Eurovision Song Contest
One of the survivors of the Oct. 7, 2023 invasion and massacre of Israelis by Hamas forces will represent her county at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 24-year-old aspiring singer Yuval Raphael — who escaped the mass killing of hundreds at Israel’s Nova Music Festival — punched her card this week to sing for her nation at this year’s contest in Basel, Switzerland after she won the 11th season of Israel’s singing competition Rising Star. The victory resulted in her being tapped to represent Israel at the global sing-off.
Previous Eurovision representatives from Israel who went on to Eurovision after winning the show include Israeli singer Netta, who won Eurovision in 2018; pop stars Noa Kirel and Eden Golan finished in third and fifth place, respectively, over the last two years.
According to THR, Raphael won Rising Star on Wednesday (Jan. 22) after performing a stripped-down version of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” a nod to the Swedish pop supergroup that blew up after their 1974 Eurovision win; she also performed a cover of Sam Smith’s 2015 Oscar-winning song James Bond Spectre track “Writing’s on the Wall.”
In addition to praising her vocal abilities, the show’s judges said Raphael’s gripping personal story of surviving the massacre resonated with them. The singer described running away from the EDM festival and taking cover inside a public bomb shelter outside of Kibbutz Be’eri, where she hid in a cramped cement bunker, trapped under dead bodies as she herself played dead for more than eight hours to escape being murdered by Hamas invaders.
The singer who is fluent in English, French and her native Hebrew, was rescued by the father of another Nova attendee, who drove into the battle zone to save his daughter, and others’, lives. “Every time we [those who were still alive] raised our heads, we couldn’t understand why there were less and less people in the bomb shelter,” Raphael said in a March 2024 speech in front of the UN Human Rights Council on behalf of the Jerusalem Institute of Justice. “We thought the terrorists were taking the dead bodies. We didn’t realize it was because of the grenades, blowing up their bodies.”
Raphael has been an advocate for Israel over the past year and has said that she hopes, “the world will hear a first-person account of what I went through and have been dealing with every day, so no one could claim otherwise.” The Oct. 7 assault in which Hamas militants killed, sexually assaulted and abused more than 1,200 mostly civilian Israelis and took 251 hostages led to a nearly three-year war between Israel and Hamas that ended over the weekend thanks to a tenuous ceasefire.
The world’s biggest music event — which regularly draws 200 million viewers in more than 40 countries — is headed into its 69th year. Typically averse to any displays of political speech or nationalism, the European Broadcasting Union defended the inclusion of an Israeli contestant last year in the midst of the war that Palestinian authorities said resulted in the death of more than 46,000 residents of Gaza. As some called for Israeli contestant Eden Golan to be left off the stage in much the same way that Russia was uninvited in 2022 following its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the singer faced boos when she sang “Hurricane” on the show. Golan, who finished fifth, later said she faced death threats during her run in last year’s contest.
The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest is setting up roots in the northern Swiss town of Basel. Organizers announced the news on Friday (August 30), revealing that the 69th edition of the international singing competition will visit Switzerland for a third time next May 13, 15 and 17 when it sets up shop Basel’s 12,000-capacity St. Jackobshalle Arena; Eurovision previously took place in Lugano for the very first edition in 1956 and Lausanne in 1989.
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Switzerland took home the top prize in the inaugural year of Eurovision, when Lys Assia’s “Refrain” came out on top and then won again in 1988 when Celine Dion triumphed with “Ne partez pas sans moi.” Following last year’s win by Swiss singer Nemo, riverside town Basel, the third largest city in the country, was tapped to host this year after beating out Geneva for the honor.
Nemo thrilled the crowd last year in Malmö Arena in Sweden when the singer — who identifies as non-binary, representing the first Eurovision win by a non-binary act — performed their song about coming to terms with their identity.
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The annual Eurovision finals are one of the most-watched TV events of the year, with the 2024 edition drawing in more than 160 million viewers. According to a release announcing next year’s host, the two Swiss cities who were the final candidates were chosen according to criteria including hotel capacity, security, available venues, sustainability, transportation infrastructure and experience with large events.
