“He Should Be in A Mental Asylum”: Joost Klein, Eurovision 2024 Dutch Representative Who Got Disqualified Hours Before The Final, Under Fire On Dutch TV.
During the TV show “Vandaag Inside” (Today Inside), which featured guest journalist Aran Bade, who has been covering the Eurovision Song Contest for several years, a heated discussion erupted criticizing singer Joost Klein. Klein represented the Netherlands in the recent Eurovision contest but was disqualified just hours before the final due to an alleged violent incident with a Swedish production photographer.
While Klein still has supporters in the Eurovision fan community, it’s clear that his image is not entirely positive, and he’s stirring up anger in the Netherlands due to his inappropriate behavior. Johan Derksen, one of the show’s hosts, stated, “How annoying Klein was. What an idiot he is, huh? This guy thinks he’s funny and interesting, but he’s really nobody.”
Johan believes it’s impossible to have a normal conversation with Joost: “If you ask him, ‘How are you?’, he says, ‘My car is broken, you need to call ANWB’ (a Dutch roadside assistance company). I don’t understand him!”
Aran Bade agrees: “He has no respect for the people sitting there watching! If you participate in Eurovision, you need to know how to talk to the media normally. At first, it was a good joke, but it’s becoming annoying now.” Co-host René van der Gijp concurs, saying, “Guys like that don’t understand that it becomes annoying when you keep it up for a long time, it’s tiring!”
Johan responds, “And they want to send him to Eurovision again.” René bluntly states, “He should be put in a mental asylum. He shouldn’t be sent to Eurovision anymore.” Aran adds, “I’m surprised that the AVROTROS television network really wants to send him again. They see it as justice for him, but it also comes from the entire Netherlands, and it’s crazy that your representative there is someone (Joost) who might soon knock someone’s camera out of their hands again.”
Aran continues discussing Joost: “You haven’t appeared in public or been anywhere for months, you come for the first time to a gala where comedian and creator André van Duin is receiving a lifetime achievement award, and you allow yourself to leave the hall before his speech is finished… Simply shameless!”
Klein is trying his luck to represent the Netherlands again at Eurovision 2025, and he’s already promoting his return on his social media. The singer even hinted at an intention to return to the Eurovision stage in 2025 as Belgium’s representative! It seemed that the singer was popular with the Dutch public, but a poll published alongside the Dutch article about the incident, asking “Does Joost belong in a mental health asylum?” suggests otherwise, as 80% agreed with the statement and only 20% disagreed. Along with his unpopularity among the public, it appears that a significant portion of the Dutch media doesn’t like the idea of him returning to Eurovision due to past events that caused discomfort and damaged the Netherlands’ reputation as a country.
Netherlands in Eurovision 2024
Eurovision 2024: This was the 64th participation of the Netherlands in Eurovision. The Netherlands joined the competition in 1956, was one of the seven founding countries, and has won it five times over the years. The Netherlands’ most recent victory was at Eurovision 2019 with the song “Arcade” performed by singer Duncan Laurence.