"Calm After the Storm" is a song by Dutch country rock duo

The Common Linnets The Common Linnets are a Netherlands, Dutch band that was formed in 2013. The band originally consisted of Ilse DeLange and Waylon (Dutch singer), Waylon. DeLange has stated that the group is a platform for Dutch artists to make country, America ...

–

Ilse DeLange Ilse Annoeska de Lange (born 13 May 1977), better known as Ilse DeLange, is a Dutch country and pop rock singer-songwriter. In 1998, she gained fame with her single 'I'm Not So Tough', which later became multiple platinum in The Netherlands. O ...

and Waylon–, composed and written by DeLange herself, JB Meijers, Rob Crosby, Matthew Crosby, and Jake Etheridge. It at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European B ...

held in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, placing second with 238 points.

Background

Conception

"Calm After the Storm" was composed and written by

, JB Meijers, Rob Crosby, Matthew Crosby, and Jake Etheridge.

Selection

On 25 November 2013,

AVROTROS AVROTROS () is a Dutch radio and television broadcaster that is part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. It was founded in 2014 as the result of a merger between the Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep (AVRO) and the TROS, Televisie Radio Omro ...

announced that it had singers

and Waylon, under the name

, as its performers for the of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. On 4 March 2014, the duo revealed during NPO's talk show ''

De Wereld Draait Door ''De Wereld Draait Door'' (; DWDD) was an early-evening talk show on Dutch television, broadcast every weekday at 7:00 p.m. on NPO 1. It was the Netherlands' longest-running, regularly scheduled TV entertainment show and had the second-highes ...

'' that "Calm After the Storm" would be their Eurovision entry, becoming the for the contest. They first performed the song live, in an acoustic version, on 12 March 2014 on ''De Wereld Draait Door''. The studio version was presented on 13 March 2014. The music video, shot entirely black-and-white, was filmed later in March 2014 in Edam.

Eurovision

On 6 May 2014, the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest was held in

B&W Hallerne B&W Hallerne (English: ''The B&W Halls'') is a former industrial complex located on the island of Refshaleøen, Copenhagen, Refshaleøen in Copenhagen, Denmark. Built in the early 1960s by Burmeister & Wain, the complex consists of two large hall ...

hosted by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) and broadcast live throughout the continent. After having taken the first place in this semi-final, the song finished in second place in the grand final on 10 May 2014, behind the winning song " Rise Like a Phoenix" by

Conchita Wurst Thomas Neuwirth (born 6 November 1988) is an Austrian singer, fashion designer, human rights activist and drag queen who is known for his stage persona Conchita Wurst (or simply Conchita). He came to international attention after winning the Euro ...

for . This was the highest position for the Netherlands since it last won in the , and the highest score for the Netherlands in all the Eurovision contests until the , when

Duncan Laurence Duncan de Moor (; born 11 April 1994), known professionally as Duncan Laurence, is a Dutch singer and songwriter. He represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with his song " Arcade" and went on to win the competition, g ...

claimed victory with the song "

Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

". In addition to their high placement in the contest, the song picked up two Marcel Bezençon Awards: the Artistic Award, chosen by the commentators from the various participating broadcasters, and the Composers Award, chosen by the songwriters of all the participating songs from the 2014 contest.

Chart performance

On 18 May 2014, it reached number 9 in the UK singles chart, becoming 2014's highest charting Eurovision single, and the fourth non-winning Eurovision song from outside the UK to enter the top ten, the other songs being " Nel blu dipinto di blu" (Italy 1958), " Si" (Italy 1974) and " I See a Star" (Netherlands 1974).

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2014 songs The Common Linnets songs Eurovision songs of the Netherlands Eurovision songs of 2014 Articles containing video clips Number-one singles in Iceland Songs written by Rob Crosby Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles Universal Music Group singles