LAST UPDATE | 10 May
THE DUTCH ACT for the Eurovision Song Contest has not been permitted to perform in a performance watched by juries ahead of the Grand Final while an investigation into an unspecified “incident” continues, according to organisers.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) earlier said it was investigating an “incident” involving Netherlands’ performer Joost Klein, who also did not appear an earlier dress rehearsal today.
It comes after the Dutch singer had a tense, but brief, exchange with the performer from Israel at a press conference last night.
Klein is representing the Netherlands with his song “Europapa” and was one of the successful acts at last night’s semi-final to be voted through to the Grand Final.
However, he was not on stage today for the first rehearsal for tomorrow’s final.
In a statement to media, the EBU 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 a new statement this evening, the EBU said the investigation into the incident “is still ongoing” and that Klein would not perform in the second dress rehersal, which is voted on by juries in the 37 participating countries.
“His performance from semi-final two will be used instead,” it said.
The statement added that “discussions are also taking place between the EBU and Avrotros, the Dutch participating broadcaster”.
At a press conference last night with the fresh batch of finalists, Israel’s singer Eden Golan was asked whether she felt her presence in the contest was putting other performers at risk.
A member of her delegation who was sitting beside her advised that she did not have to answer the question.
Klein intervened to ask: “Why not?”
Golan answered the question with the response: “We are here for one reason and one reason only. The EBU is taking all safety precautions to make this a safe and united place for everyone. So I think it’s safe for everyone.”
Asked subsequently by a Swedish journalist about the Dutch act’s interruption and to give an answer to the question about performers’ safety, Golan responded, “I did”.
Golan and her team — which appeared to number in the dozens, including her security protection — spent some time in the media centre, a much larger room beside the press conference centre, afterwards, but didn’t answer any further questions from non-Israeli reporters.
Golan was booed by the audience during her performance this evening.
A press conference that was scheduled for this evening with the acts from host country Sweden and the “Big Five” countries – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK – has also been cancelled. The EBU said that the artists “want to focus on rehearsals”.
this is a video showing joost klein specifically asking "why not", when eden golan was allowed not to answer a press question on security
— teEsc🇷🇴🍉||🇨🇭🇭🇷🇬🇪 (@eelehAna_) May 9, 2024
KING king king three times king💙 pic.twitter.com/Eh1PTNXzdS
Israel’s participation in the competition has sparked outrage among many Eurovision fans and pro-Palestine activists given Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza, where the death toll since October has reached around 35,000 people, including many women and children.
Georgios Petropoulos, head of UN humanitarian agency OCHA’s sub-office in Gaza, has said the situation in the southern city of Rafah has reached “even more unprecedented levels of emergency”.
“The recent evacuation order that we had from the government of Israel linked to the military operation in Rafah is now counting 110,000-plus displaced people having to move north,” he said.
Additional reporting by Daragh Brophy and Hayley Halpin
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