The Eurovision song contest 2024 is approaching and the genre recap is in full swing. However, this year’s semi-finals have not been entirely without setbacks.
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During the second semi-final on Thursday appeared Eden Golan with Israel’s contribution “Hurricane”. Due to the ongoing war in Gaza, Golan’s participation in Eurovision has not been entirely uncontroversial.
In Malmö, where the final will be held, there have been many who have protested against Israel being allowed to participate. The protests held during the second semi-final were estimated by the police to contain between 6,000 and 8,000 people. Including the climate activist Greta Thunberg participated in the demonstration against Israel.
During Eden Golan’s performance in the semi-final, even boos could be heard from the crowd.
The press conference after the second semi-final also appeared to contain protests against Israel. The Eurovision entrant from the Netherlands sat next to Golan – but with a flag for his face. Joost Klein is far from alone in distancing itself from Israel’s participation and the Eden Golan.
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The Eurovision contestant distances himself from Israel’s Eden Golan
In an event on his Instagram, the former Eurovision participant added Dear out a text in which he clearly distances himself from the Golan. There he explains that he met with Israel’s representative and that the meeting was caught on video filmed without his permission.
Käärijä was Finland’s entry in the Eurovision song contest 2023 and ended up in second place with the entry “Cha cha cha”.
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Käärijä in Eurovision 2023. Photo: Heiko Junge/TT. Käärijä on the video with the representative of Israel: “Ask for it to be taken down”
This year he is also in Eurovision but this time as an intermediate act. He also appeared in the second semi-final this year, i.e. the same semi-final in which Eden Golan appeared.
On his Instagram, Käärijä writes the following:
“I happened to meet with the representative of Israel today, and a video was filmed by us. Then it was posted on social media without my permission. Despite my request for it to be taken down, it has not been taken down. I would like to clarify and and emphasize that it is not a political stance or endorsement of any kind.”
Watch the Instagram event below.
Photo: Screenshot/Instagram @paidatonriehuja.
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