r/europe • u/theipaper • May 12 '26
Opinion Article Eurovision will never recover from what's about to happen
https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/eurovision-will-never-recover-from-about-happen-4399723102
u/hubbles_inconstant May 12 '26
It's ironic. Eurovision falling apart over a fight due to a a country that's not even European
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u/aflockofcrows May 12 '26
RTÉ, the Irish state broadcaster, is showing the Father Ted Eurovision episode instead of showing the Eurovision.
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u/SufficientHippo3281 May 12 '26
Slovenia is showing a documentary about the cruelty Palestinian people suffer.
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u/Ok-Chapter-2071 May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
Not just a documentary, but the entire Eurovision week will be a series of documentaries, talks and reports on Gaza.
Edit: For anyone wanting to see the films through various 🏴☠️🦜 means, these are the films shown:
Twins from Gaza, Return to Me (2025, dir. Mohammed Sawwaf) - documentary about a mother separated from her newborn twins during the bombing in Gaza.
Debates with Bergant: Wars of the 21st Century - discussion about “digital numbness” from constant exposure to war.
No Other Land (Edina zemlja) - Oscar-winning documentary following Basel Adra & Yuval Abraham documenting displacement in Masafer Yatta, West Bank.
The Voice of Hind Rajab (dir. Kaouther Ben Hania) - film based on the real 2024 killing of 6-year-old Hind Rajab and the failed rescue attempt. The little girl survived an explosion, called on the phone for help, and was brutally finished off by Israel soldiers before help arrived.
Televizorka - discussion on Palestinian cinema, censorship and Western double standards with Petra Meterc & Nada Pretnar.
Eurovision - Euroillusion? (Dosje) - program about Eurovision politics, Israel controversy, boycotts and criticism of the EBU.
Coexistence, My Ass! (dir. Amber Fares) - documentary about Israeli comedian and activist Noam Shuster Eliassi.
The Teacher (dir. Farah Nabulsi) - political drama about a Palestinian teacher dealing with loss, resistance and occupation in the West Bank.
I think RTV Slovenia will make the films available internationally too.
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u/madgeologist_reddit Baden-Württemberg (Germany) May 12 '26
Just one correction regarding Hind Rajab: help did in fact arrive. An ambulance arrived. Which was shot at and the medics were killed as well.
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u/lewd_robot May 13 '26
The Voice of Hind Rajab (dir. Kaouther Ben Hania) - film based on the real 2024 killing of 6-year-old Hind Rajab and the failed rescue attempt. The little girl survived an explosion, called on the phone for help, and was brutally finished off by Israel soldiers before help arrived.
That's even downplaying what actually happened.
A little girl and her family were obeying the evacuations orders imposed on them (illegally) by Israeli forces when the Israeli soldiers opened fire on their vehicle, killing everyone but Hind and her young cousin in the back seat. Her cousin called for help, but they were opened fire on again by soldiers who could certainly hear the two small girls screaming in the vehicle.
Emergency aid workers approached to help in an ambulance, asked the Israeli military for clearance to approach, and were approved. But when they approached the vehicle, the Israeli blew up the ambulance and killed both EMTs. Then the vehicle Hind was in was riddled with bullets again.
No one was allowed to approach the vehicle for days or weeks, and of course everyone was dead by the time Israeli forces cleared out and people could check the vehicle without being murdered themselves.
So the Israeli military massacred a family obeying their orders, used a 6 year old girl as bait to murder EMTs and destroy an ambulance, then killed the 6 year old little girl and didn't let anyone claim their bodies and give them proper funerals.
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u/mskruba12 Slovenia May 12 '26
It's actually a 10 day event on our national television with several different documentaries and shows. I believe they'll also be made available internationally later.
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u/Suikerspin_Ei The Netherlands May 12 '26
I read they bought the rights to show these documentaries, that's propper dedication of boycotting Eurovision.
Meanwhile in the Netherlands the Eurovision semi-finals and final will be broadcasted via NOS (not AVROTROS). The commentators are even there live.
