The World Madrid
Madrid
Updated Wednesday, February 21, 2024-18:51
Eden Golan Israel's representative at Eurovision who pays tribute to the hostages held by Hamas: "There is nothing that moves me more"
There will be no 'eurodrama' Eurovision considers Zorra "fit" to represent Spain
Israel
's participation
in
Eurovision
is more in question than ever. If there were many voices that criticized the country's presence in
Malmö
next March in the midst of
the war in Gaza
, this Wednesday it is the organizing body of the contest that calls into question
Israel
's actions . The reason: "The lyrics of your song are too political."
According to local media, including
The Times of Israel
, the
European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
, organizer of the
Eurovision Song
Contest , considers that the lyrics of
October Rain
contravene its participation policy. Although it has not yet been officially published, the title already suggests that the lyrics refer to the Hamas attacks of October 7 that gave rise to a war that has no signs of ending.
Eurovision
rules
prohibit direct political references in the lyrics of national entries.
A spokeswoman for public broadcaster
Kan
has confirmed to
The Times of Israel
that they are in talks with the EBU to prevent Israel from being banned from Eurovision.
October rain
, performed by singer
Aden Golan
, was scheduled
to be publicly presented on Israeli television last week, but the public corporation delayed its premiere due to doubts from the
EBU
.
The
Ynet
portal points out that this is not a unique case, and that the review by the
Eurovision
organizer is always exhaustive. Faced with European voices pointing to disqualification, Israeli public television has been blunt: "We will not change the lyrics or the song, even at the cost of
Israel
not participating in
Eurovision
this year."
Israel
's participation
in
Eurovision
has sowed controversy from the beginning. After the start of the
war in Gaza
last fall, many remembered the case of
Russia
, which was left out in 2022 after the
invasion of Ukraine
.