Miguel Wiels (51), known as the hit machine of K3, husband of Mega Mindy Free Souffriau and gifted musician, is on holiday in Greece for a few days, with a view of the sea. But of course he will make time to work professionally on the Eurovision Song Contest. For example, he is quite pleased with the Croatian entry that reached the final on Tuesday with its fingers in its nose. He is less enthusiastic about Mustii, the Belgian hope with ‘Before the Party’s Over’. “I don’t think Mustii will make it on Thursday evening,” he makes clear in the HLN podcast ‘De Mediawatchers’. “It’s a weak song. As a composer, I’m not very fond of it. I also think the boy has little charisma. Sorry Mustii. The whole thing doesn’t work. I have also listened to a number of tracks online where Mustii was singing live and where things went very wrong. So I’m a little worried about his performance in his semi-final. It could of course be that he surprises me, which I obviously hope, along with all other Belgians. But, honestly, I don’t think we’ll get through the semi-finals.”
‘I am a songwriter and therefore professionally interested in what the participating countries have delegated and how those acts come to life on that stage in Sweden. You know, during a Eurovision Song Contest you have to have an instant feeling about a song. I hadn’t heard of Croatia until their performance in Malmö and I was immediately on board. An extremely strong chorus and a song that immediately draws you in. I think they are really one of the big contenders to win.’
In the first semi-final there was that catchy tribute for Nicole & Hugo at the end. It is remarkable that they were hailed as the founders of dancing during a song. “It was indeed a very remarkable moment, yes,” says Miguel. ‘Nicole and Hugo were Flemish artists, but now you see that they have also meant something internationally. I thought it was a very nice tribute. I know Hugo well and I know that he will find this very valuable and will appreciate it very much. I can well imagine that he would have really shed a tear and thought of his Nicolleke.’
The presenter of that first final talked about ‘the first Eurovision slay’. The VRT failed to translate the word ‘slay’ so we looked up the correct translation. It is a well-known English children’s word, even children’s word of the year and it means something like giving a compliment. So a compliment was given for the clothes that Nicole and Hugo had come up with themselves and for the dance steps. Some research makes it clear that the world and the Flemish duo were unlucky. Because Nicole and Hugo actually wanted to introduce their dance steps in 1971 during ‘Goeiemorgen, Morgen’. But Nicole became ill just before their trip to the Eurovision Song Contest. They were replaced by Lily Castel and Jacques Raymond, who did not dare to perform the dance steps. The rest is history.
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