"Arcade" is a song by Dutch singer-songwriterDuncan Laurence, It was written and composed by Laurence, Joel Sjöö,Wouter Hardy, andWill Knox. The song was released on 7 March 2019 by Spark Records.[1] It was later included as the lead single on his debut studio albumSmall Town Boy, and also features on his debut EPWorlds on Fire.[2][3]
"Arcade"represented the Netherlands in theEurovision Song Contest 2019 inTel Aviv, Israel, which it won, marking the Netherlands' first Eurovision victory since 1975.[4] After the complete line-up of songs was announced, "Arcade" was the bookmakers' favourite to win Eurovision, and had remained so until the contest ended.[5] An acoustic version of the song was released on 19 July 2019, followed by a duet version featuring American singerFletcher on 27 November 2020.[6][7] In February 2020, "Arcade" won anEdison Award for Best Pop Song of the Year.[8]
In the second half of 2020, "Arcade" went viral on social media platformTikTok, resulting in new chart successes and streams on various platforms.[9][10][11]In January 2021, "Arcade" became the most-streamed Eurovision song onSpotify, passing "Soldi" byMahmood, the runner-up of Eurovision 2019.[12] Later that year, in April, "Arcade" became the first Eurovision song in 25 years and the firstEurovision winning song in 45 years to chart on the USBillboard Hot 100;[13][14] by September, it peaked at number 30.[15]
In August 2023, "Arcade" became the first Eurovision song to accumulate a billion streams onSpotify.[16][17]
Duncan Laurence wrote "Arcade" while he attended the Tilburg Rock Academy. He worked on the song for over two years, predominantly while collaborating withWouter Hardy, a former band member withSharon Kovacs.[18] The song is inspired by the heartbreak of a loved one of Duncan's who died. Laurence told WiwiBloggs, "Arcade is a story about the search for the love of your life. It's about the hope to reach something that seems unreachable".[19] The namesake lyric"Small town boy in a big arcade" refers to his experience, being from a small town, as a Rock Academy freshman entering the summer fair of Tilburg, the largest in the Netherlands. Throughout the song, the fair and itsarcade games are used as a metaphor for love, addiction and gambling with relationships.[20]
"Arcade" is inspired byfilm soundtracks and consists of 165 tracks.[21] The pop song opens with four chords played on piano, accompanied by a simple piano riff and overdubbed vocals. Thetriple metre verses contrast with the 4/4 time signature of the rest of the song, giving it a distinct sound. Heavy emphasis is put on Laurence's vocals. After the soft verses, in which he expresses his sadness and vulnerability, the chorus kicks in with heavy drums, accompanied with a choir of backing vocals, to enhance the lyrics' expressions of anger and frustration.[20]
Ilse DeLange, runner-up ofEurovision 2014 as a member ofThe Common Linnets, came across Duncan inThe Voice of Holland later that year, where she became his coach, and he regularly shared his songs with her since. DeLange sent one of those songs, "Arcade", toAVROTROS for its Eurovision selection.[20][22] On 21 January 2019, Laurence was revealed asits representative for the64th edition of theEurovision Song Contest, after "Arcade" was internally selected by the Dutch broadcaster.[23] The song was never specifically written for Eurovision.[24] Following the announcement, AVROTROS received backlash from Dutch social media users because of the decision to select an unknown artist torepresent the Netherlands in the contest, after previously sending unknown artists who usually achieved poor results for the country.[25]
The song was revealed on 7 March 2019. Shortly after its release, the Netherlands became the leader of the betting odds;[26][27] by April 2019, AVROTROS revealed they had a hosting plan on hand in case of a Dutch victory in Eurovision, written years beforehand,[28] andThe Hague had already applied a bid for hosting the following contest, might Laurence take home the trophy.[29]
On 14 April 2019 Laurence performed "Arcade" during theLondon Eurovision Party, which was held at theCafé de Paris venue inLondon.[30] In addition to international appearances, promotional activities also occurred within the Netherlands where he performed at live events, radio shows and talk shows. On 6 April, he performed during theEurovision in Concert event which was held at theAFAS Live venue inAmsterdam, and on 1 May he performed at a sold-out solo concert which was held at the Zonnehuis in Amsterdam.[31]
