Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest met urgently this Saturday afternoon due to the backlash caused by the disqualification of the Dutch representative in the competition, the final of which will begin at 20:00 in Malmö, Sweden.
This was reported by the EuropaPresse agency, which also claims that the Israeli delegation was placed in a separate room from the delegations of other competing countries.
Hours before the final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest, the competition is experiencing moments of tension.
On Saturday morning, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed the exclusion of Dutch representative Joost Klein from the competition after it suspended him from rehearsals on Friday.
According to the EBU, “Swedish police are investigating a complaint made by a female crew member following an incident following Jost Klein’s performance in the semi-final on Thursday night.”
In a statement released this Saturday, the EBU said it has a “zero tolerance” policy for inappropriate behavior at the event and is “committed to providing a safe environment for all personnel” working at the competition.
The Dutch channel Avrotros, responsible for the Netherlands’ participation in the competition, considered the exclusion of the participant “disproportionate” and was “shocked by this decision”, assuring that it would return to the topic “later”.
According to this channel, Jost Klein told the organization that he did not want to be filmed at the end of his performance in the second semi-final. However, the singer was approached by a camera and ended up making a threatening gesture to the device operator, he claims.
In addition, Norwegian media reported that Great Britain, Italy, Switzerland and Portugal were considering withdrawing from the competition on Friday night. However, until 18:30 this Saturday, representatives of these countries continued to compete.
Meanwhile, Israeli television KAN confirmed on social media that the EBU asked the channel’s delegation participating in the competition to move to a different room from where the rest of the delegations are located.
While there is no official reason for the change, EuropaPress reports that throughout the week, members of several delegations reported that members of the Israeli delegation were following them to film them after they made some sort of Palestine-related gesture.
On Friday, Spanish public radio broadcaster RTVE, through a delegation present in Malmö, asked the EBU to guarantee freedom of press and opinion during the festival following an incident involving a Spanish journalist in the press room.
Spanish journalist Juanma Fernandez reported that four men accredited by the Israeli delegation tried to intimidate him by shouting “Free Palestine” after an Eden Golan rehearsal.
The 68th Eurovision Song Contest is marked by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has lasted for decades but intensified following the October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas, which killed nearly 1,200 people. Led by Benjamin Netanyahu, they responded with an offensive that killed more than 34,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to reports from both sides.
Since it became known that Israel, represented by Eden Golan, will be participating in the competition, political representatives and European artists have made several requests to the EBU to veto the country’s participation in the competition.
Thousands of people marched through the streets of Malmo on Thursday calling for Israel to be excluded from the competition. The protest was repeated on Saturday afternoon.
According to the Spanish agency EFE, the “Stop Israel, for Peace and Free Palestine” platform, which unites more than 60 organizations, called for the demonstrations.
Israel, which is one of 25 countries that will take part in the Eurovision final this Saturday, was the first non-European country to take part in the music competition in 1973, and has won four times, including with transgender singer Dana. International, 1998.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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