Line-up check 2018: Netherlands
Line-up check 2018: Netherlands
Netherlands: Waylon – Outlaw In ‘Em
Martin: I’m a big country music fan. We’re talking “missing Melodifestivalen to attend the C2C Festival” big. So you might expect me to welcome the return of a (temporary) member of the Common Linnets, the Nashville-tinged runners-up from ESC 2014.
And yet.
First up, can we talk about the sheer audacity of some guy called Willem Bijkerk naming himself after Waylon Jennings (not least when he has a documented history of singing pop trash like this)? If he’d been an aspiring rock ‘n’ roller, would he have called himself “Elvis”? “Pavarotti” if he’d gone into opera? It smacks of opportunism at best, a total lack of integrity at worst. If Joan Franka got it in the neck for cultural appropriation, I see no reason this pseudo-Waylon should be immune.
Add in the whole “outlaw” shtick – another lazy piece of image-stealing – and you can see why this rubs me up the wrong way before we even get to the music.
Fortunately, then, “Outlaw In ‘Em” is a tedious rehash of every beer-soaked bro-country cliché in the book, to the extent that I’m shocked there isn’t a mention of trucks and dirt roads in there somewhere. It’s everything I hate about the genre wrapped up in a three-minute package.
It’ll probably qualify and do fairly well in the final because, idk, serious musicianship or something? But to me it just proves that Ilse de Lange was the real star all along.
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Felix: Your shoes are sticky. Your jumper stinks of cigarette smoke. You’re drunk. Your straight friends took you to this gig, which you just pretended to enjoy. But hey, at least you got some free beer out of it. Sound familiar? “Outlaw In ‘Em” was probably played that night… it would have fit. Ugh.
Shi: As soon as I see Waylon on my screen I want to strangle him, because he just comes across as really annoying. Then he starts singing and it looks like he’s a participant in one of those TV shows where singers have to try and sing in other genres. But my sister who loves country music actually loves this, so go figure. Anyhow: Whatevon, Waylon.
video and title image source: eurovision.tv
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11 Comments
11 Comments
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Gert on April 18, 2018 at 11:52 am
By jolly, to my fellow Dutch countrymen: Please be sportive. Come on, this is music, not a matter of life and death. People are entitled to everyone’s opinion, but there’s no reason to use the word “hatred” towards others if in essence your own message sounds pretty hateful.
I think Martin is not hateful at all. He simply isn’t impressed about Waylon’s effort, as with so many other people. The song is heavily divisive -either you love it or you hate it- and that is reflected in the betting odds -around 15th- and EuroJury too.
Having said that, I do think it’s not entirely fair to say that Ilse did all the work in 2014. Let’s not forget the Dutch entry that year was a duet, without 1 person it’s not a duet anymore and *bang* gone is the magic that goes with a duet.
So if it’s Waylon or Jake Etheridge, or either of them were needed for the right amount of magic, you still need the other male half. And IMO Waylon did a splendid job in seducing the camera (he’s very telegenic), and his own natural charm at least partially resulted in that incredible 2nd place.
Yes, behind the scenes Ilse was very much the organizer of it all, but that’s something televoters and judges don’t know during these 3 min’s.
But again, as you see, I am not slamming Martin at. all! I just disagree with him :-). In a respectful way. Sadly, these Trump-times fuck up our society and with it our mutual respect and political correctness (yes, I kinda miss it!)
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Shi on April 19, 2018 at 3:53 am
Thanks, Gert. I think it’s quite natural to react strongly to a strongly worded review of someone we like. I was also very aware that I use a harsh language, but it is probably worth mentioning that for all it is a song contest, it’s a televised competition where people get three minutes to decide whether they like your song or not and a lot of those elements will not be the song. In this context, finding someone incredibly annoying is actually relevant – and in this particular site, being a personal opinion site and not a mainstream media one, we have the option of using whatever language we want to. For all of what I wrote, it was important for me to also mention that my sister loves this because it really is the example of to each their own and people can react to things very differently.
