Netherlands at Eurovision 2025: Claude has been chosen to represent the Netherlands at Eurovision 2025, which will take place in Basel, Switzerland. The song will be revealed in the coming months.
Dutch national broadcaster AVROTROS has announced 21-year-old Dutch-Congolese singer Claude as their representative for Eurovision 2025 in Basel.
The announcement comes after the Netherlands’ unexpected confirmation of participation in Eurovision 2025. Following the incident with singer Joost Klein, who was disqualified from the final after a publicized confrontation with a production photographer, many thought the Netherlands would not participate in Eurovision this year. The Dutch national broadcaster even went so far as to declare that their chances of participating in 2025 were slim. However, after discussions with the European Broadcasting Union, the Netherlands relented and confirmed participation for Eurovision 2026 as well!
Claude’s Background and Eurovision Journey
Claude was born in Congo and moved to the Netherlands with his family at the age of 13. The first Eurovision he watched was in 2014, when he and his family cheered for the winning singer Conchita Wurst from Austria. Since then, Claude has been an avid follower of the Eurovision contest. He began releasing music in 2022, with his debut single “Ladada (Mon Dernier Mot)” (in English: Ladada (My Last Word)). His song reached about 53 million views and won the 3FM award for “Best New Discovery.”
After the announcement of his selection, the Dutch singer said: “I feel extremely honoured that I will represent the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest next year and I still can’t believe it. I’m really looking forward to it and can’t wait to present my song to Europe.”
Who is Claude?
Claude released his debut album in 2024, in which he co-wrote and co-composed every song. Since then, he and his band have been performing extensively in the Netherlands and neighboring Belgium. His debut hit, for which he made English and French versions, achieved international success in about 15 countries worldwide, making Claude a globally recognized singer.
Song Selection Process
The song, to be revealed at a later stage, was chosen by a jury committee that listened to over 300 songs. This is an impressive number considering the short timeframe for song submissions, but significantly lower than Eurovision 2024, which received 613 entries. All songs were listened to by a professional committee of five judges who chose Claude. After the selection, the committee stated: “This year, as a selection committee, we have chosen a meaningful, connecting and hit-sensitive song with international appeal, that can effortlessly conquer the hearts of young and old Eurovision viewers.”
Netherlands in Eurovision 2024
“Europapa” is the name of the song performed by Joost Klein in the second semi-final of Eurovision 2024. The Netherlands qualified for the grand final after securing second place in the second semi-final with 182 points. However, the singer was disqualified and did not participate in the grand final due to a violent incident involving him and a camerawoman from the Swedish Eurovision production team.
This marks the second consecutive time that the Netherlands has not competed in the grand final and the first time in the contest’s history that a participant was disqualified just hours before the grand final.
Source: Eurovision.tv
Eurovision 2025: This will be the Netherlands’ 65th participation 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’ last victory was at Eurovision 2019 with the song “Arcade” performed by singer Duncan Laurence.