On 14 May 2019, the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest was held at theExpo Tel Aviv inTel Aviv, hosted by theIsraeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan). Laurence performed "Arcade" sixteenth on the evening, qualifying for the grand final.[32] The performance of the song featured him sitting behind an electric grand piano, with three backing vocalists supporting him offstage. DeLange and the Netherlands' creative team decided that Laurence should sit behind a piano on stage, because, him being a singer-songwriter, they wanted to portray him on stage as a musician.[33] Surrounding Laurence and his piano, smoke, water and lighting effects, reminiscent of the official music video, accompanied the performance.[34] During the Eurovision week, the Netherlands remained a favourite to win the competition, according to the bookmakers;[35] shortly before the contest's final, their chances of winning were as high as 46 percent.[36]
On 14 May 2019, the final of the contest was held at the same venue. Laurence performed "Arcade" twelfth on the evening.[37] At the end of voting, it had received the maximum score of 12 points from six national juries, and twice from national audiences.[38] The Netherlands finished third in the jury vote, behindNorth Macedonia andSweden, and second in the televote, behindNorway,[39] but ended up winning the contest with 492 points. After theBelarusian jury's results were revised, the final number of points was 498.[40] It was the first Eurovision victory for the country since1975, when "Ding-a-dong" byTeach-In won. Apart from winning the contest, "Arcade" also won theMarcel Bezençon Press Award.[41] During his victory speech, the artist said: "This is to dreaming big; this is to music first, always."[42]
Upon its release, the track received mostly positive reactions.[45][46] The sound of "Arcade" has been compared to that ofColdplay.Peter Van de Veire, Belgium's Dutch-language Eurovision commentator, said that the gravity of the song's lyrics and composition would appeal to Eurovision viewers.[47] Editors of the Eurovision fan siteWiwibloggs praised the emotional atmosphere of "Arcade" and gave the song an average score of 9.15 out of 10.[48] Dan Niazi from ESCXtra, another Eurovision fan site, said he was not prepared for a song "as good and as perfectly produced as Arcade" to represent the Netherlands. He praised the song's composition and lyrical content, and thought the song had "the potential of changing the face of the contest for good", comparing the song toLoreen's "Euphoria",Sweden's 2012 entry.[49]OGAE members placed the song third overall, behindSwitzerland's andItaly's entries.[50]
Upon the Eurovision semi-final, reactions to the simplistic performance were mixed.The Telegraph's Charlotte Runcie found that "the song deserves to do well, but the pared-back staging was in danger of being forgettable".[51] Heidi Stephens, reporter forThe Guardian, found the Dutch performance "bleak, but hauntingly beautiful".[52] Writing forThe Independent, Rob Holley found that "Arcade" was well performed,[53] and although he feared that the performance was underwhelming for Eurovision standards, he thought the Netherlands were the biggest contenders for victory.[54] The BBC's commentator for the semi-finals,Rylan Clark-Neal, put the Netherlands in his top five.[55]
Following its Eurovision victory, "Arcade" reached the weekly charts of 26 European countries, peaking at number one in Belgium, Estonia, Iceland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; it was subsequently certified quadruple platinum in the latter. Starting in late 2020, "Arcade" went viral onTikTok, resulting in renewed success on various weekly charts, including in the United States, where the song became asleeper hit. It debuted at number 100 on theBillboard Hot 100 on 17 April 2021,[61] and peaked at number 30 by 4 September.[62]
On 18 May 2021, during the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, Laurence received a Global Platinum certification for over a billion streams of "Arcade" worldwide. He was presented the award by the event's co-presenterEdsilia Rombley.[63]
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 15. týden 2021 in the date selector. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
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