“The EBU is thrilled that Basel has been selected as the Host City for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025,” said Eurovision executive supervisor Martin Österdahl in a statement. “The Contest was born in Switzerland in Lugano back in 1956 and it’s great to be bringing it back to its birthplace almost 70 years later. Basel’s strategic location at the crossroads of Europe makes it the ideal setting for an event that celebrates the power of music to connect people across borders.”
He continued, “With its unique blend of tradition and innovation, Basel reflects the spirit of the Eurovision Song Contest. The city’s exceptional St. Jakobshalle venue and outstanding hospitality will ensure a memorable experience for delegations, artists and fans alike. Following Contests in the Italian and French speaking parts of the country in 1956 and 1989 we’re also excited to bring the Eurovision Song Contest to German Switzerland for the very first time.”
Basel, a town of 177,000 situated on the River Rhine, is one of the country’s cultural capitals, home to dozens of museums and world-class architecture. Tickets for the nine 2025 shows, including dress rehearsals, are expected to go on sale in the next few months.
Check out the 2025 announcement below.
With their groundbreaking anthem to gender nonconformity “The Code,” Swiss pop artist Nemo transformed from a lesser-known European artist to a bona fide global star in a matter of weeks.
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That’s in no small part thanks to their participation in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, which they won on May 11, 2024. “I remember being on that sofa, hearing the jury votes and just being in a state of complete confusion,” they tell Billboard. “It was incredible. And it was really meaningful because I feel like this kind of [opportunity] doesn’t really happen for Switzerland that often. We have such a great scene and so many amazing artists, so I’m really happy that this puts a spotlight on Swiss music.”
Nemo is eager to share that spotlight with the nonbinary community, both in Switzerland and across the world. “It can be hard to stay hopeful when bad things keep happening to our community over and over again,” they say. “But this helps me feel like there are finally things to be hopeful about.”
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FOUNDATION
Nemo’s career started from a place of sheer curiosity. At age nine, the singer found a flyer in their hometown advertising open auditions for a youth opera and joined. After one performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, they came to a realization: “I love being on a stage.” Nemo went on to perform in a number of operas and even landed a role in a musical in Zurich, all of which helped hone their vocal skills and educate them on writing lyrics. In 2015, they self-released Clownfisch, an EP of songs written in Swiss German. But soon after its release, Nemo realized that writing and performing songs in their native dialect could only get them so far. “Swiss German is great, but it is also a tiny language,” they say. “If I wanted to open my playing field and collaborate with more people, I needed to start writing in English.”
DISCOVERY
After a decade spent jumping between boutique indie labels, Nemo decided to submit a song to Eurovision 2024 — but knew they needed someone “to direct that water.” They reached out to multiple major labels and found what they were looking for at Universal Music Group. Soon after, Nemo submitted an original song, “The Code,” which fittingly interpolates The Magic Flute. The frenetic, operatic track won Eurovision’s top prize by 44 points over the favorite to win, Croatia’s Baby Lasagna. In taking home the trophy, Nemo became the first nonbinary performer to win Eurovision — and has since watched “The Code” become their first charting hit, climbing to Nos. 21 and 52 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. and Billboard Global 200 charts, respectively. “Jumping into the cold water that is Eurovision meant learning how to swim while everyone was watching,” they say.
FUTURE
With so much momentum, Nemo is resolute in making the most of their moment. Following the “very time-consuming” process of curating their Eurovision performance, Nemo has now been spending a significant amount of time in the studio. “The last couple of days, I’ve worked with some amazing writers and producers, and we have so many songs that I want to share,” they say, beaming. “A lot of exciting things are finally happening.”
