This edition of Eurovision is giving a lot to talk about. The presence of Israel as a participant in the contest has angered millions of global fans of the contest, who believe that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) should have expelled the country from the festival as they did with Russia in 2022.
The Israeli’s performance in the second semi-final of the competition was marked by incessant booing in the stadium. However, the organization decided to broadcast a series of canned applause on television to calm the waters.
After watching the different shows from all the competing countries (and from Spain, France and Italy on behalf of the Big Five), the presenters announced that voting was officially open.
The result of the popular vote left many fans of the format in shock, since big favorites like Belgium and the Czech Republic were left out. Those qualified were Georgia, Netherlands, Greece, Estonia, Austria, Israel, Latvia, Switzerland, Norway and Armenia.
Israel’s passage to the final caused a great popular shock. In addition to hundreds of criticisms online from Eurovision followers, some of the artists were encouraged to give their opinion freely at the press conference after the gala.
This is the case of the Latvian singer, Dons, who did not mince words about positioning himself. A journalist asked an innocent question to the artist who has given a lot of talk: ”What message would you like to give to all of Latvia?”
”Today was a very special day in my life. I have never been so proud to be Latvian. We are the only country in the world that is shaped like a butterfly. A butterfly symbolizes hope and freedom, because to be a butterfly you have to fly and you have to be free. And every country in the world deserves to be free,’ he declared, clearly referring to Palestine.
The Latvian’s speech has caused a stir online and hundreds of people have dedicated comments of support and gratitude to him: ”Dons Limpio represents me”, ”His mind”, ”The best answer I could have given ”, ”What an elegant way to say it”, etc.
The press conference, in which the Israeli delegation was also present, was full of tension. At one point, a reporter asked the Israeli representative if she thought her presence at the contest could endanger her colleagues. ”You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” the moderator said at that moment, visibly in a hurry. ”Why not?” said the representative of the Netherlands in a tone of indignation.
”I believe we are all here for one reason, one reason only, and the EBU is taking security measures to make this a safe and unifying place for everyone. I think it’s safe for everyone, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t,” Eden Golan responded. It should be noted that both the representative of the Netherlands and the candidate of Greece made faces of boredom and indignation while the Israeli delegation spoke to the press.
