Former Dutch commentator Willem van Beusekom passed away at the age of 59, Sunday night. He died after surgery complications.

Van Beusekom was Eurovision Song Contest commentator between 1987 and 2005, although he did the job for Dutch radio before. He was well known for his fair and balanced reports, without critisising the participants too much. After the 50th contest in Kyiv, he also provided commentary during the anniversary show Congratulations, which took place in Copenhagen last year.

In daily life, Van Beusekom was managing director of the Dutch broadcaster NPS.

We would like to express our deepest condoleances to friends, family and colleagues of Willem van Beusekom. We will miss him!