. Together with his twin brother Xilian he founded the group Between Towers. After two years at the music conservatory in Paramaribo he wanted to immigrate to the Netherlands to finish his studies. His first single “Gold”  was released in 2016. By now Jeangu has release three albums, one EP and various singles such as “How Much I Love You”  which was also a hit in Suriname. Jeangu went on tour within the Netherlands and in Europe.

The music style of Jeangu is modern soul. That’s also the genre “Grow” – the Eurovision entry 2020 can be assigned to. It’s an autobiographic song, describes the lows and highs in life. There is no manual for life and the older he gets the more questions himself "the more I learn, the less I know." It’s an interesting and important fact that Jeangu is an openly gay man, he was not able to live in his home country anymore, and that’s why he came to the Netherlands. Jeangu can be taken as a good role model for young Surinamese people, as homosexuality is still a taboo.

“Don't take it personally
Don't be offended
Don't mind my mood
Changing like the weather
God knows I try to hold it all together
Oh, I'm getting older”

The song “Grow” is a wonderful composition of Jeangu and Perquisite, who also collaborated on Jeangu’s first album. The song is growing and coming to a great climax in a very touching way, almost like an anthem. Considering that this song is very personal it’s even more beautiful. As a host entry this would have done pretty well.

History

• Debut: 1956
• Participations: 62
• Victories: 5
• Finals: 53
• Top 10: 27
• Chances for Top 10 placing: 44%
• Chances for Final: 47%

Last year in Tel Aviv the Netherlands could achieve its 5th victory in history thanks to Duncan Laurence with “Arcade”. The last victory for the Netherlands is more than 40 years ago in 1975 with “Ding-A-Dong” by Teach-In. Hence, the Netherlands do still belong to one of the most successful ESC countries, with five victories in the early decades of the ESC: “Net Als Toen” by Corry Brokken in 1957, “Een Beetje” by Teddy Scholten in 1959, “De Troubadour” by Lenny Kuhr in 1969, “Ding-A-Dong” by Teach-In in 1975. Since the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 the Netherlands participate on a more or less regular basis. There have been certain years when the Dutch broadcaster NOS decided to withdraw and the private channel AVROTROS took over. For this year’s ESC in Rotterdam all three major broadcasters would have been responsible: AVROTROS, NOS and NPO.

Over the years there were 27 Top10 places for the Netherlands that means that the chances to get a Top10 place in the Grand Final are approximately 44%, which is a relatively good chance compared to other countries. Since the introduction of the Semi Finals, the Netherlands struggled to qualify for the Grand Finals. In the past fourteen years there were only seven qualifications. Thanks to Anouk in 2013, the interest in the ESC has increased a lot in the Netherlands. She brought back the enthusiasm for the Eurovision Song Contest and made a respectable 9th place in the Grand Final in Malmö. One year later The Common Linnets were able to top that and reached the phenomenal 2nd place with only 52 points gap behind Conchita Wurst from Austria, the Netherlands were very close to victory. Since then The Common Linnets started an international career and their songs are being played in all radio stations.

Biggest successes

• 5x 1st place
  “Net Als Toen” |Corry Brokken (Frankfurt 1957)
  “Een Beetje” |Teddy Scholten (Cannes 1959)
  “De Troubadour” |Lenny Kuhr (Madrid 1969)
  “Ding-A-Dong” |Teach-In (Stockholm 1975)
• 3x 2nd place
  “De Vogels Van Holland” |Jetty Paerl (Lugano 1956)
  “Voorgoed Voorbij” |Corry Brokken (Lugano 1956)
  “Calm After The Storm” |The Common Linnets (Copenhagen 2014)
• 1x 3rd place
  “I See A Star” |Mouth and MacNeal (Brighton 1974)

Video Nostalgia

• “De Troubadour” | Lenny Kuhr
  Rank 1, Madrid 1969 (live version 2019)
  
  
• “Sing Me A Song“|Bernadette
  Rank 7, Munich 1983
  
  
• “One More Night“|Esther Hart
  Rank 13, Riga 2003