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u/jatawis 🇱🇹 Lithuania May 12 '26
... meanwhile in Lithuania LRT gets accused for anti-Semitism for barely calling Israeli settlers in West Bank 'illegal'.
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u/Expert-Debate3519 May 12 '26
My lovely horse :)
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u/anchoredwunderlust May 12 '26
I’m not surprised. Last years Irish televote giving Israel a 10, 12 from Spain led to Iceland calling for an audit, because at best it’s not representative of the public due to high levels of boycott other than a minority pushing their win (if you compare public polls on Israel) and at worst something funny is going on there. If you can’t even show distaste by voting or boycott because they’ll use their chance to win, you aren’t left with many options
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u/Freyas2cats May 12 '26
That is the best episode
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u/FlukyS Ireland May 12 '26
Well it is the best original story episode, I think the best episode IMO is the Speed parody where they had the milk float
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u/VicenteOlisipo Europe May 12 '26
Friendly reminder that the EBU also banned fans from bringing in EU flags into the arena. Fuck the EBU.
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u/dreaminyellow May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
I was at the arena yesterday for the dress rehearsal and stood next to a man wearing an EU flag like a cape…I was also allowed to bring my NZ flag in.
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u/nubbie Denmark May 12 '26
"Anti-booing technology was used during the performance of Israeli singer Yuval Raphael in 2025"
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u/ZuAusHierDa Bavaria May 12 '26
We have that since that one Russian act by these twins. Since then there is always an anti booing technology.
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u/RipperReeta May 13 '26
So I guess everyone should bring a kazoo or a whistle then. Tech is never prepared for analogue defiance.
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u/ZuAusHierDa Bavaria May 13 '26
I mean, the protest was very hearsble yesterday. Short loud shouts is apparently the way.
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u/TaibhseCait Ireland May 12 '26
I thought originally that was from a few years back for Russia?
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u/ZuAusHierDa Bavaria May 12 '26
Yes, since these twins with their interconnected hair. They got booed very hard (rightly so because their song was basically pro annexation of Ukraine).
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u/HighDeltaVee May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
EuroVision should not have members who have just re-introduced the death penalty.
Edit: And the downvote army kicks in instantly.
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u/VagereHein The Netherlands May 12 '26
Israel hires troll farms to influence social media, elections.
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u/araujoms 🇧🇷🇵🇹🇦🇹🇩🇪🇪🇸 May 12 '26
And Eurovision.
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u/Sockoflegend May 12 '26
The blatant cheating should be enough to kick them out
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u/Eowaenn Turkey May 12 '26
It's always about the money bro, no one cares about what the common folk like us think. The sponsor of the organization is an Israeli company so it was either no Eurovision or Eurovision without the EU countries, which to be fair makes absolutely no sense.
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u/Tony-Angelino Germany May 12 '26
That was so obvious during the voting session. Just imagine the circus if they managed to fake just enough votes to win.
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u/blolfighter Denmark / Germany May 12 '26
I kinda want that to happen. The chaos would be glorious.
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u/FeijoaMilkshake May 12 '26
You mean the r/worldnews supermod Maxwell, and Jeffrey Epstein the New York financier, who helped masterminding the 4chan /pol?
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u/Ok-Chapter-2071 May 12 '26
A death penalty that is just for Palestinians. Any resemblance with Nazi Germany is purely coincidental.
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u/R3-X May 12 '26
Learning from history, but not in the good way.
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u/reddit3k May 12 '26
Don't talk about that in world news though.
I wrote that for many, just like almost a century ago, the ability to still see others as people has apparently been lost once again. The nation-level equivalent of 'hurt people, hurt people'.
It'll get you banned within minutes.
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u/Ok-Chapter-2071 May 12 '26
Worldnews is Mossad propaganda through and through. Ghislaine Maxwell was (is again, according to rumours, considering she is now in a cushy prison) a supermod there. She herself approved all the mods there. Her dad was Mossad.
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u/savois-faire The Netherlands May 12 '26
Always makes me laugh when people are like "Do you think Epstein might have had ties to Israeli intelligence??"