A version of this article originally appeared in the June 22, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Defying the odds, Switzerland won the 68th Eurovision Song Contest with “The Code” by Nemo on Saturday (May 11) at the Malmö Arena in Sweden. It’s the perfect bookend as Switzerland won the very first competition in 1956 with “Refrain” by Lys Assia. This is the European nation’s third win and the first since Celine Dion claimed victory with “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi” in 1988.
Croatia was tipped to take the 2024 crown, and in the end, it did come down to the two countries vying for first place. Switzerland took a commanding lead with the jury vote, which is always announced first. Adding in the audience votes at the end usually provides for a dramatic ending, and it could have gone either way, but Switzerland collected enough points from the public to maintain its lead. It would have been Croatia’s first win out of 29 tries; it is the country’s best result to date, after three top five finishes — in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
Nemo, who identifies as non-binary, received the microphone-shaped glass trophy from the hands of Loreen, who won Eurovision in 2023 for Sweden with “Tattoo.” Nemo has been releasing music in Switzerland since 2015. They competed on Switzerland’s version of The Masked Singer in 2021-22 and was unveiled as the Panda in fifth place.
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It was a Eurovision Song Contest with more drama than in recent memory. Joost Klein from the Netherlands was disqualified after the semi-finals because of an alleged backstage incident. Alanna Mele, designated to be the spokesperson to give Norway’s jury points on air, withdrew the day of the final with a statement that ended with “Free Palestine.” Slimane from France unexpectedly stopped his performance during Saturday afternoon’s (May 11) dress rehearsal for a message of love and peace. Bambie Thug from Ireland protested to the European Broadcasting Union about remarks from the Israeli commentator and missed one of her rehearsals.
One of the biggest questions of the night was whether would ABBA appear, 50 years after giving Sweden its first Eurovision victory with “Waterloo.” While the four members did not appear in person in Malmö, they were represented by their avatars in London, where the virtual show Voyage has been playing for two years. While most of their dialog about their Eurovision win was directly from the show, they did add comments wishing everyone well in Malmö.
Nemo’s win means that Switzerland will host Eurovision in 2025. Cities in that nation can vie to host. Switzerland previously hosted Eurovision in Lugano and Lausanne.
The top 10 countries for Eurovision 2024 and their combined points from the jury and public votes are:
Switzerland, 591
Croatia, 547
Ukraine, 453
France, 445
Israel, 375
Ireland, 278
Italy, 268
Armenia, 183
Sweden, 174
Portugal, 152
Norway finished last with 16 points. The U.K. entry “Dizzy” by Ollie Alexander, did not fare well with the juries, receiving 46 points, but completely failed with the public, being the only nation to receive zero points from viewers voting by telephone, website, SMS and the Eurovision app.
The lineup of songs for the 68th annual Eurovision Song Contest is now set. Ten of the 16 songs performed in the second semifinal on Thursday (May 9) join the 10 qualifiers from semifinal 1 plus the six pre-qualified entries, for a total of 26 songs competing live in the grand final on Saturday (May 11).
Among the 10 new countries joining the list are Georgia, with former American Idol singer Nutsa Buzaladze leading the charge with “Firefighter,” and Switzerland, with Nero’s “The Code” tipped to be the second favorite by the oddsmakers.
Georgia first competed in Eurovision in 2007 and hasn’t performed in the grand final since 2016, when Nika Kocharov and and Young Georgian Lolitaz placed 20th with “Midnight Gold.” The nation failed to qualify from the last six semifinals, but Nutsa has put them back in the running.
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Only seven countries participated in the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, including Switzerland, which hosted and won with “Refrain” by Lys Assia. Switzerland won again in 1988 with Celine Dion singing “Ne Partez Pas Son Moi,” so if Nemo can pull off a win, it will be Switzerland’s first victory in 36 years.
The other eight countries to qualify in the second semifinal are Armenia, Austria, Estonia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Netherlands and Norway. The six countries that were relegated are Alabnia, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Malta and San Marino.
The qualifiers from semifinal 1 are Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine.
