Netherlands is one of the longest participating countries at the Eurovision Song Contest having competed 58 times and they have won the contest 4 times.
However, in more recent contests, the Netherlands has had mixed results, only qualifying for the Grand Final 4 times in the last 10 years, although they did almost manage their fifth victory in 2014 when The Common Linnets almost stole the trophy from Conchita Wurst. Ultimately they had to settle for second place.
Hoping to repeat some of that success, AVROTROS, the Dutch broadcaster internally selected Waylon (half of The Common Linnets duo in 2014) as their representative for 2018.
Waylon is a 37 year old professional singer from Apeldoorn, Netherlands who found commercial success after appearing in the first season of Holland’s Got Talent in 2008 and has since released 4 studio albums which each made it into the top 10 of the Dutch charts.
In the run up to the big release of his 2018 Eurovision entry on Fri 02 March 2018, Waylon appeared on the Dutch talk show, De Wereld Draait Door each night for 5 nights performing a song from his upcoming album, with one of these songs being the Eurovision entry. This was purely an act of promoting his upcoming album however, as there was no vote to select from those 5 songs for the Dutch entry.
The 5 songs he performed were 'Back Together', 'Outlaw in Em’, 'The World Can Wait', 'That's How She Goes' and 'Thanks But No Thanks’, each of which had a Country music element mixed with shades of pop or rock.
The chosen song for the Netherlands in the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest was then announced as “Outlaw in Em” which was written by Waylon. He will perform the entry in the second Semi-Final on 10 May 2018.
Outlaw in Em is probably the most authentically “Country” entry to hit the Eurovision stage. Waylon has produced a very good quality song with a strong Country Rock feel to it and a beat which seems to be impossible not to tap at least one part of your body to it. In fact it has such an authentic feel, you cannot believe this song comes from someone who was NOT born and bred in Nashville. It is however a sound which is rare to hear on the charts of Eurovision countries. It will be interesting to see how Europe (and Australia) react to this true country hit.
Will the Netherlands be able to recreate their 2014 success and bring Europe to the rodeo?