Eurovision 2024 will take place this year in Malmo, Sweden. As always, the selection of national teams began at the beginning of the year. Poland will only announce who will sing on our behalf in May in Sweden. Meanwhile, disturbing signals are coming from Scandinavia and Iceland – Finland, Iceland and Norway are threatening to withdraw their participation from the competition if there is room for Israel attacking the Gaza Strip.
Eurovision 2024. Iceland, Finland and Norway want to withdraw?
Exactly two years ago, Russia attacked Ukraine. We didn’t have to wait long for the decision of the European Broadcasting Union, the organizer. Russia was excluded from the competition and it is doubtful whether it will return anytime soon. This type of decision was obvious regardless of the competition’s slogan – Eurovision is supposed to be a celebration of music that unites everyone, free from politics, but it is no secret that politics governs the competition and has a huge impact on it. This time, politics enters the competition due to the actions of Israel, which has been participating in Eurovision for years.
has been at war with the Palestinian Gaza Strip for two months. One of the most militarized countries in the world explains that this time it wants to completely eliminate the terrorist Hamas. However, not only terrorists but also civilians die in military operations. Israel’s brutality is criticized by various circles, including the musical ones involved in Eurovision.
Finland recently called for the elimination of Israel from . The petition was signed by Finnish musicians asking the national broadcaster to put pressure on the EBU on this matter. They point out that in a similar situation Russia was eliminated from the competition – .
The same problems also appeared in Iceland. It didn’t end with local national appeals – the national broadcaster RUV spoke, which was to select the Icelandic candidate for the competition in the next two months. RUV CEO Stefan Eiriksson has addressed the EBU with a statement that the Israeli-Palestinian situation threatens Iceland’s participation in Eurovision.
Unofficially, there is already talk of exactly the same unrest in Norway. It would be an irreparable loss for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. For years, Finland, Iceland and Norway have been submitting very strong candidates to the competition, who, although they do not win, are among the finalists.
The European Broadcasting Union gives the green light to Israel to participate in Eurovision
Meanwhile, the EBU denies the allegations and refuses to equate Israel and Russia. Back in December, a statement was issued that Eurovision is a competition “for broadcasters, not for governments”, and Israel has been participating in Eurovision for 50 years.
The Eurovision Song Contest remains a non-political event, uniting audiences around the world through music. In 2022, as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, the EBU decided to remove Russia from Eurovision because the country would compete on an equal footing with Ukraine. Eurovision is a broadcasting competition. Due to repeated violations of commitments and values by the Russian public broadcaster, Russia has been removed, the EBU said in a statement.
Earlier in the statement it was written: “The EBU has decided that the Israeli public broadcaster complies with all the rules established for the contest. Together with 36 other public broadcasters, it can take part in Eurovision in 2024. At this point, we are seeing huge support for the Israeli candidates taking part in various competitions.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