The six pre-qualified countries are France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and host country Sweden.
results of the competition, with 10 countries out of 15 moving forward into the grand final on Saturday (May 11) and five countries going home. Most notable among the 10 winning countries are Luxembourg, which returned to the pan-European competition this year after a 31-year absence, and Ireland, which holds the record for the most wins with Sweden at seven each.
However, Ireland has failed to qualify for the grand final 11 times since the semi-finals were introduced in 2005. Bambie Thug breaks that spell with “Doomsday Blue,” a self-described “electro-metal breakdown.” Thug (real name: Bambie Ray Robinson) is the first non-binary artist to represent Ireland in Eurovision and will be the first Irish contestant in the competition since Ryan O’Shaugnessy placed 16th with “Together” in 2018.
Thug’s entry is expected to place high in the grand final rankings. If they end up in the top 5, it will be Ireland’s biggest Eurovision success since Marc Roberts’ “Mysterious Ways,” which finished second to Katrina & the Waves winning U.K. entry, “Love Shine a Light” in 1997.
Talia, an Israeli-born singer living in Luxembourg, will be the first person from that small European country, the only grand duchy (a country ruled by a monarch with the title of grand duke or duchess) remaining in the world, to sing in Eurovision since Modern Times placed 20th with “Donne-Moi Une Chance” in 1993.
The other eight countries that qualified for the grand final are Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Lithuania, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine. The five countries relegated out, by public vote during the live broadcast, are Australia, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Moldova and Poland.
The oddsmakers have Croatia heavily tipped to win; it would be that nation’s first victory in 30 attempts, although Riva, a band from Croatia, triumphed in 1990 when their country was still part of Yugoslavia.
A second semi-final will be broadcast live on Thursday (May 9). There will be 16 countries fighting for a spot in the grand final top 10 that night: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, San Marino and Switzerland.
Pre-qualified, and thus able to skip the semi-finals, are the host country (Sweden) and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), so-named because they contribute the largest amounts to the production budget.
Semi-final No 2 of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest will be live on Peacock in the U.S. on Thursday, May 9, starting at 3pm EDT/12 noon PDT. The grand final will also be live, on Saturday, May 11 at the same times.
The first of three live broadcasts of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest yielded the initial results of the competition, with 10 countries out of 15 moving forward into the grand final on Saturday (May 11) and five countries going home.
Most notable among the 10 winning countries are Luxembourg, which returned to the pan-European competition this year after a 31-year absence, and Ireland, which holds the record for the most wins with Sweden at seven each.
However, Ireland has failed to qualify for the grand final 11 times since the semifinals were introduced in 2005. Bambie Thug breaks that spell with “Doomsday Blue,” a self-described “electro-metal breakdown.” Thug (real name: Bambie Ray Robinson) is the first nonbinary artist to represent Ireland in Eurovision and will be the first Irish contestant in the competition since Ryan O’Shaugnessy placed 16th with “Together” in 2018.
Thug’s entry is expected to place high in the grand final rankings. If they end up in the top five, it will be Ireland’s biggest Eurovision success since Marc Roberts’ “Mysterious Ways,” which finished second to Katrina & the Waves winning U.K. entry “Love Shine a Light” in 1997.
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Talia, an Israeli-born singer living in Luxembourg, will be the first person from that small European country — the only grand duchy (a country ruled by a monarch with the title of grand duke or duchess) remaining in the world — to sing in Eurovision since Modern Times placed 20th with “Donne-Moi Une Chance” in 1993.
The other eight countries that qualified for the grand final are Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Lithuania, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine. The five countries relegated out, by public vote during the live broadcast, are Australia, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Moldova and Poland.
The oddsmakers have Croatia heavily tipped to win; it would be that nation’s first victory in 30 attempts, although Riva, a band from Croatia, triumphed in 1990 when their country was still part of Yugoslavia.
A second semifinal will be broadcast live on Thursday (May 9). There will be 16 countries fighting for a spot in the grand final top 10 that night: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, San Marino and Switzerland.
