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Joost Klein who was to represent the Netherlands at the Eurovision earlier this year. Alamy Stock Photo
Joost Klein
Sweden drops probe into complaint against Dutch contestant who was booted from Eurovision
The performer was one of the favourites before being expelled from the competition.
4.18pm, 12 Aug 2024
3.1k
SWEDEN HAS DROPPED its investigation into a backstage altercation in May involving the Dutch contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest who was expelled from the competition hours before the final.
In its new statement, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said the investigation concluded that “the man made a movement that hit the woman’s film camera”, adding that “the course of events was fast and was perceived differently by the witnesses of the incident”.
“I cannot prove that the act was capable of causing serious fear or that the man had any such intention,” senior prosecutor Fredrik Jonsson said.
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The 26-year-old singer and rapper had been a bookies’ favourite with his song Europapa, an upbeat ode to the continent’s diversity that is also a tribute to his parents, who died when he was a child.
The last-minute disqualification was unprecedented in the 68-year history of Eurovision.
Dutch broadcaster Avrotros, one of dozens of public broadcasters that collectively fund and broadcast the contest, said at the time it was “shocked by the decision”.
Yesterday, Avrotros welcomed the Swedish decision, saying that there was “no evidence of criminal conduct”.
“From the beginning we said that this disqualification was unnecessary and disproportionate” and it planned to meet with the organiser about the issue soon.
“This unjustified disqualification will be central to this conversation,” it said in a statement to The Associated Press.
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Arkham Knight! I’ll have to ask Santa nicely for a PS4 console now. I can always wish… Failing that I can sell crack to blind kids & make a few bob that way.
Nothing about Bloodborne? Considering the director is the same guy who did Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls 1 you’d think there’d be more attention about it…
Really? The trailer bored the arse off me quite frankly. I know Kojima likes his long, theatrical…well, everything, but this was just obscure. Am I the only one that has no idea what the mechanical arm is about? Is Snake the guy that killed Harrison Ford’s wife in The Fugitive?
For the love of all that is good, no more multiplayer first person shooters! It’s depressing looking at the state of shelves for the PS4, making me regret ever going next gen from my xbox…
About 3 games look good. Rest look crap. MGS looks like it needs to just go away. The Playstation TV looks good, but needs more then just been able to play on different tv’s for me to be interested. But at least Mircosoft built theirs into the Xbone.
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