Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper may be out, that does not mean that the Eurovision Song Contest will have to do without Dutch input. On Thursday evening, half a Dutchman will be in the semi-final: Kris Gustin (23) from the Slovenian band Joker Out. “I showed my band the Red Light District.”
Kris Gustin’s Dutch roots came in very handy last month when Joker Out made a promotional tour of Eurovision cities. For their Eurovision number Carpe Diem they visited Tel Aviv, Warsaw, Madrid and Amsterdam within a week.
Central Station
In the latter city they could relax for a week with Gustin’s family, who has grandparents, uncles and aunts and cousins in the Netherlands on his mother’s side. ,,I come here every year, sometimes several times”, says Gustin, guitarist of the band, in neat Dutch. ,,We were demolished after that week, so we didn’t even go into town for the first few days. the band members do not show the Museumplein and the Rijksmuseum. They do show the Central Station, which I think is the most beautiful building in the city. And I walked with them across the Red Light District. They must have seen that.”
Gustin’s mother comes from Assen, where Gustin still has family living. ,,The rest of the family lives in Amsterdam, Heerhugowaard and Zaandam. I was born in Slovenia, but raised bilingually.”
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At the age of 24, his mother moved to Slovenia for love, where Gustin was born on January 16, 2000. Mother consistently spoke Dutch to her son, who has therefore mastered the language well, except for a slight accent. “I usually speak to her in Slovenian, but her answers are in Dutch. We also sometimes throw in English, it is one melting pot.”
S10’s song
Joker Out consists of five band members and will be released on Thursday evening in the second semi-final of the Eurovision song contest. In the room are Gustin’s parents, who were happy to make the trip. ,,We all look at home every year, my mother checks every year at what time the Dutch participant arrives, then we are really ready. I met Mia and Dion and talked to them briefly. I thought it was a pity that they didn’t sing in Dutch this year. S10 did that last year, I thought that was a nice song.”
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In Liverpool, the goal of Joker Out is not complicated: just make it to the final. “I think we have a good chance of achieving that, what happens then? No idea. We would like to tour Europe after the Eurovision song contest. Yes, also in the Netherlands. Groningen, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, I don’t care, we’re coming!”
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