Following the second semi-final slated on Thursday (5.09,) Israel, Georgia and Switzerland are among the finalists competing at tonight’s Eurovision Song Contest finale in Malmo, Sweden (5.11.)
In order to gain qualification after being accused of promoting a political message on the Israel–Hamas war. Israel’s ‘October Rain’ was re-written and re-titled ‘Hurricane’ by Eden Golan.
Featuring former American Idol singer Nutsa Buzaladze performimg ‘Firefighter,’ Georgia is competing while Switzerland’s entry Nero’s comes to the legendary international competition with ‘The Code’.
Israel, Georgia and Switzerland were added to the list that previously included Armenia, Austria, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Netherlands and Norway, who join ten previous entries from Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine along with the six pre-qualified entries from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and host country Sweden, all of whom will compete in Malmo.
Bookmakers for the iconic contest have put their money on Croatia with ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim’ performed by Baby Lasagna along with Swiss entry and Ukraine’s Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil who will perform ‘Teresa and Maria’.
Amid the ongoing bombardment of Gaza, this years Eurovision competition has already been shadowed by controversy over the inclusion of Israel as protests line the streets of Malmo along with Eden Golan who was reportedly booed during rehearsals.
In a statement, the body behind Eurovision, The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) previously dismissed calls for a boycott over Israel’s entry, saying:
“The Eurovision Song Contest is a competition for public service broadcasters from across Europe and the Middle East.” “It is a competition for broadcasters – not governments – and the Israeli public broadcaster has participated in the contest for 50 years.” “The Eurovision Song Contest remains a non-political event that unites audiences worldwide through music.”
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: Vugaribadov