Eurovision bosses defend disqualifying The Netherlands’ contestant Joost Klein

was disqualified from the contest in Malmö, Sweden just hours before Saturday’s finale (May 11). At the time, police stated that the decision was made after he was accused of making verbal threats towards a female member of the production crew.The incident marked the first time that an act had been disqualified after reaching the Grand Final in the competition’s 68-year history and, before his disqualification, the 26-year-old singer was named as one of the favourites to win.Jimmy Modin, a spokesperson for the police, spoke to The Guardian about the incident and revealed that it was looking likely that Klein will face legal action.Now, a week after his disqualification, the singer performed at Freshtival in Enschede, telling the crowd “My name is Klein (short) but I’m standing tall,” referring to the Eurovision incident (per Dutchnews).A post shared by Joost Klein (@joostklein)Modin confirmed that the investigation was over, and a decision about whether or not to press charges should arrive “within the next couple of weeks”.After news of his disqualification, Dutch broadcaster Avrotros said it was “shocked” by the decision, and stated that while Klein made a “threatening move” towards a female camera operator, he had not touched her (via The Guardian).“Against the clearly made agreement, Joost was filmed when he had just gotten off stage and had to rush to the green room.

Eurovision this year “until the last second”.This year’s song contest has seen multiple controversies arise in the build up to the finale, which aired last Saturday (May 11).On top of the shock disqualification of Dutch entry Joost Klein, Eurovision organisers the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) had faced significant criticism for the inclusion of Israel amidst the Israel-Palestine crisis.Additionally, there were reports of a “crisis meeting” between four countries and the EBU just hours before the finale was due to begin. These four countries were later revealed to be the United Kingdom, Portgual, Ireland, and the eventual winner of this year, Switzerland.Now, Norway’s entry Gåte have spoken to Norwegian media about their own threat to pull out.

Eurovision contestant is likely to face charges, according to police.Joost Klein – who was set to represent the Netherlands with his song ‘Europapa’ – was disqualified from the contest in Malmö, Sweden just hours before Saturday’s finale (May 11). At the time, police stated that the decision was made after he was accused of making verbal threats towards a female member of production crew.The incident marked the first time that an act had been disqualified after reaching the Grand Final in the competition’s 68-year history and, before his disqualification, the 26-year-old singer was named as one of the favourites to win.Now, a spokesperson for the police, Jimmy Modin, has spoken to The Guardian about the indecent and revealed that it is looking likely that Klein will face legal action.Modin confirmed that the investigation was over, and a decision about whether or not to press charges should arrive “within the next couple of weeks”.Emil Andersson, the police officer in charge of the case, shared a similar sentiment with Swedish broadcaster SVT.

Eurovision Song Contest 2024.This year’s competition, which was ultimately won by Switzerland’s Nemo, was surrounded by controversy for allowing Israel to compete amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza.A statement shared by the EBU to both The Mirror and The Irish Times read: “We regret that some delegations at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö didn’t respect the spirit of the rules and the competition both onsite and during their broadcasts. We spoke to a number of delegations during the event regarding various issues that were brought to our attention.It continued: “The EBU’s governing bodies will, together with the heads of delegations, review the events surrounding the ESC in Malmö to move forward in a positive way and to ensure the values of the event are respected by everyone.A post shared by European Broadcasting Union (@ebu_hq)“Individual cases will be discussed by the event’s governing body, the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group made up of representatives from participating broadcasters, at its next meeting.”The statement’s release comes after the slew of controversies that took over this year’s edition of the song contest.

disqualified from the contest in Malmö, Sweden after being accused of making verbal threats towards a female member of production crew, police said.The artist was placed under investigation by organisers Friday (May 10) due to an “incident” and was not allowed to perform at the final dress rehearsal.The EBU, which organises the contest, said in a statement: “While the legal process takes its course, it would not be appropriate for him to continue in the Contest.”The Dutch satirical game show Even tot hier have since recreated their own version of Klein’s song, wearing the same blue suit and singing new lyrics to the same thumping electronic beat.Their song instead begins with the (translated) lyrics: “We are out of Europe / EBU screwed the Joost there / Fuck off, bye bye.”The parody song also mentions the blue bird that appeared on stage for Joost’s set, along with an “investigation” that left Joost “screwed“.You can watch both versions below.Dutch satirical show #EvenTotHier created a parody of Europapa commenting on Joost Klein's disqualification and it's amazing.

