After a mammoth non-qualification streak through the 2000’s, The Netherlands have certainly found their niche at Eurovision. Hoping to continue their string of respectable results is up and coming artist S10 with her song, ‘De Diepte’. This is the first time since 2010 that The Netherlands will present a song completely in Dutch – will it pay off?
Anita
Song and Vocals
After hearing that S10 would represent The Netherlands with a song completely in Dutch, there was some hesitancy knowing the car crash that was Sieneke. On the other hand, there was such little possibility that The Netherlands would let us down, especially after some incredible entries over the last few years. As Slavko would say, ‘no need to worry’ because De Diepte is a masterpiece.
The acoustic guitar sets the tone of the song, and soon after we are introduced to the incredible vocals of S10. The melodies are beautiful, and even though the majority of the audience on the night won’t understand the lyrics, they can still grab on to the universal ‘da da’s’ and ‘ooh, aah’s’. Even with that language barrier, it’s easy to understand the emotions coming through, and that’s down to the type of instrumentation and the emotion through her vocals. Easily the best part of the song comes right at the end, with the final ooh, ahh. I could listen to that over and over and never not love it.
In terms of live vocals, S10 can deliver. The young artist can tap into the emotion of the song through her live performance, and that is key when there is that language barrier with audiences.
Performance and Act
After seeing the live performance on ‘Matthijs Gaat Door’, I hope they copy and paste that stage show for Eurovision. The lasers and lighting were superb, adding to the atmosphere of the song. The only thing I would worry about is that S10 may be too static, and we know that simplicity has the potential to alienate viewers much like Sennek’s performance back in 2018.
Conclusions
This is easily one of the best Dutch songs at Eurovision, and up there with Arcade for me. Being in the first semi-final among a bunch of ‘novelty’ songs, and wedged between Bulgaria and Moldova, this will stand out for all the right reasons. Surely this will be high among the juries, but I hope it can also capture a high televote, sending The Netherlands back into the Top 10 – and deservedly so.
Rating
10/10
Dennis
Song and Vocals
The Netherlands goes full Dutch for the first time since 2010 and shows the world there is also class music in that language and not just stuff like ‘Sha La Lie’. The song is contemporary as it gets, modern and fitting for the 20’s, appealing to a younger voting audience. S10 is a gifted singer as well in this genre and the genre fits her like a glove. It sounds like a great match and the first live performances were very good.
Performance and Act
At the Dutch tv show ‘Matthijs Gaat Door’ S10 performed her song live. They gave a mystique atmosphere with red lightning beams for her and her tiny sweet smiles in the camera show a promising connection to the viewing audience in May. This song and performance can be a love or hate thing, but so far the love from abroad seems to be winning for S10.
Conclusions
S10 is an upcoming singer in the Dutch scene and does not have a lot of experience yet in live televised performances. This wasn’t a problem for Duncan Laurence obviously, but we saw the other side of this as well with Jeangu, who was extremely nervous during the performance on Saturday. Based on what we have seen thus far and the unique and contemporary nature of the Dutch song I feel pretty safe it will at least be a qualifier. And maybe even more than that (a low top-10 finish?)
Rating
8/10
Team Scores
Steef: 8/10
Erik: 8/10
Josh: 8.5/10
Heath: 7/10
Kaitlin: 7.5/10
Selim: 10/10
Morena: 9/10
Average Score: 8.4/10
What do you think of De Diepte? Follow our Eurovision 2022 reviews here. You can support your favourite acts in our Eurovision 2021 poll, which you can find here.