The Director and Scriptwriter of Eurovision 2024 wishes he was able to include a message to Dutch viewers in the script of last year’s Grand Final.
Edward af Sillén and Daniel Réhn were the two individuals in charge of the script in Malmö, with the former also directing the show.
Click to read this story at a glance…
- The Director and Scriptwriter of Eurovision 2024 wished he had included a message of support for Dutch viewers after the Netherlands’ Joost Klein was disqualified for threatening behaviour, leaving Dutch fans without a home act to cheer on during the Grand Final
- The decision to disqualify Klein was communicated to af Sillén at 3am on the day of the Grand Final, giving him little time to consider making and amendment to the script
- Af Sillén did make a quick change during rehearsal, removing a “silly joke” about “Europapa” that was part of the original script, ensuring it wouldn’t be part of the live show
After Netherlands’ Joost Klein was disqualified from the competition for what the EBU dubbed as “threatening behaviour directed at a female member of the production crew”, it meant Dutch viewers at home and in the arena were innocent victims and didn’t have a home act to cheer on.
In an exclusive interview with The Euro Trip, Edward af Sillén said: “What I regret is maybe not saying anything about it in the final.
“It was such a difficult situation – it had never happened before in the history of Eurovision.
“It was a minefield. We didn’t know exactly what had happened.
“It was almost irresponsible for us to comment on it, and it was such a hard thing to comment on. So the decision and [at] the speed of things was made to not comment on it.”
With the decision to disqualify the Joost Klein communicated to af Sillén and his colleagues at 3am on the day of the Grand Final, it left little time for him to realistically consider including a message in the 28-page long script.
“That was a decision that felt right at the time. I don’t even remember when we took it – everything goes at 180kpm. I regret that in hindsight.”
The country that bought the second most tickets for the Grand Final was the Netherlands, and af Sillén was aware of the huge Dutch presence in the arena and felt as if they were owed some love and support after the actions of Klein, and the decisions of the EBU.
“It was a whole country that was affected by the actions of their artist and the actions of the EBU.
“So I wish we could have said something like, ‘There was an incident yesterday backstage, and a decision has been made, and we just want to say to our Dutch viewers we’re so sorry for you guys not to be here in the final, we love you, and we hope to see you again next year’.
“I wish I would’ve got that sentence in the script. I don’t know when I would’ve been able to because there’s not a minute to sit down and breathe, but in hindsight I wish I would’ve done that because I just felt so sorry for the Dutch viewers.”
Af Silén did manage to make one amendment to the script at the eleventh hour.
In the last rehearsal of the Grand Final on Saturday afternoon – just hours after the Netherlands had been disqualified – host Petra Mede threw to the Executive Producer Martin Österdahl during the voting sequence with, what af Sillén describes as a “silly joke” written months ago, saying, “Over to you, Europapa”.
“We, of course, forgot about this because the final script is 28 pages long and it’s at the back.
“When we got to that point I’m at the side of the stage with my headphones on like, ‘Oh shit!’ and Petra – and bless her, she should – she just follows the script.
“That was unfortunate.
“But it was the rehearsal and I don’t think people got that upset about it, and we took it away [for the Grand Final].”
The Euro Trip Podcast 
One Comment Add yours