Eurovision ratings have apparently plunged amidst several controversies and boycott calls for this year’s edition.This year, the contest has faced criticism for its inclusion of Israel due to their role in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Due to this political neutrality clause, the EBU announced they reserved the right to remove Palestinian flags and symbols, and would go on to censor Irish contestant Bambie Thug for wearing the word ‘ceasefire’ and ‘freedom for Palestine’ as a hidden message on their costume.Israel’s inclusion prompted boycott calls from the LGBT+ community towards UK entry Olly Alexander, reasoning that the competition was “providing cultural cover and endorsement for the catastrophic violence that Israel has unleashed on Palestinians.”Over 1,000 Swedish artists called for Israel to be banned this year – including Robyn, Fever Ray, and First Aid Kit – and more than 1,400 Finnish music industry professionals have signed a petition to ban the country from taking part in the contest as well.

Switzerland has won the 68th Eurovision Song Contest, which took place Saturday evening in Malmo, Sweden.

K.J. Yossman Switzerland has won the Eurovision Song Contest. Swiss entry Nemo stormed the contest with the song “The Code,” walking away with 591 points — a combination of a jury vote and public vote.

At the end of a nail biting week of musical performances, the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 finally declared its winner on Saturday evening when Switzerland's Nemo won with their song The Code. The winning performance came after a tense week of surprising mishaps, in which controversy had dogged the 68th edition of the annual song contest for months in the run up to the live shows.

Fans were delighted to see Dame Joanne Lumley appear on screen as she revealed the UK's jury vote during the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest. But the country she named appeared to be a surprise to those tuning into the 68th edition of the contest on Saturday night (May 11).

After months of excitement - and some last-minute drama - the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is over and the winner's crown this year was handed to Switzerland's Nemo

The official page of the Netherlands' Songfestival, which sends acts to Eurovision Song Contest, has finally broken its silence on Dutch act Joost Klein's disqualification.They revealed that the incident leading to Joost's disqualification involved him being filmed despite his repeated objections.The statement from the Netherlands' Songfestival also mentioned that Dutch radio and television broadcaster AVROTROS found Joost Klein's disqualification "disproportionate". Detailing why Eurovision officials have barred Joost from participating in Saturday's final, the statement read: "An incident occurred after last Thursday's performance.

As music lovers around the world tuned into the Eurovision Song Contest’ s grand final on Saturday night, all eyes were on the 25 acts that were hoping to secure victory. Initially 26 countries had been due to compete, but following a controversial decision by the European Broadcasting Union to ban Dutch entrant Joost Klein, only 25 made it to the stage on Saturday evening.

Eurovision entrant Käärijä has announced he will not participate as the spokesperson for the Finnish jury hours before the finale is due to start.Käärijä, who was the runner-up to Eurovision last year with his song ‘Cha Cha Cha’, took to social media to announce that he was pulling out of announcing the Finnish jury’s points for tonight’s competition.On Instagram Stories, Käärijä wrote: “I have decided not to participate as the spokesperson for the Finnish jury in tonight’s Eurovision finale. Giving out the points does not feel right”.

Eurovision entry Slimane has interrupted his own rehearsal performance to give an unexpected speech about “peace”.During rehearsals today, Slimane made a surprising change to his song ‘Mon Amour’, where he replaced his a capella section with a speech about “peace”.Footage of the performance shows the French-Algerian singer saying: “When I was a child, I dreamed of music. I dreamed about this dream – to be a singer, to sing about peace.

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest champion will be crowned tonight in Malmo, Sweden. But the action on stage is almost dwarfed by the background controversies.

Eurovision entry Joost Klein.Earlier today, the news of Klein’s disqualification was shared by Eurovision organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). He was accused of making verbal threats towards a female member of production crew, according to police.

There will be important changes to the Eurovision final after Dutch entry Joost Klein was disqualified.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is making a shocking move.

Dutch act Joost Klein will not compete in the Eurovision Song Contest grand final while Swedish police investigate a complaint of inappropriate behaviour, the European Broadcasting Union said.