The big night of European music has finally arrived in Sweden. After months of arduous efforts, preparations and many controversies, the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 has gotten underway at the Malmö Arena. An event preceded by the controversy surrounding the participation of Israel, which in the last few hours has claimed its place in the final in the Netherlands, and a multitude of controversies surrounding the Israeli delegation.
Eden Golan has been the figure around which everything has revolved in recent months. Since the multiple lyric changes of his song Hurricane, due to the various references to the Hamas attack on October 7; going through the singer’s statements, assuring that she would want to enlist again in the army once the contest is over. Despite all the controversies, Israel has performed in sixth position.
On this occasion, the boos and whistles against Golan have been much more evident than in the semifinal he played on Thursday, being heard both at the beginning and at the end of the piece. The applause and cheers from the rest of the Eurofans present in Malmö have also been audible, trying to cover up other people’s criticism. One of the most notorious scenes occurred in the press room, where only the Israeli delegation applauded in the face of silence from the rest of the journalists.
As happened two days ago, social networks have been filled with messages against this performance, with the majority of messages in the Eurovision RTVE tweet asking for the piece to be deleted. The moment of booing has also been immortalized by multiple users on platforms such as
Israel’s situation in the final has become even more muddied after learning of the expulsion of the Netherlands. His representative, Joost Klein, has not been admitted to the decisive gala after a complaint from an organization worker for an alleged assault. The situation arose after several videos emerged where members of the Israeli delegation recorded him without consent and mocked the death of his parents, which he mentioned in the Europapa topic.
“We believe that the disqualification is excessive and we are shocked by the decision. We are deeply sorry and will address this issue later. Clearly against what was agreed, Joost was recorded just after leaving the stage and while he was running towards the waiting room. At that point, Joost reiterated that he did not want to be recorded. This request was not respected,” public television AVROTROS said in a statement.