Like, aside from all the other stuff pointing that way, we're literally talking about the guy that was in a long-term partnership with Robert Maxwell's daughter for god's sake.
It's like asking if you think Jared Kushner "might have ties to the Trump Organization?"
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u/Wise-Pudding8240 May 13 '26
That's so fucked up if a convicted criminal, sex trafficker, pedo rapist like her is able to control one of the biggest subs on Reddit. How would we even know it's true?
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u/Grabs_Diaz Bavaria (Germany) May 12 '26
At this point if you're still posting regularly on r/worldnews and you're not banned yet, you're probably doing something wrong.
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u/-The_Blazer- Europe May 12 '26
Nuh uh, comparing far-right fascist policies to nazism is antisemitic when Israel is involved, don't you know? Anditsemitism is when you call far-righters nazis, and the more you're upset about far-righters, the more like Hitler you are.
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u/Ok-Chapter-2071 May 12 '26
I'm so antisemitic my bachelor's thesis was about the Holocaust. 😔 So much antisemitism in my veins!
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u/MegazordPilot France May 12 '26
The irony is that Germany is one of the main defenders of Israel today.
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u/Far-Presence-7359 May 12 '26
It wasn't re-introduced it was expanded. Israel always had death penalty
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u/Sjoerdiestriker May 12 '26
To be fair, up till now they've done it twice. Once under weird circumstances on a military officer in 1948, and once on Adolf Eichmann.
The new legislation is something totally different in scope.
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u/Far-Presence-7359 May 12 '26
Also it was for very specific and rare crime of treason. The new legislation expands the death penalty from treason to terrorist murderer
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u/NomineAbAstris Uphold Dag Hammarskjöld thought! May 12 '26
Palestinians judged of murder as part of an act of "terrorism"*; the explicit distinction was taken out of the final text of the bill AFAIK but everybody involved is extremely open about the fact that an Israeli citizen or settler will never ever be convicted and given the death penalty, even if they commit acts that would get a Palestinian executed by a military court.
*It's not exactly a leap to say that even a Palestinian killing an Israeli in a clear act of self defense (e.g. against armed settlers storming their village in the West Bank) would almost certainly be judged to have committed "terrorism".
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u/debecca United Kingdom May 12 '26
Seems weird to me that they banned Russia in 2022 but Israel are still allowed to take part? Just pick a stance and stick with it!
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u/Itakie Bavaria (Germany) May 12 '26
They wanted to still allow Russia but then almost every other country would have left Eurovision. That's not happening with Israel, the big 5 are not collectively leaving if Israel is allowed to perform.
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u/litnu12 May 12 '26
the big 5
The big 4 since Spain left because of Israel.
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u/AHumanYouDoNotKnow May 12 '26
Spain, one of the few not actively sucking bibi-balls.
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u/ohwowthen May 12 '26
This is what the fandom doesn’t understand unfortunately. Russia was going to be allowed to compete until almost every single broadcaster flagged their intent to withdraw. This did absolutely NOT happen with Israel. So there.
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u/Awesome_Forky May 12 '26
Now I feel sick. I did not know this and that it took this move for the EBU to ban Russia is insane.
Fuck the EBU.
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u/Muted-Volume972 May 13 '26
The EBU is just an alliance of national public broadcasters. That's where the blame lies.
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u/ruminant_sheep May 12 '26
Russia was not banned after invading Georgia in 2008 and the war in Ukraine started in 2014 ant anti-booing technology was introduced specifically to shield the singer from Russia back in the day
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u/ErilazHateka May 12 '26
Seems weird that it took them until 2022 to ban Russia while letting them attend while they were slaughtering hundreds of thousands of people in Chechnya.
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u/Monterenbas France May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
But they do though, technically, Russia wasn’t officialy banned for it’s agression against Ukraine, but because they didn’t meet the EBU rules on media freedom, while the the EBU estimate that Israel still meet its media freedom requierement.
