Let’s face it, the Eurovision Song Contest is a circus. And this year’s edition was no exception, except for one band: the Dutch band The Common Linnets. The song Calm After The Storm written by Ilse DeLange, JB Meijers, Rob Crosby, Matthew Crosby, Jake Etheridge was performed by Ilse de Lange and Waylon. They didn’t win the contest but ended up 2nd. Impressive!

They did not try to impress with epic visuals. They did not try to impress with epic singing. They even did not try to impress with an epic refrain. All they did is perform this very mellow country song with its intimate small hook.

Nothing spectacular, just a nice song that was nicely sung. Although Ilse de Lange and Waylon are superb singers they did not try to impress us with their singing. And that’s a great thing. The arrangement is a typical country arrangement including a pedal steel guitar. And maybe it’s the pedal steel guitar which introduced this feeling of melancholy. It reminded us of the past. When all music sounded like this. No fancy stuff. No theater stuff. When a simple song was all that mattered.

The Netherlands sent real musicians singing a proper song. Interesting strategy. I wonder why the UK never thought of that? #Eurovision

— Neil McCormick (@neil_mccormick) May 10, 2014