Country rocker Waylon looks back with positivity and pride at his Eurovision 2018 participation.

When an outlaw is knocked down, he just gets back up again: these words are certainly true for Waylon from the Netherlands. Recently returned from Lisbon, where he placed 18th in the Grand Final, he has shared a heartfelt message for his fans.

Proud ambassador of Eurovision

The artist stated:

I want to thank AVROTROS and Team Waylon enormously! Thank you for giving me a second chance, to create something special and wishing the craft of music well. You know who you are, and you deserve a statue one by one. I am eternally an ambassador of this special contest.

As a child I already dreamt about the things I can and may do today, and I am so proud to have achieved that, although it sometimes seemed to go differently. Pain, sadness, loss, tragedy but above all love has not passed me by, luckily. I am ready for more…

… I was your representative and I only had to be myself for that. I thank you.

The whole heartfelt reaction was placed on his Facebook-page:

Reaction to accusations

Waylon was also a guest in TV-show RTL Late Night, in which he again stated his pride for representing his country at Eurovision. He looks back with positivity – ultimately, the singer is very satisfied with what has accomplished, and would not have done anything differently. Sometimes you win, sometimes it doesn’t work out that well, and that’s fine.

Waylon furthermore addressed his falling out with certain Dutch media, who accused him of racism because of his dancers. The artist said that he was angred and saddened by the reports, which also hurt his dancers, a krumping (expressive street dance style) crew from Brussels, Belgium. The guys were afraid they would be sent home. Waylon was especially bothered that the media caused unrest among his team, instead of giving the support they needed in the crucial period of rehearsals.

Furthermore, the krumping was actually meant to be symbolic for the “outlaws”of dance and music, physically representing the essence of the entry Outlaw in ’em, a plea for people to follow their rebellious passion, regardless of gender, race or social convention.

Ultimately, the events made Waylon and his team stronger and more determined than ever to go through with their planned choreography, lending fire to their performance. As Humberto Tan, host of RTL Late Night who is of Dutch-Surinamese heritage, said:

Those guys had the right to be seen, and you gave them that stage.

Back to Eurovision

The Dutch country rocker is a fervent supporter of Eurovision, which he calls the biggest stage on Earth that every artist should aspire to grace. He jokingly said that he planned to participate every four years, so in 2014, 2018 and next time in 2022. Yet he absolutely would love to rock the ESC a third time.

Congratulations to Israel!

Waylon has also congratulated Israel with their victory:

The artist is looking forward to the rest of his The World Can Wait Tour, several big concerts in the autumn, and of course fatherhood, as his partner Bibi Breijman is expecting their first child together.

Waylon, a successful artist in his own right, was the guest frontman of country group The Common Linnets, an initiative of singer Ilse DeLange. With their dark country ballad Calm after the storm they won Semi-Final 1 of Eurovision 2014, and eventually reached an honourable 2nd place in the Grand Final, receiving 238 points.

In 2018, Waylon returned to the Eurovision stage as a solo performer. With his gritty country-rock song Outlaw in ’em he decently placed 7th in Semi-Final 2, and eventually 18th in the Grand Final with 121 points.