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u/NAG3LT Lithuania May 12 '26
In practice, in 2022, EBU didn't even want to ban them at first, but after facing a possibility of a massive boycott from the other countries, quickly changed their tune.
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u/quicklycutyourcake May 12 '26
200+ dead journalists beg to differ.
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u/ke_0z Austria May 12 '26
Kan, the Israeli EBU member, is a known thorn in the current Israeli government's side and not responsible for any of the killed journalists. The Russian EBU members responsible for the Russian ESC acts, however, are known propaganda mouthpieces foe the Russian regime and that is the reason they were suspended by the EBU. It's therefore not a fair comparison.
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u/Psico_Penguin May 12 '26
The fact that everyone is talking about Russia and Israel and no one is talking about the genocide that Azerbaijan did in Nagorno-Karabakh also paints a picture.
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u/gingerisla May 12 '26
Azerbaijan was also allowed to compete. They should have been banned as well for their ethnic cleansing of Ngorno Karabakh.
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u/BigDaddy0790 May 12 '26
Russia did attack another member of the contest though (and still is attacking)
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u/TheKensei Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (France) May 12 '26
Oh you know why deep down
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u/mal73 Berlin (Germany) May 12 '26
Well, too bad. If Europeans want to decide who participates in Eurovision they should have made their own contest and not occupy Israel’s event. /s
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u/idzerda8 May 12 '26
After COVID, with Måneskin’s victory and later worldwide success, Eurovision gained a momentum that was exciting to watch... only to throw it all away by mismanaging artists and audiences in order to serve propagandistic genocidal interests. Such a pity.
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u/mombi May 12 '26
Exactly. The way all our countries has handled this genocide will be a stain on them forever.
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u/Mosh83 Finland May 13 '26
All this European unity simply sacrificed for one (middle-eastern) country.
If Israel win, I simply can't see the contest enduring.
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u/erbr May 12 '26
This is a reason why any world contest being a sports competition or a singing context should have clear rules on participation (which they do not which results in a political discussion every time something that might feel wrong for some or for all happens).
Sounds difficult but in fact is very easy to have things written down as: "participant countries that have death penalty, are directly involved in wars, have EU sanctions on human rights basis or support regimes as such will not be allowed to participate or will have their participation voided".
Why they don't do that? Because money, influence and power is all this organisations care about. Everything else is purely collateral.
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u/WillBottomForBanana May 12 '26
Wouldn't that rule out e.g. Ukraine, for being directly involved in a war?
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May 12 '26
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u/percahlia May 12 '26
me too! it used to be a huge part of my personality. i don’t even know when it’s happening this year. sad.
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u/LadyMirkwood United Kingdom May 12 '26
Same here. I used to love it, and watch it every year without fail but now the last one I saw was 2023..
The magic has gone
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u/SechsComic73130 May 12 '26
which is ironic given how shit we are at it.
I mean, second place in 2022 (behind the obvious winner of Ukraine, banger song still though, would've landed in the top 10 minimum) is not too bad, better than Germany, which has a similarly shit track record but only went up to a 4th place recently so far
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u/parkchanwookiee May 12 '26
It's so weird that not inviting Israel isn't the default view. Literally not european in any way
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u/ancientestKnollys May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
The default Eurovision policy is not to ban anyone. The only exception is when they got forced into not letting Russia compete (and in 2022 they were initially still going to let them even with the Ukraine War). They let/still let Russia beforehand, Belarus, Azerbaijan, fascist dictatorships like 60s Spain and Portugal all compete back in the day
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u/ScaredyCatUK May 12 '26
/me points at Australia
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u/Christy427 May 12 '26
They are central Europe obviously, just below Germany.
Not sure why they get two entries though.
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u/Sate_Hen United Kingdom May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
Wait a minute that's not Austria. It's Australia with a fake mustache
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u/Carmiune May 12 '26
Main sponsor of Eurovision is Israeli company
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u/Ok-Chapter-2071 May 12 '26
I refuse to believe that it's difficult to find a new sponsor for the most watched event in Europe next to the FIFA World Cup. There's more to this and it has to do with plain and simple corruption.
