Six countries, including Switzerland, threatened to leave Eurovision 25 minutes before the ceremony started

eurovision 2024 It was on the brink of collapse just minutes before its final celebration was to begin. Six countries considered quitting in protest of two major controversies that plagued the festival’s 68th edition: Critical participation of Israel and the surprising removal of the Netherlands representative,

Norway, Greece, United Kingdom, Portugal, Ireland And Swiss (competition winner) They kept fighting until the last moment. According to the Norwegian newspaper VG, the delegations of these countries held an emergency meeting European Broadcasting Union (event organiser) when there were only 25 minutes left for the broadcast to start.

“Many of us reacted to Israel’s opportunity to use Eurovision as its political tool. That’s why we thought about backing out until the last moment,” he says. Magnus BormarkMember of the Norwegian candidacy.

It was already known that the Norwegians had threatened to withdraw from the contest, but it was unknown that five other countries were also involved in that rebellion.

They were uncomfortable with the fact that the EBU did not prevent Israel from participating along with Russia, Despite the fact that the Israeli attack on Gaza had already resulted in more than 34,000 deathsmostly civilians. They were upset by some of the behavior of that country’s delegation and the tension created by this situation turned violent.

“Our shared point was that we didn’t want to compete and be used and branded in the war propaganda machine in Israel. We participate to create a space where we can unite in music, not in a political situation where everyone chooses sides and hates each other,” says the guitarist.

But there is more. These countries also did not like the fact that the EBU disqualified the representative of the Netherlands when there were only a few hours left in the Eurovision Grand Final. Joost Klein He was expelled from the competition for allegedly “behaving inappropriately” with a human team worker who made the broadcast possible.

The possibility of mass desertions was on the table. Ireland did not take part in Saturday’s rehearsal and Switzerland and Greece did not join in the traditional flag parade.

At last, with barely half an hour left for the ceremony to begin, Important countries reached an agreement with the EBU and Swedish television SVTfestival organisers. Otherwise, Eurovision would have experienced its most turbulent night and Switzerland, of course, would not have won this edition.