Joost Klein, the Dutch entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, has been disqualified from the final of the song competition. An investigation into the singer was opened after a female production employee filed a complaint against Klein. The organizing broadcaster AvroTros calls the exclusion “disproportionate”.
Joost Klein’s big dream was brutally shattered on Saturday afternoon. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organization behind the Eurovision Song Contest, has decided that the Dutch entry will no longer be allowed to participate in the final. The drastic decision came after a female Eurovision production employee filed a complaint against Klein. Both the woman and the singer were interrogated by the police late on Friday evening. “While the legal proceedings take their course, it would not be appropriate for him to continue participating in the Eurovision Song Contest,” the EBU justified its decision in a press release.
It became clear on Friday evening that something was seriously wrong. Joost Klein had to fail to appear before the professional jury. A recording of his performance was shown instead. In the afternoon it came to light that an “incident” had taken place. The circumstances remain vague to this day. The Swedish police told VRT NWS that “unlawful threats” had been made and that the events took place on Thursday evening in the Malmö Arena. Klein then took part in the semi-finals there. The investigation is now in the hands of the public prosecutor and could continue for weeks.
The EBU would rather not wait for the outcome. The organization relies on “a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behaviour”. According to them, the Dutch entry has threatened the safe working environment of the competition staff, which is considered “a violation of the competition rules”. The Netherlands may still award points. These will be distributed on Saturday evening by Nikkie de Jager from Leeuwarden. The “Europe Party” that was to take place there has now been renamed the “Consolation Party”.
“Disproportionate”
The disqualification is extremely hard on our northern neighbors. The organizing broadcaster AvroTros calls the exclusion of its candidate “disproportionate” and is “shocked”. The Dutch public broadcaster (NPO), which is above AvroTros, speaks of a “disappointment” and a “very drastic decision”.
Presenter Cornald Maas, who has been providing commentary for the Eurovision Song Contest for years, lashed out even harder: “Disproportionate and shameful decision,” he said on X. “And one more thing,” he wanted to say, the “incident has nothing to do with Israel or Israeli delegation. Incident hardly amounts to anything. More about that later. It is ‘hell’ for connector Joost Klein and his team.” “Anything can happen in the future with this EBU,” he stated dissatisfied.
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The EBU also wanted to say in its press release that no other participant or delegation member was involved in the “incident”. The organizer is responding to speculation on (social) media that the highly controversial participation for Israel may have something to do with it. Joost Klein had previously made himself noticed at a press conference, where he sat next to Israeli candidate Eden Golan. There, the singer was asked whether she was concerned that her participation could endanger other candidates. After a press attaché told her she didn’t have to answer that, Klein responded: “Why not?” Rumor then went around that Klein wanted to make another statement about Israel, which is waging a bloody war in Gaza.
Scoop
The disqualification of ‘Europapa’, the song by Joost Klein, is a sad first. Never before in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest has a country been excluded from the event. Participations were canceled in advance because songs were submitted too late, or because a country still had a debt to pay off to the EBU, as was the case for Romania for eight years. Political considerations also played a role. For example, Lebanon did not want to broadcast Israel’s song in 2005, after which it had to leave itself. Since 2022, Russia has also no longer participated, because the public broadcaster has too close ties with the government that is waging war in Ukraine.