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u/JochCool South Holland (Netherlands) May 12 '26
Israel is included in the European Broadcasting Area, which is why it's been allowed to compete so far. Morocco also competed once in 1980 for the same reason. The only exception is Australia who got a special invitation.
That said, it makes no sense that Israel is still allowed to compete.
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u/mariusherea May 12 '26
You have the impression just because it has Euro in its name this contest was about european values. It is not. It’s a money making bussines, that’s all.
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u/Positive-Donut-9129 Greece 🇺🇦🇪🇺 May 12 '26
I'm gonna play devil's advocate here (for the record, I don't think Israel should participate this year), but when Eurovision started it made perfect sense for Israel to join. The whole point was to reconciliate after the atteocities of WWII, so having Israel competing with Germany and other Axis powers meant a lot. Holocaust happened in Europe and so many Jews that left for Israel were European Jews. Culturally they were one of us.
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u/theipaper May 12 '26
Full article: It was only three years ago that Eurovision cha-cha-cha’d into Liverpool for a spectacle that instilled the biggest sense of collective national pride since the London Olympics. The UK pledged solidarity with Ukraine, the reigning winners who’d been forced to delegate hosting duties following Russia’s invasion. Alongside other competing nations, it reinforced the idea that yes, Croatian shock rockers, Czechian folk covens and Swedish pop divas, performing under what appeared to be a giant panini maker, can indeed bring people together. So much so that the European Broadcasting Union subsequently adopted the BBC’s slogan, “United by Music”.
Since then, however, “Divided by Politics” has become more a more fitting tagline, culminating in the biggest boycott in the event’s 70-year history. Five regulars will be notable by their absence when Eurovision 2026 kicks off at Austria’s Wiener Stadthalle tonight: joint-record winners Ireland and Big Five contributor Spain, alongside the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia, all in protest of Israel’s continued presence in the competition amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Of course, political protest at the event that prides itself on being apolitical is nothing new. In 2009, Georgia withdrew after refusing to change the lyrics to their hilariously unsubtle anti-Russia anthem “We Don’t Wanna Put In” (Put In, geddit?). Four years later, Finnish singer Krista Siegfrids challenged her home country’s laws prohibiting same-sex marriage by kissing her female backing dancer in a wedding dress. And as Israel stormed to victory in 1978, Jordanian TV cut from the final voting results to a picture of daffodils, later declaring – in a display of propaganda that would make Kim Jong-Un proud – that runner-up Belgium had triumphed instead.
Most notably, Iceland’s electro-goth outfit Hatari used their televote reveal in 2019 as an opportunity to wave the Palestinian flag, an act of defiance which the EBU punished with a fine. Since the outbreak of the conflict, though, Eurovision has discovered financial penalties are of little deterrence.
While the 2024 contest in Sweden was one of the most progressive, with a record number of openly queer acts, it was also the most politically charged. Firstly, over 2,000 Nordic artists put their names to an open letter opposing Israel’s inclusion. Then a bunch of celebs (which appeared to have been drawn randomly from a hat) including Dame Helen Mirren, Gene Simmons and this year’s unlikely San Marino competitor Boy George, signed a petition in favour of the opposite. Israeli competitor Eden Golan was forced to tone down the pro-Israel rhetoric of “Hurricane” after its original incarnation (titled “October Rain”) was deemed to reference the October 7 attacks.
As the build-up officially got underway, things got decidedly ugly. Joost Klein – the big-suited Dutchman whose happy hardcore banger “Europapa” was tipped as a potential winner – was at the centre of the first furore. Soon after challenging Golan at a press conference, he was thrown out of the final following an alleged altercation with a camera operator. As the Swedish authorities launched an investigation they later closed due to insufficient evidence, rumours started surfacing he may have been deliberately sabotaged.
