The Netherlands: This is it: the public-inspired song for the new Dutch king Willem-Alexander -initial reaction: "horribly pretentious"

Willem-Alexanderand Maxima

A song for the new king, inspired by texts contributed by members of the public, had its first airing on Friday, sung by the likes of Marco Borsato and Trijntje Oosterhuis and with a rap from Lange Frans.

The music of the song for king Willem-Alexander was composed by John Ewbank and has been criticised for its similarity to Matt Redman's 10.000 Reasons.

The song will be sung at a concert in the Ahoy stadium on April 30 to celebrate Willem-Alexander's investiture.

Initial reactions to the song have been negative so far. On Twitter it has been described as 'horribly pretentious', as sounding like a Eurovision Song Contest entry and a good reason for Willem-Alexander to move to Argentina.

Click here to hear the song "Het Koningslied "

Read more: DutchNews.nl - This is it: the public-inspired song for king Willem-Alexander