Dutch Eurovision entry Claude will be hoping to restore the Netherlands’ pride in this years’ competition when he takes to the stage in Tuesday night’s semi-final in Switzerland.

The 21-year-old is not among the favourites for the contest, but received a boost in an audience poll taken after the dress rehearsals, where he was the second most popular act.

Sweden’s KAJ – a Finnish band from the country’s Swedish-speaking minority community who are the bookies’ favourites to win the competition – topped the poll.

Claude’s song, C’est La Vie, is written in a mix of English and French, reflecting the singer’s origins in Boma, a port town in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He fled to the Netherlands at the age of nine with his mother, whose life story is the subject of the song. “She always taught me that life is not always easy, but you should always try to look for the chinks of light,” he has said.

Last year’s Dutch contestant, Joost Klein, was controversially disqualified from the final after a camerawoman complained he had threatened her during a rehearsal.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said Klein’s behaviour was “in clear breach of contest rules”, but the Swedish prosecution service later dropped the investigation against him. Klein’s song, Europapa, was among the favourites to win the contest.

Claude is number 13 out of the 15 acts in the running order for the first semi-final in Basel. Spain, Italy and Switzerland will also be performing, even though they have automatically qualified for the final. The top 10 songs will perform in Saturday’s grand final.