Threat to Israeli representative
Israel’s representative in the Eurovision Song Contest, Eden Golan, has been in the Swedish host city of Malmo for several days, but has not been seen since rehearsals. The deadly Israeli military attack in Gaza has raised questions about the country’s participation in the contest that declares itself apolitical, but the 68th edition has been marked by the crisis in the Middle East. 20-year-old Golan will perform a love song in the second semi-final (on Thursday 9th). hurricane The third letter was proposed after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) rejected the previous two editions on the grounds that they contained political content, something prohibited in the contest.
The tension over Israeli involvement is clear. About 34,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the war in Gaza. partnership platform Stop Israel for peace and independent Palestine has called for two performances in Malmö: one on Thursday morning and the other on Saturday, the day of the final. It is believed that Israel will qualify for the final, as Eden Golan is ranked 8th among the 37 nations competing in the bet. Swedish police estimate that around 20,000 people could attend both protests, while a counter-march in support of Israel will take place in another area of the city.
Eden Golan in a staging of his song ‘Hurricane’ for Eurovision 2024
The Israeli government has advised against it eurofans Israelis will travel to Malmö – the festival is celebrated with enthusiasm in Israel, which has won it four times (1978, 1979, 1998 and 2018) – and Israel’s internal security services, Shin Bet, to Eden Golan and the Israeli delegation. Told to remain in their hotel rooms and leave only for rehearsals, performances and official appointments. Golan has received death threats on his Instagram account.
“Every person who listens to it can identify with the song on their own level.”
Before the trip to Malmö, the singer gave an interview to the AFP agency in Tel Aviv, in which she refused to talk about the war in Gaza and claimed that she had received “a lot of support and no negative comments” about her song. “Found it. Golan defended that “every person who listens to it can identify with the song on their own level;” Because of the tragedy that we have experienced, our people, our country is connected to it on a very different and deep emotional level,” in reference to the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, which killed 1,170 Israelis, most of them civilians, and kidnapped about 250. taken.
Strong security with more police
Malmö has doubled its police force. These days, Swedish agents – who walk around more heavily armed than usual – are supported by Norwegian and Danish police. Entry controls at festival sites have been tightened, and the Malmö Arena stage will be surrounded by guards. About one lakh tourists visit the city.
It remains to be seen how the audience at Malmö Arena, which will host the ceremonies, will react to Eden Golan’s performance: whether to applaud or wow, or both. Hundreds of musicians have called for Israel to be excluded from Eurovision, and in late March several contestants called for a permanent ceasefire, but calls for a boycott have failed and no country has withdrawn its representatives.
Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil, representatives of Ukraine, singing ‘Teresa and Maria’
Faced with the overrepresentation of the conflict in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine, which occupied the festival two years ago with the beginning of the Russian invasion and the victory of the Ukrainian band Kalush, is less visible this time. Ukraine’s representatives, Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heel – the stage names of rapper Alyona Savarnenko and singer-songwriter Yana Shemayeva – will sing the song Teresa and Maria Which tells the story of a mother and daughter who face great difficulties with strength. There is no mention of a battle, but in the staging there are rays of light falling from the sky that could be interpreted as missiles.
The bookmakers have him fourth among the favorites to win the Crystal Microphone. The artists have already announced that, if they win, they will auction the trophy, like Kalush, to help their country. The two have started raising money to rebuild a school in eastern Ukraine.
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