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WaylonIsNotYourToy on April 17, 2018 at 10:32 pm
So, welcome to the Martin, Felix and Shi-show. Lol, this is not about trying to review a song, but trying to make fun of a artist you dont like (especially Shi and Martin).
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Shi on April 19, 2018 at 3:49 am
Actually, the worst thing about this is that I *do* like him! I like quite a bit of his previous solo materials. The fact that in this particular song he comes across as so unlikable and fake and that I find the song to be 3 minutes of dishonest nothingness is actually very sad to me. I wanted to like his effort this year and was looking forward to the options. I liked all the other options more and I think he felt a lot more natural and a lot less like a poser in all of them.
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Kate on April 17, 2018 at 8:35 pm
What a super bad and unprofessional website I find this. This has nothing to do with a good resencie. This is expressing pure hatred towards a person who you have probably never personally met or spoken to. What do you actually know about this singer? You have read in very badly, that is what this article proves. Anyway, I can not take this site seriously. Will you never visit again and I recommend your site to my friends.
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Cee on April 17, 2018 at 6:57 pm
1 whole sentence dedicated to the song in this whole piece soaked with senseless detestation, well done. Your wig’s on backwards.
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MartinF on April 17, 2018 at 10:23 pm
It was *at least* two sentences babes xx
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Gert on April 17, 2018 at 4:29 pm
It would be good to check out some biography from Willem Bijkerk. He actually met Waylon Jennings in Nashville, he recorded music with Waylon Jennings. Hell, he even stayed at Waylon Jennings house long enough during their recording sessions to know the man very well. Until he died so abruptly and Willem Bijkerk himself got depressed and started using drugs, and did all sorts of gigs to survive and pay his bills. Willem Bijkerk actually experienced all the negatives an artist can endure.
So frankly, I think Willem Bijkerk has every right to honor the man he adored so much. I wish you lots of luck in Lisbon ‘Waylon’, the other Waylon looks down from heaven on you with a big smile ☺.
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MartinF on April 17, 2018 at 5:01 pm
To me that just makes the whole thing even weirder – if it was a friend of Willem’s who hadn’t yet found fame when he died, then sure, but we’re talking about using the name of one of *the* most famous artists of the genre. It’s not like the world has forgotten who he is.
Oh well. It surely hasn’t hurt the Dutch Waylon’s career, so my opinion is the last thing he needs to worry about. 🙂
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dutchie on April 17, 2018 at 10:15 pm
AFAIK he uses the name as a tribute, people like his music and start googling and find Waylon Jennings, and hopefully get interested. You´re a country music fan, so to you it´s a bit odd, but most people in the Netherlands (his original target audience) would have no idea who Waylon Jennings was. Add to that the Dutch Waylon broke through as a soul singer.
It was actually Ilse who pulled him back into country. And you know what, he´s pretty good at it. Check out the album he released last week. I agree that the lyrics could use a little more originality, but vocally he´s just outstanding. To say that Ilse is the real star is demeaning, and just listen on Youtube how Calm After the Storm sounds without Waylon… it sucks.
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MartinF on April 17, 2018 at 10:26 pm
Our mileage will have to vary on the Ilse thing (the Waylon-free version I saw the Linnets do at their London gig was loooovely), but thank you for the constructive comment on the name issue – it’s appreciated. I guess it does make some sense if you’re coming from a place of never having heard of Waylon Jennings.
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By jolly, to my fellow Dutch countrymen: Please be sportive. Come on, this is music, not a matter of life and death. People are entitled to everyone’s opinion, but there’s no reason to use the word “hatred” towards others if in essence your own message sounds pretty hateful.
I think Martin is not hateful at all. He simply isn’t impressed about Waylon’s effort, as with so many other people. The song is heavily divisive -either you love it or you hate it- and that is reflected in the betting odds -around 15th- and EuroJury too.
Having said that, I do think it’s not entirely fair to say that Ilse did all the work in 2014. Let’s not forget the Dutch entry that year was a duet, without 1 person it’s not a duet anymore and *bang* gone is the magic that goes with a duet.
