The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 has already been underway since last Tuesday. RTVE and the other public television channels have been preparing for months for this week of music and high flights at the Malmö Arena in Sweden. However, this year’s attention has been completely distorted by the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine. And the participation of the country led by Benjamin Netanyahu has been in the eye of the storm.
From the multiple letter changes in Hurricane to remove references to what happened on October 7, to the statements by representative Eden Golan insisting that she would re-enlist in the Israeli army after the contest, to the massive protest that has occurred this Wednesday in the streets of Malmö. Even with everything, the performance has ended up taking place and has given a lot to talk about.
The performance, in the eyes of the spectators at home, has passed without major complications. However, many social media users have noticed certain strangenesses with the number presented by Golan. From canned applause to unusual large silences in the middle of the song, in addition to several boos being noticed below the various applauses that ended up occurring in the Malmö Arena.
“The soundman trying to silence the whistles during Israel’s performance,” said one user, sharing an image of a confused Homer Simpson at the Springfield nuclear power plant. The video on RTVE’s official Eurovision account has also received a multitude of contrary messages, with X (Twitter) users directly asking Radio Televisión Española to delete the clip.
“The acoustic manipulation of when Israel performs would have been good for us when Manel Navarro performed and the rooster crowed,” another user recalled in one of the highlighted responses. “Wait baby, mom is watching Israel being booed at Eurovision while they turn the volume up all the way so they can’t be heard but without success,” added another comment. This, however, was not the only controversy surrounding Israel in the broadcast.
Within this climate of tension, Belgian public television has started tonight’s live broadcast with a forceful message, directed directly at Israel for its actions in recent months. “We condemn the violations of the Israeli state. Israel is destroying freedom of the press. That is why we are momentarily interrupting the broadcast,” read a poster on a black background broadcast on VRT1 in the moments before the start of the gala.
