Israel qualifies for Eurovision final after day of protests

Eurovision 2024 nearly pulled out of the song contest, just 25 minutes before the live final.The grand final of the competition took place in Malmö, Sweden – the home of 2023 winner Loreen – on Saturday May 11. However, the show was mired by widespread political backlash over the inclusion of Israel amid the Hamas-Israel conflict.Many of the contestants, including Ireland’s Bambie Thug and UK representative Olly Alexander, faced pressure to boycott the event in solidarity with Palestine.

Eurovision 2024 broke global viewing figures despite protests over the inclusion of Israel at this year’s event.According to figures from the EBU, 163 million viewers tuned into the three live events including the Grand Final.The total reach of the contest also increased by one million people compared to 2023 and has grown by two million since 2022’s event in Turin.The viewing share for the Grand Final was also 46.7 per cent – the highest since 2006 and almost triple the broadcast channels average (17.6 per cent).Germany recorded the highest audience for the Grand Final with an average of 8.1million viewers watching on Das Erste and ONE. The United Kingdom also had the second highest audience with 7.7 million viewers tuning in for the Grand Final on BBC One despite viewing figures being down compared to last year’s event in Liverpool.Online, the Eurovision Song Contest’s digital platforms had another record year with 486million unique accounts reached on TikTok, during the event weeks, more than four times as many as that in 2023.Up to 42million unique viewers across 231 countries and territories also watched content on the official YouTube channel during the week of the live shows.Speaking about the record results across the board, Jean Philip De Tender, EBU Deputy Director General said: “These incredible numbers show the Eurovision Song Contest’s huge global impact – online, on TV and importantly musically.

Eurovision‘s Israel team have accused its competitors of “an unprecedented display of hatred”.This year’s competition was dogged by controversy, including criticism towards the EBU’s decision to include Israel amongst their role in the Israel-Palestine conflict. 20-year-old Eden Golan, this year’s entry, faced boos during her performance at the finale.

Olly Alexander has expressed his gratitude after competing in Eurovision 2024, saying that receiving zero public points was “iconic”.The Years & Years frontman represented the UK with his song ‘Dizzy’ at this year’s competition, which took place in Malmö, Sweden. He finished 18th out of 25 countries – earning 46 points from the jury, but none from the voting public.Nemo clinched victory for Switzerland at Eurovision 2024 with their track ‘The Code’.

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.

Eurovision entry Iolanda’s video was reportedly replaced with previous footage due to “pro-Palestine motifs” on her nails.Last night’s contest saw Swiss entry Nemo crowned as its first nonbinary winner in a year marked with controversy due to the EBU’s struggle to enforce its political neutrality clause. This was especially notable in the inclusion of Israel this year, due to their role in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.

Bambie Thug has accused Eurovision organisers of “not supporting them” over claims that the Israeli broadcasters “incited violence” against them.In an interview after their performance at Eurovision 2024, the Irish singer-songwriter claimed the Israeli broadcaster KAN “incited violence against me twice, three times.”“We brought it up to the EBU,” they told reporters. “They said they’d follow up.

BBC's Eurovision viewership plummeted as a global boycott impacted figures for its broadcast of the Song Contest this year with a significant drop in viewers.The grand finale on Saturday night was snubbed by millions, following a widespread boycott, leading to the BBC witnessing a loss of nearly two million viewers from last year's numbers.The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which is a Palestinian-led campaign advocating for various forms of protest against Israel, called for a boycott of this year's contest.This action came after the decision by the Eurovision Broadcasting Union to allow Israel to participate despite its conflict with Palestine, while Russia was excluded from the competition in 2022 due to its military actions in Ukraine.The boycott seems to have made a dent, with a noticeable dip in the viewership compared to previous years. On Sunday, TV critic and podcast host Scott Bryan tweeted: "Eurovision was watched by 7.6 million last night, down from 9.9 million - a 23% fall.

Eurovision entrant was booed during her live performance on the show last night, while other parts of the audience reacted with cheers.The 68th Eurovision Song Contest took place last night (May 11) in Malmö, Sweden, and was won by Switzerland’s Nemo, whose song ‘The Code’ won the jury vote and came fifth in the public vote.Israel’s entry ‘Hurricane’ by Eden Golan did not score high with the jury, but received one of the highest scores in the public vote. Her performance came early in the night, and was met with a decidedly mixed reaction from the live audience.As fan footage from inside the room appears to show, there was a somewhat negative reaction from parts of the audience during Golan’s rendition of her song, with cries of “Free Palestine” being audible.

The Eurovision Song Contest was certainly dramatic with calls for the competition to be boycotted and one act disqualified the day of the Grand Final. But despite the drama, the Contest went ahead on Saturday night in Malmo and reigning champion Loreen handed over the trophy to a new winner. Let's take a look at the final result.

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

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”.

A crowd of protesters estimated by authorities at up to 10,000 took to the streets of Malmö, Sweden on Saturday, calling for an end to Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest being held tonight in the city.

Eurovision's Bambie Thug was moved to tears after learning that Israel had secured a spot in the grand finale of the Eurovision Song Contest.

The 2024 Eurovision Song Contest has been plunged into its latest controversy after a France's participant stopped their performance to call for peace and a Norwegian jury spokesperson has resigned.

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

The Independent. A snippet of the interview was shared to X, showing Thug wearing a keffiyeh scarf and fighting back tears.

Olly Alexander has responded to his odds of winning the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest.The singer revealed to BBC that he had taken a look at what the bookies were saying about his chances of winning the contest. “My odds for winning are at one per cent,” he told the outlet.

A press conference featuring the UK's Olly Alexander and other competing Eurovision Song Contest acts has been cancelled this evening, the European Broadcasting Union has confirmed. Olly and the other acts, who were automatic qualifiers for Saturday’s live show, were due to speak to the media ahead of the Grand Final on Saturday, but following a last minute decision by the EBU, will no longer be doing so.

With mere hours left to go until the Eurovision Song Contest gets underway on Saturday evening, the annual musical extravaganza has been thrown into chaos following an incident involving Dutch act Joost Klein.The performer, who qualified for the grand final earlier this week with his song Europapa, was “pulled” from rehearsing for tomorrow’s show “until further notice.” In a statement to the PA news agency, the European Broadcasting Union who televise the show said: "We are currently investigating an incident that was reported to us involving the Dutch artist. He will not be rehearsing until further notice.” "We have no further comment at this time and will update in due course." In preparation for the grand final, all 26 competitors have been taking part in a dress rehearsal ahead of the performance, however while Joost did appear during the Flag Parade, he didn’t perform his song Europapa when the time came.