So if it’s Waylon or Jake Etheridge, or either of them were needed for the right amount of magic, you still need the other male half. And IMO Waylon did a splendid job in seducing the camera (he’s very telegenic), and his own natural charm at least partially resulted in that incredible 2nd place.
Yes, behind the scenes Ilse was very much the organizer of it all, but that’s something televoters and judges don’t know during these 3 min’s.
But again, as you see, I am not slamming Martin at. all! I just disagree with him :-). In a respectful way. Sadly, these Trump-times fuck up our society and with it our mutual respect and political correctness (yes, I kinda miss it!)
Thanks, Gert. I think it’s quite natural to react strongly to a strongly worded review of someone we like. I was also very aware that I use a harsh language, but it is probably worth mentioning that for all it is a song contest, it’s a televised competition where people get three minutes to decide whether they like your song or not and a lot of those elements will not be the song. In this context, finding someone incredibly annoying is actually relevant – and in this particular site, being a personal opinion site and not a mainstream media one, we have the option of using whatever language we want to. For all of what I wrote, it was important for me to also mention that my sister loves this because it really is the example of to each their own and people can react to things very differently.
So, welcome to the Martin, Felix and Shi-show. Lol, this is not about trying to review a song, but trying to make fun of a artist you dont like (especially Shi and Martin).
Actually, the worst thing about this is that I *do* like him! I like quite a bit of his previous solo materials. The fact that in this particular song he comes across as so unlikable and fake and that I find the song to be 3 minutes of dishonest nothingness is actually very sad to me. I wanted to like his effort this year and was looking forward to the options. I liked all the other options more and I think he felt a lot more natural and a lot less like a poser in all of them.
What a super bad and unprofessional website I find this. This has nothing to do with a good resencie. This is expressing pure hatred towards a person who you have probably never personally met or spoken to. What do you actually know about this singer? You have read in very badly, that is what this article proves. Anyway, I can not take this site seriously. Will you never visit again and I recommend your site to my friends.
1 whole sentence dedicated to the song in this whole piece soaked with senseless detestation, well done. Your wig’s on backwards.
It was *at least* two sentences babes xx
It would be good to check out some biography from Willem Bijkerk. He actually met Waylon Jennings in Nashville, he recorded music with Waylon Jennings. Hell, he even stayed at Waylon Jennings house long enough during their recording sessions to know the man very well. Until he died so abruptly and Willem Bijkerk himself got depressed and started using drugs, and did all sorts of gigs to survive and pay his bills. Willem Bijkerk actually experienced all the negatives an artist can endure.
So frankly, I think Willem Bijkerk has every right to honor the man he adored so much. I wish you lots of luck in Lisbon ‘Waylon’, the other Waylon looks down from heaven on you with a big smile ☺.
To me that just makes the whole thing even weirder – if it was a friend of Willem’s who hadn’t yet found fame when he died, then sure, but we’re talking about using the name of one of *the* most famous artists of the genre. It’s not like the world has forgotten who he is.
Oh well. It surely hasn’t hurt the Dutch Waylon’s career, so my opinion is the last thing he needs to worry about. 🙂
AFAIK he uses the name as a tribute, people like his music and start googling and find Waylon Jennings, and hopefully get interested. You´re a country music fan, so to you it´s a bit odd, but most people in the Netherlands (his original target audience) would have no idea who Waylon Jennings was. Add to that the Dutch Waylon broke through as a soul singer.
It was actually Ilse who pulled him back into country. And you know what, he´s pretty good at it. Check out the album he released last week. I agree that the lyrics could use a little more originality, but vocally he´s just outstanding. To say that Ilse is the real star is demeaning, and just listen on Youtube how Calm After the Storm sounds without Waylon… it sucks.
Our mileage will have to vary on the Ilse thing (the Waylon-free version I saw the Linnets do at their London gig was loooovely), but thank you for the constructive comment on the name issue – it’s appreciated. I guess it does make some sense if you’re coming from a place of never having heard of Waylon Jennings.