Pre-qualified, and thus able to skip the semifinals, are the host country (Sweden) and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), so-named because they contribute the largest amounts to the production budget.
Semifinal No 2 of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest will be live on Peacock in the U.S. on Thursday starting at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT. The grand final will also be live, on Saturday at the same times.
More than two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, the latter nation will once again send one of their best recording acts to the Eurovision Song Contest to represent their beleaguered nation on the world stage. Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil will sing “Teresa & Maria,” a song about the strength, courage and resilience of Ukrainian women at the 68th pan-European competition, which will be held on May 11 in Malmö, Sweden.
Alyona Alyona (real name: Aliona Olehivna Savranenko) and Jerry Heil (real name: Yana Oleksandrivna Shemaieva) were both solo artists before they became a duo. “We knew each other before creating music in common because our market is smaller than America,” Heil explains. “So every artist knows each other, but we started being productive when the big invasion started. I was a refugee [in Sweden at first] and Alyona was volunteering in Ukraine for several months. I kept asking her music producer, ‘Where’s Alyona? Is she coming? Why is she putting herself in danger?” Finally, she came to Europe to generate some donations with concerts. We started doing that together and working on an album which included eight songs. People started texting us, ‘Go to Eurovision.’ At first we said, ‘Ha-ha, of course,’ and here we are.”
“People in Ukraine wanted this,” says Alyona. “So we decided to unite and remind European audiences how united they were in the beginning over the big invasion.” Heil adds, “It’s really important for us because we want people to know that there’s not only war going on in Ukraine. We want you to feel empathy for Ukraine, to feel that we are equal, to feel that we are the same people as you are and to know our culture and to listen to our music. If you don’t know what the music of a country sounds like, you don’t know the face of the nation. You don’t feel anything for them, and we want you to feel something for us because our culture goes so deep in history, and it can bring so many new things to the world. We want you to see it and hear it. And our song has a mission.
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“We talk about people who live maybe not perfect lives and make some mistakes, but in the end, they make kindness. If you unite kindness and love, you can win the war. You can change the world. You can leave something for the children and the children of the children. It’s important,” Alyona says.
Of their Eurovision entry, “Teresa and Maria,” Heil explains that “[Ukrainian] women hold on their shoulders such a heavy world and they still manage to be divas. But we are all born as human beings, so we make mistakes, but in the end, you are defined by your actions.”
In addition to performing at Eurovision, Heil and Alyona have another mission – to raise money for the Velykokostromska School; In July 2023, a Russian missile destroyed its gymnasium and forced closure of the school. Through the government foundation United24, Alyona and Heil have a goal of raising 10 million hryvnia (over $250,000) to rebuild the facility and allow 250 children to return to school.
“A lot of schools were destroyed, but we are working with this particular one,” says Heil. “It was historical and very beautiful,” adds Alyona, “but they destroyed more than 450 schools and education buildings.” “You have to rebuild the past to build the future,” says Heil. Alyona and Heil are offering a prize to one lucky donor. “One person will win a Zoom meeting with us and we can talk with you, we can even sing for you, whatever you want us to do, but something normal!” Heil explains. “You can make a small donation, like $10,” adds Alyona.
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Meanwhile, the two women are promoting their song and appearance at Eurovision while missiles are hitting targets in Ukraine. “The war is a part of our song,” says Heil. “We cannot separate that. The song was created under attack and under alarm. Sometimes we feel like the war is nothing because it has become a part of our lives. But subconsciously we’re always stressed. And leaving the country feels more stressful than coming back here.”
If Alyona and Heil are triumphant in Malmö, this will be Ukraine’s fourth Eurovision victory. In 2004, Ruslana brought the trophy home for the first time with “Wild Dances.” Jamala won in 2016 with “1944,” a song about the deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union. And in 2022, just months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Kalush Orchestra won with “Stefania,” a song about a Ukrainian mother that became a war anthem.
Additionally, if Alyona and Heil do win, music director Tanu Muino, born in Odesa, Ukraine, will have played a part. Having previously worked on videos for Harry Styles (“As It Was”) and Lil Nas X (“Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”), Muino is directing the duo’s stage performance.
