Frisian deputy Sijbe Knol and Member of Parliament Aant Jelle Soepboer visited Joost after his concert in Tilburg. With the Frisian flag and all. “It went wild, not normal.”
“Where is my flag?” Joost Klein asked the packed main hall of 013 in Tilburg. The same Frisian flag that was missing from the video of Europapa, the song with which he participated in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Fortunately, Frisian deputy Sijbe Knol, management advisor Jaap Boerema and Member of Parliament Aant Jelle Soepboer were in the room. With, indeed, a large flag. Specially made, accompanied by the texts Europe let’s come together on the blue strips! and 1 2 points #fryslân2025. So of course that flag went up on stage.
Sijbe Knol (FNP) and his management advisor were there at the invitation of Joost Klein’s management. Already in September, Knol, on behalf of the province of Fryslân, enthusiastically expressed his support for Joost’s aim to represent the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest.
He thought it would be good that his party colleague Aant Jelle Soepboer (now Member of Parliament for NSC, “but I still pay my membership fee”) also came along.
Phoneless show
Joost immediately started his concert with Europapa, the banger with which he will soon tackle Malmö. “If he can convey even something of that atmosphere in the final, I am very curious to see what that will lead to,” says Knol. “And then there weren’t even any effects, he saves those for Malmö. But it was really wild, not normal.”
The song, or fragments of it, kept recurring throughout the show. So Joost is really warming up for the Eurovision Song Contest. The show in Tilburg was strictly ‘telephone-free’, everything had to be handed in. Joost’s team recorded themselves. Knol: “That has to produce some really cool images, there is no other way.”
And while Joost avoids interviews and the like as much as possible these days, afterwards the Frisian delegation “sat comfortably” for a while with the Star of the Moment, who grew up in Stiens and Britsum. It was a reunion: Joost literally jumped around Soepboer’s neck.
“We were once both nominated for the Frisian Pop Awards,” says Soepboer, “in other categories. Then my first thought was: what kind of guy is this? But when he opened his mouth, I knew. A mighty beautiful figure.”
Deputy Knol had previously spoken to Joost at a performance in the Amsterdam hall AFAS Live. “How do you introduce yourself at parties?” Joost had asked then. “I said: just like Sijbe. I also just go to Aldi in clogs. Then it was over.”
Soepboer was also in office: on behalf of NSC he is spokesperson for education, culture and science in the House of Representatives. “But privately I also find this all powerful. As a Frisian, I think it’s fantastic that this is being put on the map.”
‘Pikefel on the bealch’
And from his position: “When you talk about art and culture, it is also about this. I think it’s great what he does. It’s not my music (Soepboer is also the drummer of folk metal band Baldrs Draumar, ed.), but I was standing there with goosebumps. How he can touch you, and not just with Friesenjung. He knows what he is doing, he completely captivates the young people. I would say to all those people who don’t like Joost: go there, then you’ll know what you’re talking about. I am very happy that I was here.”
The absence of the Frisian flag or any reference to this province in the text and clip of Europapa is something Soepboer never discussed with Joost.
2025: finale in Friesland
“You have to be careful that this does not become a caricature or a gimmick. You don’t always have to see him in Fryslân Bermuda, that’s not necessary to show that you care about Friesland. This song is about connection in Europe. That’s strong enough.”
The fact that the ties with Camp Joost are so close also has to do with plans for ‘something’ in Friesland. Knol cannot say anything about what exactly, it is all still in its infancy.
The hashtag #Fryslân2025 on the Frisian flag that we brought with us does not apply to that. This puts Knol ahead of a possible (and far from unthinkable) victory for Joost.
“You always have to think in scenarios. He is already quite high with the bookmakers. What could be better than, if he wins, holding the Eurovision Song Contest in Friesland next year?”
2024-03-16 10:42:50
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