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The Netherlands THE NETHERLANDS 2016 - Douwe Bob - Slow Down

How do you rate this entry?

  • 12

    56 28.4%
  • 10

    25 12.7%
  • 8

    29 14.7%
  • 7

    26 13.2%
  • 6

    18 9.1%
  • 5

    14 7.1%
  • 4

    6 3.0%
  • 3

    9 4.6%
  • 2

    1 0.5%
  • 1

    5 2.5%
  • 0

    8 4.1%

  • Total voters
    197

Toposcoupe

Active member
Joined
May 18, 2015
Posts
61
Decent result for 'us', Douwe gave a great performance. I haven't been a true fan of the song right from the beginning, it clearly missed that special something the Common Linnets for instance did have. But I still believe it's a truly genuine entry.
 

bstream

Well-known member
Joined
November 28, 2012
Posts
862
Douwe Bob deserved a bit better but I like the track the Netherlands is on: making it a 3-minute experience about a song, it's singer, and the viewers at home.
 

Nicfedy

Well-known member
Joined
December 17, 2011
Posts
760
Location
Hove
A bad early draw and not enough eye contact with the camera and lack of emphasis on the instrumental break cost a better result.
 

0scar

Well-known member
Joined
December 26, 2014
Posts
2,324
Location
Utrecht
Thanks :at: :is: :se: for giving us 10 points in the televoting in semi final 1, and thanks :ee: :fi: :is: :sm: (:eek:) for giving us 12, :cz: for 10 and :fr: for giving us 8 points in the jury vote in semi final 1. And ofcourse the rest of the countries who gave us points in the first semi final!

Love you guys! xrose

And for the points in the final, thanks to :be: for 10 points in the televoting, :is: for 12 :fi: for 10 and :ie: for 8 points in the jury vote! xheart
 

BMX

Member
Joined
March 12, 2014
Posts
203
Location
NL
Can we please stop talking about next year? Douwe Bob did a great job, i'm proud and even a bit emotional aswell now. He wanted to win so badly, he must be feeling sad. I feel so sorry for him right now, wish i could give him a hug or just talk to him xcry1 Thank you so much Douwe Bob for participating, for all the hard work.
 

Fem

Member
Joined
May 22, 2015
Posts
82
I'm disappointed and happy at the same time :lol: But Douwe did an amazing job. I wish every participant from the Netherlands would be as excited as Douwe was these last two weeks (actually, from the beginning we knew he would go). He took every opportunity and it was nice to see how much fun he had!
 

joyster

Member
Joined
March 1, 2013
Posts
410
Location
Eindhoven NL
The Soviet Union decides! Here is the result counting only the votes from former Soviet Union countries.

1) Ukraine 156
2) Russia 140
3) Australia 102
4) Armenia 75
4) Lithuania 75
4) Sweden 75
7) Latvia 70
8) Azerbaijan 61
9) France 50
10) Georgia 49
11) Malta 46
12) Poland 44
13) Bulgaria 40
14) Belgium 33
15) Cyprus 32
16) Austria 27
17) Israel 26
18) Hungary 24
19) Spain 12
20) Netherlands 9
20) United Kingdom 9
22) Croatia 3
23) Germany 1
23) Czech Republic 1
25) Italy 0
25) Serbia 0

Yugoslavia decides! The result counting only votes from former Yugoslavian countries.

1) Ukraine 93
2) Serbia 88
3) Russia 74
4) Australia 66
5) Bulgaria 57
6) Croatia 43
7) Armenia 32
7) Hungary 32
9) France 27
10) Belgium 24
11) Malta 22
12) Israel 21
13) Austria 17
13) Azerbaijan 17
15) Czech Republic 16
16) Sweden 13
17) Poland 11
18) Latvia 10
18) Lithuania 10
20) Italy 9
21) Netherlands 8
22) Cyprus 4
23) United Kingdom 2
24) Georgia 0
24) Spain 0
24) Germany 0

Nordic countries decide! The result countng only votes from the Nordic countries.