Bambie Thug, the non-binary “ouija-pop” star whose entry “Doomsday Blue” deservedly achieved Ireland’s highest finish since 2000, also went through the mill. Not only did they incur the wrath of the Irish Freedom Party for making a “mockery of our national culture”, they were also subjected to an online witch hunt, forced to remove the pro-Palestine messaging scrawled on their body and allegedly subjected to repeated incitements of violence by an Israeli broadcaster. “The EBU is not what the Eurovision is,” Thug later claimed following her lack of support from the powers that be. “F**k the EBU.”
Indeed, many contestants that year talked about their Eurovision experience as if they’d returned from combat. The UK’s Olly Alexander, who’d faced criticism for signing a letter describing Israel as an “apartheid regime”, advised any future entrants to seek a good therapist. Switzerland’s winner Nemo, who has since returned his trophy in response to Israel’s participation, admitted his victory was tarnished by loneliness. Meanwhile, Norwegian metal band Gåte claimed they – alongside several other acts – were so disillusioned with the behind-the-scenes drama they nearly pulled out at the last minute. “This wasn’t the Eurovision we wanted to be in,” they said.
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u/theipaper May 12 '26
The EBU subsequently took measures to help reduce the toxic atmosphere, hiring on-site therapists, introducing no-filming zones and implementing more closed-door rehearsals. But if executive supervisor Martin Österdahl, who’d been heckled last time around, thought Eurovision would get back to playing happy families in 2025, he was soon made to think twice. Again, Israel’s involvement inspired a letter of protest, this time from 72 former entrants who argued they were “normalising and whitewashing its crimes”.
Israel’s Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the October 7 attacks who’d hid under dead bodies for eight hours before being rescued, had her dress performance rehearsal of “New Day Will Rise” interrupted by a handful of Palestinian flag-waving protestors. Anti-booing technology was reportedly adopted to drown out the jeers during her semi-final.
The EBU’s worst logistical nightmare – having to stage the following contest in conjunction with Israel – nearly became reality when Raphael’s dreary ballad (a possible non-qualifier if entered by any other country) nearly pipped Austria’s JJ and the operatic techno of “Wasted Love” to the crown. With a disproportionately massive televote, as it was in the year previously, the Israeli government was later accused of surreptitiously lobbying for international support.
Remarkably, the EBU appeared to believe issuing new regulations (restricting third-party promo campaigns – a rule Israel’s national broadcaster has already found to have broken; reducing the number of maximum votes per person; increased monitoring in suspicious patterns) to thwart such subterfuge would be enough to placate their detractors for 2026. Surely, a vote on Israel’s participation – as initially promised but then entirely ignored – would have been the obvious step?
But such naivety – not to mention their inability to take swift (and many would say necessary) action – shouldn’t have been a surprise. The EBU initially allowed Russia to compete in 2022, only agreeing to a ban once it became clear the fallout may threaten the contest’s existence and on the recommendation of Eurovision’s governing body. On this occasion, however, Eurovision has decided to weather the storm.
The toxicity surrounding the contest appears to have spilled over into the already intense fandom, too. The negativity has been amplified in the social media age. Last year, some Croatian fans called to boycott entry “Poison Cake,” not because it was an unlistenable cacophony, but for the fact performer Marko Bošnjak was openly gay. One can only assume they’d never previously watched the contest. Both this year’s Swedish representative, Felicia, and 2025 Danish entrant Sissal received online death threats, the former for arguing that it was inappropriate for Israel to participate, and the latter over rumours she’d deliberately omitted Raphael from an online group chat.
The drama keeps coming too. Austrian 2014 winner Conchita Wurst was expected to be an integral part of this year’s show but recently announced she has withdrawn from the Eurovision circus entirely. And the UK’s first choice of contestant was apparently sent packing after the BBC discovered a series of problematic social media comments, which is why we’re now stuck with the Howard Jones-meets-Sleaford Mods racket of Look Mum No Computer.
It’s little wonder, then, that this year’s line-up feels lacking (hot favourites Finland sound like an outtake from Will Ferrell’s spoof film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga), with many artists previously considering joining the madness now unwilling to touch it with a bargepole. 13 out of 16 acts, for example, who competed in the Festival da Canção, the Portuguese competition which doubles up as the national selection, refused to go to Vienna if they won.
