Israeli Eurovision contender booed during final as she sang in Hebrew
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Israel’s Eurovision contestant was booed during Saturday’s grand final as the competition descended into chaos.
Eden Golan, Israel’s 20-year-old act, was greeted on the stage in Malmo by a mixture of boos and cheers from the audience in the most anticipated performance of the night.
The booing intensified when the singer switched to Hebrew for her final verse in Hurricane, but Golan was unfazed.
Golan won the second highest number of public televotes in the contest, after Croatia, following days of controversy over her inclusion amid Israel’s war in Gaza. She finished fifth, behind eventual winner Nemo, from Switzerland.
Earlier on Saturday, Golan felt forced to practise her power ballad to the sounds of booing and chants of “free Palestine” in preparation for her performance.
She was filmed singing to the backdrop of her team imitating the sounds of pro-Palestine demonstrators in the lead up to the final.
Pro-Palestinian protesters had shouted at fans outside Malmo Arena in Sweden as they headed into the contest.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg, 21, was removed by Swedish police officers outside the arena.
The demonstrators were on both sides of entrants queuing on Saturday shouting “free Palestine” and “shame”. Several protesters were forcibly detained and taken away by police.
It came as the 68th Eurovision Song Contest looked close to unravelling just hours before the main event after the Netherlands’ act Joost Klein was disqualified, Ireland’s Bambie Thug missed dress rehearsals over an incident with the Israeli broadcaster, France’s Slimane stopped his song to call for peace during a rehearsal performance and two jury spokesmen resigned.
Palestinian flags were waved on Saturday at the Eurovision Grand Finale dress rehearsal in breach of the European Broadcasting Union’s (EBU) strict rules against attendees bringing flags from non-participating countries.
At the same time, Slimane broke protocol by stopping his song Mon Amour and calling for peace onstage amid Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Hours before the final show Alessandra Mele, the Norwegian jury spokesman and a former Eurovision contestant, said she would not announce the points and called for a “free Palestine”.
Finland’s Kaarija said he also would not announce points because it “didn’t feel right”.
It came after Kaarija asked for a video of him dancing with Golan to be taken off social media as he clarified he does not “endorse” Israel’s involvement in the song contest.
Meanwhile, the EBU, which organises Eurovision, was forced to axe Mr Klein’s performance over an unrelated incident.
It announced early on Saturday that the Dutch rapper and singer, 26, could not perform his techno anthem Europapa after allegations of intimidation were made to the Swedish police by a female production member.
The Dutch broadcasters AVROTROS later hit out against the EBU for disqualifying Mr Klein.
They explained that he had asked not to be filmed coming off the stage and made a “threatening movement” towards the camerawoman, but clarified that he did not touch her.
The EBU attempted to quash speculation that Mr Klein’s disqualification had anything to do with the Israel controversy as it battled to keep this year’s competition apolitical.
Chaos was heaped onto the organisers ahead of the final as Ireland’s non-binary act, Bambie Thug, missed a rehearsal to make formal complaints regarding “instances”involving KAN, Israel’s broadcaster.
The singer wrote on Instagram: “Earlier today [the EBU] confirmed to my delegation in front of others that KAN’s commentator had broken the rules of conduct during the Eurovision semi-final 1.”
They apologised to fans for missing the dress rehearsal, but said: “I hope to see you on the stage tonight.” The artist alluded to the incident while speaking to journalists on Friday afternoon, claiming Israel’s involvement in the competition is “not sitting well with any of the contestants” and that it was an “intense atmosphere”.
It came as multiple Eurovision final watch parties across London were cancelled and boycotted to protest against Israel’s involvement in the contest.
When asked about Bambie’s post on Instagram, a spokesman for KAN said: “We wish everyone the best of luck tonight.”