1) Australia 95
2) Sweden 63
3) Netherlands 55
4) Russia 47
5) Ukraine 42
5) Lithuania 42
7) Poland 41
8) Belgium 29
9) Bulgaria 27
10) France 25
11) Austria 19
12) Malta 16
13) Italy 14
14) Israel 12
15) Azerbaijan 11
15) Czech Republic 11
17) Spain 10
18) Croatia 7
19) Latvia 5
20) Armenia 4
21) United Kingdom 3
22) Cyprus 1
23) Serbia 0
23) Hungary 0
23) Georgia 0
23) Germany 0
 

Reinventor

Well-known member
Joined
January 31, 2011
Posts
223
I think Douwe would have done better if he performed around pos. 13. Alas, we will never know, but an 11th is still a good result and he should be proud. I do think his performance in the semis was better though.
 

blartashura

Active member
Joined
March 15, 2015
Posts
453
Location
Kosovo
Ok so I think I am the only one not liking this one. But great for the Netherlands doing so great these recent years (9th in 2013, 2nd in 2014, and 11th this year) xclap
 

musicfan

Well-known member
Joined
May 18, 2012
Posts
1,585
Ok so I think I am the only one not liking this one.

Not at all. The Common Linnets were much better. In a way he had a chance to stand out as the song was different to others, but it dragged. And the pause with him miming 'I love you' to the camera was cringey.
 

Terence

Active member
Joined
January 30, 2012
Posts
4,182
Location
Malta
11th result is really good for this one - a dark horse?
I loved the performance though that silent bit still didn't work for me.
 

Orange14

Member
Joined
May 7, 2014
Posts
25
So 11th place it is.

I already expected we had no chance to win but 11th is imo a bit too low.

I'm actually not the biggest Douwe Bob fan but I did like Slow Down very much.
Have to admit I thought his semi-final performance was way better than the final one.
 

Franzilein

Well-known member
Joined
March 5, 2015
Posts
1,410
After the final, this definitely became my favourite entry from 2016 along with Hungary and France. I think it would've done even better if it was placed between the likes of Russia or Armenia, but rank 11 is definitely not bad (although I would've loved to see it winning, it’s such a heart-warming, humble, down-to-earth song... please stay on this way, fellow Dutchies *o*
 

tuorem

Veteran
Joined
January 17, 2012
Posts
9,588
Location
GN-z11
Time for me to review this year's Dutch entry :D

Douwe Bob - Slow Down
Status: Meh, not my cup of tea :geek:

Song: The Netherlands have had difficulties qualifying for like 8 years before they really started trying harder from 2013, now they seem to be in the good books of the juries, even when it's frankly not deserved (2015). I loved "Calm After The Storm" and liked "Birds", I also enjoyed "Ik Ben Verliefd": it was so out there and Dutch-sounding that I couldn't help but like it :D So after their non-qualification last year, I hoped it would remind them not be lazy again, "Walk Along" wasn't good at all both musically and visually. They eventually opted for what they were most successful with lately: a country-flavoured song. I must say that I'm disappointed by that move because I saw it as a lazy attempt to repeat their 2014 success (which would have been hard to equal), and I guess I'm kind of fed up with country coming from them (Walk Along, You and Me...), I think it was time to try something else. Whatever, "Slow Down" was their 2016 entry: it deals with a lost man who doesn't know how to enjoy life anymore and feels the need to rush all day long (unlike Laura Tesoro :lol:). He is so desperate that he asks another guy for help, and that guy advises him to slow down if he can't keep up the pace. I find the lyrics rather ingenuous, that's not very deep but it's perfectly decent for a Eurovision entry. Musically, the song starts with a clock sound which actually acts as a beat before the instrumentation is introduced, I guess it is a clever reminder of how in a hurry and obsessed with time the guy talking through the lyrics is. Then Douwe starts singing, accompanied by an acoustic guitar. Later on, drums, backing voices, a bass and some piano notes appear as the first verse develops: everything sounds so retro! :p The Beatles could have sung this imo. Actually, I quite enjoy the verse, but the chorus ruins the whole thing to me: after effortlessly setting a warm atmosphere and retro vibe, the build-up leads to a flat repetition of the song title. And that impression of repetitiveness is reinforced by the shortened second verse and lack of a proper bridge (I don't count the short electric guitar solo) that would kind of attenuate the feeling that it drags on while the song length is only 2min43. :? Besides, past the development of the first minute, the rest remains at the same level, I haven't noticed any slight change instrumentation-wise and that's a shame to me. The song ends with the chorus repeated twice, which wasn't the best idea imo. So, you got it I guess! The music genre was no surprise and I can't help but compare that effort to the previous ones: personally, "Calm After The Storm" is miles better than this unfinished song. The first verse - before the chorus starts - is the best part of the song imo, then we got a repetitive chorus (repeated ad nauseam) and the rest doesn't change much (no twist to break the routine), there was definitely room for improvement tbh. I mean there are songs where repetition is not an issue for me, unfortunately "Slow Down" isn't one of them. Of course, it is way less cheap/empty and more decent than "Walk Along", but that does not mean it's a good song either IN MY OPINION (so don't shoot me!)

