Eurovision 2024 final under the shadow of the conflict in Gaza

2024-05-11 08:36:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

On Saturday, the 68th ESC final takes place in Malmoe, Sweden. Around 26 countries are represented in the biggest music competition in the world. Until now, the Croatian song by Baby Lasagna was considered the most likely, but shortly before the final, the Israeli song by Eden Golan, the 20-year-old representative from Israel, is being mentioned more and more, which is in the second place among the songs with the most chances the victory.

Eurovision is not meant to be political, just a big celebration of music. However, the conflict in Gaza has accompanied this musical celebration these days. Although the European broadcasters' union, the EBU, tries to prevent the conflict in Gaza from overshadowing the music, protests have accompanied the event. Eurovision 2024 has been accompanied by widespread protests against Israel's participation in the music contest.

Thousands of people in Malmö these days demanded the exclusion of Israel because of the offensive in Gaza. That politics has had an effect on Eurovision was noticed even two years ago, when Russia started the war in Ukraine. Then the Kalush Orchestra won, accompanied by an extraordinary support of the public. Ukrainian representatives used the victory for political messages. Police are on high alert in Malmoe on Saturday and are being supported by police forces from Denmark and Norway.

Germany criticizes calls for the exclusion of Israel

The German government has criticized calls for a boycott of Israel from Eurovision. The Minister of State for Culture, Claudia Roth (Greens) has called these calls "absolutely unacceptable". "Especially in these times we need more cultural cooperation between Europe and Israel," Roth wrote on the X platform, adding that "anti-Semitism, hatred and violence have no place at this important musical event, as well as racism and anything form of hostility to humanity".

Meanwhile, an incident during the general rehearsals caused the representative of the Netherlands to be excluded from the second general rehearsals of the final. The reason for this is the further investigations regarding an incident with the musician, writes the German news agency, dpa. It is not clear what is involved in this incident, the Swedish media have announced a slap from the representative of the Netherlands, and this case is being considered.

Albania with Besa's song "Titan" failed to qualify for the finals. Germany is represented with Isaak and the song "Always on the run"./ DW