The Netherlands have announced today by who they are going to be represented during the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. It will be Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper! The two have been brought together by former Dutch Eurovision winner Duncan Laurence (2019) and his partner Jordan Garfield; together the four of them wrote a song, and the Dutch selection commission was unanimous about the decision to send them to Liverpool next year. Duncan Laurence and Jordan Garfield will be part of the Dutch creative team of their upcoming Eurovision entry.
Who is Mia Nicolai?
Mia Nicolai is 26 years old and was raised with music. By the age of three she already followed courses in playing the violin and piano, and she comes from a creative background in which starring in plays, ballet, music, and telling stories played major roles. Mia debuted with the single “Set Me Free”, and in this song her need to travel and feeling ultimate freedom take the forefront. In November of 2020 she released a second single with the name “Mutal Needs”, and this song was immediately picked up in the USA. Mia is inspired artistically by performers such as David Bowie, but she says that her main goal is to be totally free on a creative level, and she wants to merch different types of art forms.
During her childhood Mia was bullied a lot, and this left a dent in her life, but it also sparked a fire inside of her, and urged her to make all her dreams come true; now she is unstoppable, and she enjoys life the way she wants to experience it, with whatever and whomever. The message Mia wants to convey is that your past does not decide your future, and that every individual is in control of their own destiny.
Who is Dion Cooper?
Dion Cooper is 28 years of age, and he dreamed of being an artist all his life, but also to become a recording artist. When he was fifteen he first started to play the guitar and he fully committed his life to playing this instrument. In the years after he started writing and singing his own music, and in 2021 he released his first EP with the name “Too Young Too Dumb”, followed by the single “Fire”, which he released together with singer Maxine, within months this single had a million streams. Dion describes the type of music he makes as an eclectic mix of “rock meets singer-songwriter” or Harry Styles meets Bryan Adams.
“Bring the joy” is the mantra that Dion is inspired by in life. He is on a journey to become the best person he can possibly be, and he wants to incorporate all the joy, knowledge, and happiness he has gathered in life in his music to inspire others to become happy as well. Dion’s message is: “Happiness lies in your own hands, and your hands are meant to share with others.”
How have Mia and Dion met each other?
Up to two years ago Mia and Dion were strangers to each other, and then they got matched by Duncan Laurence and his partner Jordan Garfield. Mia and Dion immediately connected on a music level, their voices match, and they both want to convey the same message. In their music there is room for vulnerability and emotion. They both want to move people with their music, and they both experience music as a universal language to convey a unifying message with.
In the upcoming months Mia and Dion will work on their Eurovision act, together with Duncan Laurence and Jordan Garfield as their creative team.
The song with which the Netherlands will be represented in 2023 will be made public somewhere in the upcoming months.
About the Eurovision Song Contest Mia and Dion say the following:
“The Eurovision Song Contest is the international stage on which artists can show what they are made of. After years of writing and translating our life stories to music the contest is the perfect chance to tell our stories to a grand audience. It feels fantastic and a little bit surreal that the Dutch selection commission has chosen our song so unanimously, but we are ready to bring a positive message to Europe and far beyond in May of 2023.”
Eurovision Song Contest 2023
The Eurovision Song Contest of 2023 will be held in Liverpool in the United Kingdom. The next contest cannot be held in the country of this year’s winner, Ukraine, because of the ongoing war with Russia, so the decision has been made to let an alternative country organize the next edition of the contest, in this regard, this year’s runner-up, the United Kingdom.
On Tuesday the 9th of May 2023 and Thursday the 11th of May 2023 the Semi-finals will be held, and on Saturday the 13th of May 2023 the Grand Final will be held.