Internal selection The Netherlands' broadcaster for the
Eurovision Song Contest,
AVROTROS, announced its intent to participate in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2024 on 16 May 2023, confirming an internal selection in July. A committee of seven people consisting of
Jacqueline Govaert,
Jaap Reesema, , ,
Cornald Maas,
Sander Lantinga, and chairman Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen selected ten artists for a shortlist; On 11 December, Klein was officially announced as the Netherlands' representative for Eurovision.
At Eurovision The
Eurovision Song Contest 2024 took place at the
Malmö Arena in
Malmö, Sweden, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 7 and 9 May and the final on 11 May 2024. During the allocation draw on 30 January 2024, the Netherlands was drawn to compete in the second semi-final, performing in the second half of the show. Klein was later drawn to perform in the 16th and last position in the semi-final, after
Norway's
Gåte. For his Eurovision performance, Dutch comedian (known professionally as Donny Ronny) was appointed as the staging director. Before the contest, Meit claimed that the performance would have unique aspects never seen before in Eurovision. The performance features Dutch YouTubers (dressed in a blue and yellow bird costume) and Stuntkabouter, with Klein wearing an
International Klein Blue-coloured suit with exaggerated shoulder pads surrounded by two backing dancers. According to Klein, Mussa's bird costume was made to represent his childhood and his "inner child", and was inspired by
Wizzy & Woppy, a Flemish children's television show. The opening shot displays an image of Klein speaking the first lines of the song, with following displays including pictures of food, the slogan "Douze Points", a frozen
Microsoft Windows screen, shots from the song's music video, and animations of Klein. Nearing the end of the performance, Klein performs the
hakken dance, a dance that is associated with Dutch raves. The performance was remarked to have gone at a fast pace according to
Trouw, who stated that it "passed by at such a fast pace that it was difficult to make sense of it all... Maybe the
TikTok generation will like it". Amidst the semi-final performance, reception to the performance was mixed.
Trouw's Sylvain Ephimenco praised the performance; particularly Klein's outfit, which was viewed by Ephimenco as "self-mockery... you have the cheerful appearance of an artist who does not want to appear too serious... an ode to our continental home." However, the staging and Meit received some criticism for promising too much;
De Telegraaf writer Richard van de Crommert stated that the promise was "not returned", referring to a lack of the use of
augmented reality. "Europapa" nevertheless was able to secure a position in the grand final, finishing in second with 182 televoting points, only behind
Israel's
Eden Golan.
Disqualification Klein was later drawn to perform fifth in the final following his qualification, after
Luxembourg's
Tali and before Israel's Eden Golan. The day before the final, Klein did not take part in the dress rehearsal, despite being present at the flag parade rehearsal, with the EBU stating he would not be rehearsing "until further notice" due to an "incident" involving him being investigated. During the jury show, which was held the same evening, Klein did not perform again, with his semi-final performance being used as a replacement. On the day of the final, the EBU released a statement stating that Klein would not perform in the grand final due to the
Swedish police having investigated a "complaint made by a female member of the production crew after an incident following his performance" in the second semi-final. According to Swedish police, Klein had been reported for making "unlawful threats" that included making intimidating threats to a camerawoman without touching her; the incident breached the EBU's "zero-tolerance" policy regarding "inappropriate behaviour". Klein later denied any wrongdoing through his lawyer, Jan-Åke Fält. Fält later released a statement on behalf of Klein, in which he stated, "it is only natural that he is feeling deflated after everything that has happened... everything has completely been taken out of context. It is only natural that he became upset and that he could not participate at Eurovision because of that." Klein was later cleared of criminal charges in August of that year.
Reactions to disqualification The disqualification was received heavily negatively in the Netherlands. In a press release statement, Dutch broadcaster
AVROTROS stated that they were "shocked" and called the decision to disqualify Klein "very heavy and disproportionate".
Cornald Maas, AVROTROS' television commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest and member of its Dutch selection committee, declared the punishment "
cruel and unusual" and later added, "fuck the EBU". AVROTROS subsequently refused to present its jury points live on air during the final. Instead, the contest's executive supervisor,
Martin Österdahl, announced the Dutch jury points amid loud boos from the audience. Appie Mussa, in response to their disqualification, released a
TikTok that criticised the EBU, where he imitated a satirical version of the organisation. In it, he claimed that despite Klein doing "basically nothing", the EBU opted to disqualify him nevertheless. He further went on to criticize the EBU's handling of calls to
exclude Israel from that year's contest. The duo
Van der Laan & Woe, hosts of the Dutch satirical
BNNVARA-show , performed a parody of the song that within its verses criticised the EBU; among these were lines that stated that the investigation "really screwed Joost there" and that "the
IKEA jury members have a screw loose".
The New York Times reported that church bells and
carillons across the Netherlands played "Europapa" in the wake of Klein's disqualification, along with the trend of a
hashtag that demanded "justice for Joost". Fellow Dutch singer
Nielson released an ode to Klein entitled "Joost", calling Klein a "hero" despite his exclusion from Eurovision. On the day of the final,
NPO Radio 2 cancelled its traditional Eurovision Song Contest Top 50 broadcast due to the disqualification. DJ Jasper de Vries took over the airtime and, responding to listener requests, instead played "Europapa" repeatedly for half an hour, airing it nine times in a row. == Cover versions ==