Eurovision 2024: Controversy Surrounding Israeli Producer in Malmö Final

This year, Israel is represented by the song “Hurricane”, performed by 20-year-old Eden Golan, one of the youngest participants in the competition. The artist is considered by bookies and some fans as one of the favourites, but her participation in the competition is controversial. She is first the performance during Wednesday’s dress rehearsal was interrupted by pro-Palestinian shouts and boos. During the semi-final concert, it was also heard that she was opposed to being present on the stage: whistles and boos.

Protests against Israel’s participation in the tournament also continued on Saturday, before Eden Golan appeared in the final. At the artist’s performance on Saturday, whistles from the audience were also clearly visible amid the applause.

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The BBC reports that thousands of Palestinian protesters gathered in Malmö, Sweden, where Saturday’s final is taking place. The following people took part in the protests in front of the Malmö Arena: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. According to the British public broadcaster’s website, some of the protesters were reportedly chanting “Eurovision united by genocide”.

Eden Golan herself was supposed to have armed security when she was preparing for the final, and when she wasn’t on stage, she stayed locked in her hotel room – wrote the BBC. The tournament will take place with additional security measures.

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Eden Golan is an Israeli-Russian singer from Tel Aviv. She grew up in Russia, where her parents lived. The 20-year-old finalist started performing on stage at the age of several years as a dancer. In 2015, she participated in the Russian pre-selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. As reported by the official Eurovision website, Golan “draws musical inspiration from different styles, and her big dream is to sing with Beyoncé.

original Eden Golan song lyrics changed after Eurovision organizer doubts. Eden Golan’s original song was titled “October Rain” and, according to the EBU, contained a political reference to the Hamas attack on Israel.

Earlier on Saturday that was announced Dutch artist Joost Klein was excluded from the finals of the competition. He was named one of the favorites of the competition. The European Broadcasting Union said in a statement that “Swedish police have launched an investigation into a complaint filed by a female member of the production team following an incident that occurred after the artist’s performance in the semi-final last Thursday. The organizers also said that it would not be “appropriate for him to continue attending the event” while the proceedings were ongoing. In addition, during the day the media reported that representatives from Ireland, Greece and Switzerland may not appear on stage either.

Bambie Thug, representing Ireland, announced on social media that she had missed the dress rehearsal. “I’m sorry to the fans who came to see me. I hope to see you on stage tonight,” she wrote. The European Broadcasting Union was to hold a special emergency speech on this matter. As the BBC writes, she did it after she filed a complaint regarding the broadcast of her appearance on Israeli television. The singer said the comments made while covering her semi-final performance on Tuesday broke the rules of the competition.

The following participants will take part in the final of this year’s competition, after Tuesday’s semi-final: Teya Dora (Serbia), Iolanda (Portugal), Raiven (Slovakia), Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil (Ukraine), Silvester Telt (Lithuania), Windows95man (Finland), Silia Kapsis (Cyprus), Baby Lasagna (Croatia), Bambie Thug (Ireland), Tali (Luxembourg). To the finals Polish representative Luna was not eligible with the song “The Tower”. On Thursday, the next ten finalists were: Dons (Latvia), Kaleen (Austria), Joost Klein (Netherlands), Gate (Norway), Eden Golan (Israel), Marina Satti (Greece), 5miinust, Puuluup (Estonia), Nemo (Switzerland), Nuca Buzaladze (Georgia) and Ladaniva (Armenia). In addition, without qualification, participation in the final was guaranteed for the hosts – the Swedes and representatives of the so-called big five – Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and France.

This year’s Eurovision hosts are Swedish comedian and TV presenter Petra Mede and Swedish-American actress Malin Åkerman.

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