“This means that Joost is not allowed to rehearse tonight because of the EBU. AvroTros is in continuous discussions with the EBU,” the broadcaster reports.
According to information from the Swedish broadcaster SVT, a physical confrontation took place behind the scenes between Joost Klein and a photographer. The Swedish Aftonbladet writes about a violent incident with a female production employee. It is not yet clear what is true of that.
“We are currently investigating an incident surrounding the Dutch entry. Klein will not rehearse for the time being,” the EBU’s earlier statement said. The fact that the professional jury assessed an earlier performance still gives hope: the Netherlands has not yet been disqualified.
A crucial dress rehearsal will take place at 9 p.m., during which the international professional juries will already award the points for the final.
Angry reactions in the room
Joost Klein returned to his hotel in Malmö on Friday. In images from the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet the Dutch Eurovision entry can be seen walking through the lobby and entering the elevator.
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A reporter from the tabloid tries to ask Klein questions, but the singer walks silently without saying anything. He did wave briefly before the elevator doors closed.
There was an angry reaction in the Malmö Arena on Friday evening when the floor manager announced that Klein would not perform. There was loud cheering and whistling in the hall.
The audience of the jury show on Friday evening was shown Klein’s performance from Thursday evening on a screen instead of a live performance. According to someone present in the room, Europapa was sang along loudly and many people danced along even though the stage was empty.
Skipped
Joost Klein did not show up on time for rehearsal on Friday afternoon. The walk-through always takes place on Friday afternoon. The Netherlands will be ranked fifth tomorrow, but instead of the Netherlands, Israel performed and then Lithuania and Spain. Those countries have been assigned starting positions six, seven and eight.
The props for the Dutch performance were already on stage, but have been removed again. At the start of the rehearsal, Joost Klein was still present at the flag parade.
Also read: Joost Klein with ‘Europapa’ through to the Eurovision Song Contest final, finishing fifth
There is a lot of speculation about what is going on. It is striking that Klein has stopped following Eurovision on Instagram since Friday afternoon. The singer has also deleted all his stories from Thursday evening about the Eurovision Song Contest.
Meanwhile, the Dutch flag has also disappeared from the door of Joost Klein’s dressing room.
Press conference cancelled
The organization canceled a planned press conference on Friday evening. The artists who would speak to the media want to “focus on the rehearsals”, the organization said.
The so-called ‘Big 5’ countries and Sweden, who had already automatically qualified for the grand final on Saturday, would answer questions from the press. No further explanation about the cancellation of the press moment is given. It is also not clear whether it is related to the investigation into the incident involving Joost Klein.
Joost Klein speaks to the press after the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest.© ANP
