Eleni Foureira set fire to the stage in Malmo, Sweden in the first semi-final of Eurovision 2024, while Palestinian flags and symbols have been banned, Swedish-Palestinian artist Eric Saade appeared with a Palestinian headscarf tied to his hand. The first semi-final was full of spectacular effects, impressive creations and outstanding performances.
The night opened with three artists who participated and competed in the past and although they did not win, they stood out and were loved by the audience. The Swede Eric Saade, who represented his country in 2011, last year’s representative of Spain, Chanel and Eleni Foureira (Cyprus, 2018) performed the songs with which they had competed. Petra Mede and Malin Akerman welcomed the European audience after Loreen had won last year’s Eurovision, held in Liverpool, with the song ‘Tattoo’.
Eleni Foureira – Fire #Eurovision 2024 pic.twitter.com/MNwD1HlO2R
— Gabriel 🇦🇹 (@vodimtenigranku) May 7, 2024
Silia Kapsis and Cyprus qualified for the final
The competition section of the first semi-final was opened by Silia Kapsis with “Liar” for Cyprus and she really impressed. The composer of the song is Dimitris Kontopoulos.
The young lady was accompanied by four male dancers in cargo pants and baggy white T-shirts. There were no stage props, but lots of green and red graphics on both the LED screens and the stage floor.
Eric Saade sang with a Palestinian scarf in his hand
While Palestinian flags and symbols have been banned from the Eurovision Song Contest, whose semi-finals are currently underway, at the opening act of the First Semi-Final at the Malmo Arena, Eric Saade appeared with a Palestinian headscarf tied around his hand.
The Swedish-Palestinian artist had represented Sweden in 2011, even winning third place and was chosen to open the song contest with others. He appeared in the semi-final Live Show with a Palestinian headscarf tied around his hand.
Eric Saade had supported the expulsion of Israel from the contest to occupy Palestine and the attack on Gaza. Israel normally participates in the contest, even though its song has been labeled as political.
Some news from Eurovision
The Swedish-Palestinian artist Eric Saade (who came in third place in ESC 2011) showed up in the opening act with a keffiyeh and a Palestinian flag 🇵🇸 to protest Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest amidst the genocide in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/F8CTnNFr0R
– Omar El Fares 🇵🇸🍉 Omar El Fares (@3lfares) May 7, 2024
Eric Saade – Popular #Eurovison pic.twitter.com/PvWYTchyVj
— Gabriel 🇦🇹 (@vodimtenigranku) May 7, 2024
EBU will not upload Eric Saade’s performance to Social Networks
The organizing authority of Eurovision 2024, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), “expressed its sadness” that the Swedish artist, of Palestinian origin, “did not respect the non-political nature of the contest”, and cut the singer’s quote from social networks .
Characteristically, in its relevant response to the Israeli media outlet Euromix, the EBU noted the following: “The Eurovision Song Contest is a live show. All participants are aware of the rules of the contest and we apologize that Eric Saade chose to compromise the non-political nature of the event. The European Broadcasting Union promises to look into the matter and provide answers later. At this point, the European Broadcasting Union decided not to upload the Swedish-Palestinian singer’s quote on social networks.
Johnny Logan and ‘Euphoria’
An emotional moment of the evening was when Johnny Logan appeared as the semi-final’s interval act, performing ‘Euphoria’, the track that Loreen won the competition with in 2012. Logan was the first artist to win the singing competition of Eurovision twice in 1980 and 1987 (and then won for a third time in 1992 as a lyricist).
Fourty years on; he’s still got it. Amazing from Johnny Logan📺😍🇮🇪 #eurovision2024 #Ireland pic.twitter.com/hvPeiTu0Nc
— Deric (@deric_tv) May 7, 2024
The countries that qualified
The ten countries that qualified for the grand final of Eurovision were 100% voted by the television audience. Of the Big 5, Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as host Sweden, showed up and voted tonight. All three countries advance directly to the final on May 11.
- Cyprus
- Serbia
- Lithuania
- Ireland
- Ukraine
- Poland
- Croatian
- Iceland
- Slovenia
- Finland
- Moldova
- Azerbaijan
- Australia
- Portugal
- Luxembourg
#Eurovision #Palestinian #scarf #hand #Eric #Saade #explosive #appearance #Foureira #happened #SemiFinal #Video