Voice: Douwe has a suitable voice for that kind of music, even his physical features seem to be coming from old times: his face reminds me of Hollywood actors of the golden era. :D No major details to mention there, he performed well both in the semi and the grand final. Honestly, I almost can't tell the difference between the studio version and his live vocals, which is a good thing.

Staging: The Dutch opted for a rather simple staging and it worked well. It started with a large camera shot and a giant old clock face displayed on the LED floor. As Douwe started singing, the lights surrounding the stage suddenly lit up in a golden colour and the backdrops showed patterns I can't define (crocodile skin maybe?). We could see Douwe play the guitar seated while his colleagues were playing their own instruments at the center of the stage (piano, electric guitar, drums), then he stood up to reach the second microphone stand placed in front of the other musicians. During the chorus, the backdrops turned red and purple while the pools of lights turned golden/orangey, I did like that contrast. When the guitar solo was on, the camera turned around the electric guitar players (that shot was reminiscent of the guitar solo of Calm After The Storm imo). So far, so good and... I don't know who had the idea of including like 10 seconds of silence before the last two chorus xthink Douwe was then on the b-stage, making love to the camera and whispering "I love you"... OMG :lol: I find that part so useless and freaking embarrassing! If one didn't know the song, one might think it was over, I don't see the point of this: it would have been preferable to have a proper bridge instead :rolleyes: The music resumed and Douwe went towards the Dutch fans in the audience to shake their hands. The performance ends with a smile and a wink :mrgreen: I guess he did his duty! He wore an elegant dark blue suit with a matching waistcoat and white shirt, which is never wrong. I do like his neck tattoo :D Overall, I think the staging was nice: warm colours, the retro feel was respected and the giant clock face was a good idea. What I didn't like: the pointless silence after the guitar solo and the attention-whore-ish fop attitude of Douwe :? I understand it might have been considered extra-charming to most people, personally it put me off.

Outcome: The Netherlands qualified and placed 11th in the grand final. Congrats, the song kind of stood out in this homogeneous Melfest-sounding year and it ended up doing well despite its early starting position. Juries ranked them 11th and televoters ranked them 17th, but disagreements between both parties benefited to the Dutch. Personally, I think 11th was way too high, other songs would have deserved to be at the gates of the top 10 imo. In my personal ranking, "Slow Down" is 31st out of 42: this was a meh effort that could have been better musically. Had I been the only one to decide the outcome, it wouldn't even have qualified. But that's just my opinion, no offense. :) Guys, if you want to please me, please stay away from country music next year, send something refreshing and not half-finished: "Birds" got a good result, so there is no way you couldn't do it again with other music genres. ;) Good luck to you, and see you next year xwave
 
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