Bashar Murad, a Palestinian singer to wear the colors of Iceland at Eurovision?
Bashar Murad, Palestinian singer, has decided to participate in the Icelandic competition which will select the country's candidate for Eurovision. This major song competition is one of the most watched events on television in the world. Officially apolitical, Eurovision 2024 should be marked by the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
The stage of the Eurovision Song Contest, in 2022. © Marco Bertorello / AFP
By: RFI Follow
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Bashar Murad denies this: his candidacy for the Icelandic competition is not a political approach. His first contacts with the country's music scene date from 2019. While Eurovision
was
held in Tel Aviv,
Israel
, the selected Icelandic group, Hatari, filmed a music video with the Palestinian singer. Bashar Murad then performed with them in
Iceland
.
Then the idea of entering the Icelandic competition was born in 2022, work started last August. To compete in Iceland, he had to present a song in the national language:
Vestrið Villt
or
Wild West
in French.
But if Bashar Murad's candidacy is not an act of Palestinian affirmation, the ongoing war should still mark the 2024 edition of Eurovision.
As early as the fall, artist collectives from Finland, Sweden and Iceland called for Israel to be excluded from the competition because of the number of civilians killed in Gaza. And even before the broadcast of the artist's song, Bashar Murad's candidacy raised Iceland's rating in the predictions: the country is now in the lead, neck and neck with Ukraine .
Also read: Sweden wins Eurovision for the seventh time in its history
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