During the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden, Israel’s representative, singer Eden Golan, performed. Her performance with the song “Hurricane” was accompanied by applause and booing from some of the audience. In addition, Belgian television cut her number from the live broadcast. Despite these circumstances, the singer successfully made it to the Eurovision final.
Controversial reaction to the performance of Israel’s representative at Eurovision 2024
After months of intense debate and uproar over the performance of Israel’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest, Eden Golan was met with mixed reception in the form of both applause and booing, accompanied by cries of “Palestine” from the audience of over 12,000 people.
According to The Huffington Post, at the EBU and SVT, the Swedish public television station that organized the event, the applause almost completely outnumbered the whistling. It is noted that some of the applause was “prepared” – artificially created. However, spectators in the audience during the semi-final confirmed that the Israeli singer received more support than expected after the mass protests against her participation.
Israeli Eurovision contestant: scandals, audience reaction and internal controversies
The Israeli representative at Eurovision became the object of scandal and criticism from the audience, particularly in the rehearsal performance before the second semi-final, where her performance was accompanied by whistling and booing. This happened against the background of a difficult situation when the Israeli TV company CAN filed an official complaint to the Eurovision organizers, demanding to ensure fair conditions for the performance of its representative. However, even in rehearsals, where there is almost no applause at all, Belgian television temporarily stopped broadcasting her performance, justifying it as a violation by Israel. Recall that Israel had previously agreed to revise the lyrics after comments from the organizers about possible politicization. The representative of Israel, Eden Golan, is of Ukrainian origin, but her position is controversial because her parents are residents of several countries, including Latvia and Ukraine.
Earlier it was published that the duo Alyona Alyona & Jerry Heil successfully made it to the Eurovision final. Now the singers will fight for victory in the final of the contest on Saturday, May 11.