“You can imagine what we felt when we realized we were going to work with her,” says Heil. “She is immensely talented and what she does is so significant for us because she’s not only a talented Ukrainian who started working in Hollywood, but she did something which no one in the music industry did before her and we feel so proud of her.” “She’s a part of our culture,” adds Alyona. “So it’s a union of Ukrainian divas.”
The grand final of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest will livestream in the U.S. on Peacock at 3 p.m. ET on May 11.
A wide-ranging group of more than 400 musicians, actors, agents and managers and studio executives signed an open letter to the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest rejecting attempts by some participating countries to bar Israel from participating in this year’s event. Among those lending their names to the letter from the non-profit entertainment industry organization Creative Community for Peace were: Helen Mirren, Liev Schreiber, KISS’ Gene Simmons, Scooter Braun, Boy George, Sharon Osbourne, Emmy Rossum, Mayim Bialik, Debra Messing, Diane Warren and Selma Blair, among many others.
The letter supports the European Broadcasting Union’s commitment to including Israel in this year’s contest amid calls last month from Swedish and Finnish artists demanding Israel’s exclusion from the contest over their belief that including the country “undermines” the spirit of the competition. The letters cited Israel’s ongoing response to the deadly Oct. 7 surprise assault on the nation from Hamas militants in which more than 1,200 Israelis — mostly civilians — were murdered, sexually assaulted and attacked and more than 250 were taken hostage.
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“We have been shocked and disappointed to see some members of the entertainment community calling for Israel to be banished from the Contest for responding to the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” the letter reads. “Under the cover of thousands of rockets fired indiscriminately into civilian populations, Hamas murdered and kidnapped innocent men, women, and children.”
Artist manager Braun added, “Music is a place for unity not division. It is a language that should always bring us together. Artists should never be discriminated against for who they are, who they love, or where they’re born. These boycott efforts do nothing but distract from the uplifting and unifying power of music – something we need now more than ever.”
KISS’ Simmons, who was born in Israel to a Holocaust survivor mother, wrote, “Music unites people from all backgrounds. It’s the one language that everyone can understand. It’s a beautiful thing and a great way to bring people together. Those advocating to exclude an Israeli singer from Eurovision don’t move the needle towards peace, but only further divide the world.”
Last month’s letter from a group of more than 1,000 Swedish artists — this year’s Eurovision will be held in the the Swedish city of Malmö from May 7-11 — requested that Israel be barred from participating over it’s “brutal” response to the Hamas attack, citing the “humanitarian disaster” in Gaza.
“We who sign this are 1,000 artists who believe in music as a unifying force. The Eurovision song contest began as a peace project with the ambition to unite countries and citizens through music,” read the Swedish letter, whose signers included Robyn, First Aid Kit and Fever Ray. “Allowing Israel’s participation undermines not only the spirit of the competition but the entire public service mission. It also sends the signal that governments can commit war crimes without consequences. Therefore, we appeal to the EBU: Exclude Israel from the Eurovision song contest 2024.”
To date, the 130-day war has reportedly led to the deaths of more than 28,000 Palestinians, the destruction of much of the Gaza Strip’s infrastructure and the displacement of more than one million Gazans. The Swedish letter joined earlier, similar requests to exclude Israel from more than 1,400 artists in Finland and Iceland.
The open letter from Creative Community for Peace — the first public call of its kind from the entertainment industry voicing unequivocal support of Israel’s inclusion in the contest — highlights Eurovision’s ability to unify people from diverse backgrounds and music’s power to effect positive change in the world.
Other signatories to the open letter include: Julianna Marguiles, Ginnifer Goodwin, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr., Skylar Astin, Atlantic Records Group CEO Julie Greenwald, Universal Music Publishing Group CEO Jody Gerson, Warner Records CEO Aaron Bay-Schuck, Patricia Heaton, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Disturbed’s David Draiman, Tom Arnold, Columbia Pictures chairman Tom Rothman and MRC co-founder/co-CEO Modi Wiczyk.
