Merel Moistra, our uncrowned winner of the COC Song Contest!

(A report by Roxanne van den Berg)

The 19th edition of the COC Song Contest in Maastricht was a success. The entries were very diverse and of an exceptionally high level. Themes such as: love, falling in love, being yourself and showing yourself were discussed. There was also a lot to laugh about; Margreet Dolman was “The Grande Dame”, who presented the whole thing in the Bonbonnière and always treated the audience to humorous surprises… But the evening also had an unexpected surprise for COC Haaglanden…

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Merel Moistra: Lucky number 7?

As the first act after the break and (Lucky) number 7, it was finally COC Haaglanden's turn. Our participant Merel Moistra made her acte de presence in a radiant (stubborn) way. Our Diva had pulled out her black and white checkered suit and flashy red pumps for this moment supreme. Before her song started she gave a short talk, so that everyone knew who Merel Moistra is as a person and from which comedian she is made.

Then she started working on her self-written song Tralala with conviction. The captivating lyrics, the dreamy guitar playing, Merel's candid performance and the infectious chorus turned both the hall and the Pinkroom (where the artists resided) upside down. The hall sprung up en masse during the performance and started singing, clapping and dancing when Merel said: “a gospel choir is not sitting…”. And all the artists in the Pinkroom also sang “Tra-la-la” with all their heart. In addition, Merel could count on a warm welcome from her fellow candidates in the backstage after her song.

All the performances were followed by a guest appearance by Joan Franka, also one of the jury members, with the well-known: You and Me, with whom she represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest in Azerbaijan in 2012. Then it was high time for the highlight of the evening, the always exciting scoring and result…

Unexpected surprise

But this scoring ended in a minor embarrassment or unexpected surprise. Merel Moistra achieved the highest number of points for COC Haaglanden, no less than 171 points. She was a favorite with both the public and the professional jury. But because she introduced her song with some cabaret, her act lasted longer than the regulations of the song festival allow. Merel was therefore disqualified by the working group of the COC Song Contest. This decision was met with a lot of indignation and booing from the audience. But the working group stuck with it: Rules are Rules.

'Oh the Love'

In the end, Yvonne Lawalata (Gina) of COC Noord Oost Brabant went home with the eccentric challenge trophy with the song “Oh de Liefde”, a cheerful protest song about homophobia. She got 162 points. Winner Lawalata called the incident 'extremely silly' and Merel Moistra was deeply disappointed: “I know that a song should not last longer than 4.30 minutes, but I didn't know that my introduction to the song was added to that. Believe me, I would have kept my mouth shut."

Trots

Naturally, COC Haaglanden is incredibly proud of this great achievement by Merel Moistra. And despite the bizarre incident, we look back on a beautiful Eurovision evening. After all, we are the moral winner and cannot be pigeonholed. Merel says: No cup, but made many new friends! Once again our Congratulations to COC Noord Oost Brabant, you also received our 12 points (public jury), we wish you good luck in organizing the festival next year. In short, we join the lyrics of Gina: “Oh the Love” wins! “Because we really don't care about guilt and fines!”.

Here's a Youtube video with Merel's performance: