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Outlaw in Lisbon! Waylon rocks the stage at Altice Arena

01 May 2018 at 18:00 CEST
First Rehearsal The Netherlands Photo: Thomas Hanses
In the first rehearsal of the Dutch Eurovision entry ‘Outlaw In ‘Em’, Waylon and his band brought their guitars and retro rock lighting. But was the band actually a band? Find out below!

Waylon, whose real name is Willem Bijkerk, was born in 1980. In 2014, he was part of The Common Linnets who took part in the Eurovision Song Contest that year. The Common Linnets finished second at the Eurovision Song Contest. Late last year, it was announced that Waylon would again represent the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest.

READ MORE: Waylon's participant profile.

The rehearsal performance started in the dark, slowly zooming in on Waylon and what appeared to be four band members playing guitar and drums. 

As soon as the verse after the first chorus kicks in, however, two of the band members lose their instruments for a dance style called krumping. Halfway through the song, all four begin dancing, giving even more of a kick to the already powerful song. Combined with flashing lights reminiscent of an old school rock vibe, there is an undeniably compelling contrast of sights and sounds in the performance.

Outlaw In Em was written and composed by Waylon, Ilya Toshinskiy and Jim Beaver.

Eurovision.tv caught up with Waylon after his first rehearsal: "It was pretty hectic, you have to get your in-ears done, the sound has to be good, and everybody has to find their spot on stage. We did it four times; the first two times were tricky, the last two were pretty good. I have a good feeling about it!"

And of course, we saw the ?? news on Waylon's Instagram and congratulated him: "I'm going to be a daddy! And that is my trophy. Whoever brings home the trophy, I already got mine." 

Waylon will return to the rehearsal stage on Saturday, 5th of May for his second run-through. The Netherlands competes in the second Semi-Final on Thursday, 10th of May. 

What do you think about Waylon's first rehearsal? Will the Netherlands make it to the Grand Final? Tell us in the comments!