The letter notes that Israel has a long and storied Eurovision history — including hosting in 1979, 1999 and 2019 and winning in 1978, 1979, 1998 and 2018 — while offering up a diverse group of contestants representing the Palestinian, Ethiopian and LGBTQIA+ communities. “Furthermore, we believe that unifying events such as singing competitions are crucial to help bridge our cultural divides and unite people of all backgrounds through their shared love of music,” it reads.
“The annual Eurovision Song Contest embodies this unifying spirit. Every year, millions of people across Europe and around the world join in a massive display of cultural exchange and celebration of music. Those who are calling for Israel’s exclusion are subverting the spirit of the Contest and turning it from a celebration of unity into a tool of politics.” Click here to see the full letter.
Angelina Mango won Sanremo 2024 on Saturday (Feb. 10) with the song “La Noia” (“The Boredom”). She is the first female artist to triumph at Italy’s historic song contest in the last 10 years; the previous one being Arisa in 2014 with her song “Controvento.” Mango will therefore represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest […]
Israel’s participation in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest has been challenged in a petition signed by more than 1,400 members of the Finnish music community calling for a band due to what signatories labelled as the nation’s “war crimes” in the midst of the now-four-month old war against Hamas militants.
According to The Guardian, the Finnish musicians have joined an earlier effort by Icelandic artists to ban Israel from this year’s competition, slated to be held in the Swedish city of Malmö in May. “It is not in accordance with our values that a country that commits war crimes and continues a military occupation is given a public stage to polish its image in the name of music,” read a petition reportedly signed by the Finnish artists, musicians and music industry professionals that also suggested the Finnish Broadcasting Company should boycott the competition and refuse to send a Finnish delegation if the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) — which runs Eurovision — doesn’t weigh in to take action.
Among the artists signing the Finnish petition were Olavi Uusivirta, Paleface and Axel Ehnström, who represented Finland at the 2011 Eurovision as Paradise Oskar. The Icelandic Association of Composers and Lyricists had previously suggested that its members not participate in the show unless Israel is banned.
The effort is similar to the one made in 2022 following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine; Russia was subsequently banned from that year’s contest, which was won by the Ukrainian rap/folk group Kalush Orchestra. At press time a spokesperson for Eurovision 2024 had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment.
Israel launched an assault on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank following a surprise Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel in which more than 1,200 mostly civilian Israeli men, women and children were murdered and sexually assaulted and more than 240 people were taken hostage.
To date, the Israeli military’s response has reportedly killed more than 23,000 people in Gaza — the majority of whom the territory’s health ministry has said were women and children — in a war that Israel’s prime minister has said will not end until it has eliminated the threat from the militant group. On Thursday (Jan. 11), the UN international court of justice in the Hague heard opening arguments in a case accusing Israel of operating with “genocidal intent” in Gaza.
According to the Guardian, the EBU released a statement in December saying Eurovision “is a contest for broadcasters – not for governments – and the Israeli public broadcaster [Ken] has been participating in the contest for 50 years.” At the time, the EBU said Kan “complies with all competition rules” and would be allowed to participate in this year’s event.
According tothe BBC, local Finnish broadcaster YLE had previously sought to draw a distinction between the Russian war of aggression and Israel’s response to the Hamas attack, with YLE rep Ville Vilén recently saying that “As gruesome as it is, [Israel-Hamas] is not a war of inter-state aggression like between Russia and Ukraine.” The Finnish musician who began the petition, reportedly told local paper Hufvudstadsbladet that Israel “violates human rights” and that “we don’t think it’s okay for the country to be part of the Song Contest to polish its image.”
Israel’s place in the competition was also questioned by this year’s UK delegate, Years and Years’ Olly Alexander, who was criticized last month for signing a statement accusing Israel of genocide and referring to it as an “apartheid state.”