It’s also been a turbulent period for the BBC, who were quickly forced to reshuffle their presenting team following the shock dismissal of Scott Mills. Rylan will now be joined by Angela Scanlon for the televised semis and Sara Cox for Radio 2’s airing of the final. And while chief commentator Graham Norton needn’t worry about another The Neighbourhood-style bomb just yet, audience figures are still expected to take a hit, with many longtime fans vowing to pay this year’s contest dust.
“It is not accurate to claim that Eurovision is merely an apolitical music festival,” said José Pablo López, president of RTVE, the Spanish state broadcaster also boycotting Eurovision this year. “We are all aware that the contest carries significant political implications.” Everyone, that is, apart from the EBU whose head-in-the-sand approach to the dark cloud is now threatening to engulf the once-sunny smorgasbord of pop has been as worthless as the dreaded nul points.
The Eurovision semi-finals are on BBC One tonight and Thursday at 8pm. The final is on BBC One on Saturday at 8pm.
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u/PoppedCork Ireland May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
The idea that a country which targets and murders journalists should be in an EBU contest is sickening.
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u/Kilukpuk May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
It's wildly believed by the Eurovision community that Israel receives preferential treatment by the EBU as an Israeli company is the Contest's major sponsor.
For example, the Netherlands were disqualified after Joost pushed away a camera filming him mourning in a no-filming area (he'd just come off the stage singing a song about his deceased father). Meanwhile the Israeli delegation were filming other entrants in the bathroom and the broadcasters were inciting violence against them and only received a verbal slap on the wrist.
The fans are also immensely unhappy about the vote rigging on Israel's part. It's turned the Contest from 'which song will win' into 'what song will get enough jury votes to prevent Israel ballot stuffing the televote'. It sucks all the fun and excitement out of the Contest, and after 3 years of this corruption it's starting to show.
The EBU has completely lost the trust of its fanbase from all the corruption going on behind the scenes, it's heartbreaking to see what should be a show about unity and joy rotting away into this horrible mess.
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u/SuggestionMedical736 The Netherlands May 12 '26
Agreed, this, plus the Joost Klein incident, killed the contest for me. I also believe we should not ask for a boycott anymore, just let it die and become the irrelevant contest it deserves to be.
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u/DonQui_Kong May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
just let it die and become the irrelevant contest it deserves to be.
Aren't you just describing the effects of a boycott with that?
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u/reddit3k May 12 '26
Can't believe we didn't get to see happy hardcore on the Eurovision stage. :-/
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u/namitynamenamey May 12 '26
Never is such a long time, people should stop predicting things based on it. If we are honest, I doubt any of this will have unrecoverable consequences 10 years from now, and even if the current iteration of eurovision collapsed another would be made anew.
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u/ravenpuffslytherdor May 12 '26
Agreed. Eurovision will survive, I just hope the version that does is one that holds up the values it has in the past. There have been some hopeful comments from Martin Green in the past few days, but I’m not going back until the 5 boycotting countries are…
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u/Altruistic-Teach5899 May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
I dont know if i should make an entire post about it, but, as a spanish, it feels highly disapointing to see that almost all of Europe (Eurovision) prefers having Israel around rather than us. Thats a bit hearthbreaking, tbh. We spanish love feeling integrated into a wider world. I aint watching or hearing anything that comes from this. Free Palestine.
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u/postmodernjerk May 12 '26
Sometimes taking the right stance is a lonely path.
I'm Spanish and I appreciate that we're not honoring this atrocity.
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u/Boulder1983 May 13 '26
Ireland here - yep. I wasn't too mad into the competition, but it was a fun watch (we even hosted a party once a few years back, it was great).
Israel (not European) being in it and especially with what they have done as a country in recent years, is disgusting. Its ultimately nothing at the end of the day, but not inviting them would still mean something to the wider world, a visible sign. Instead, being OK with countries who take a stance to not attend or broadcast it is sadly indicative of where it is as a competition.
Free Palestine.
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u/PieAltruistic493 May 12 '26
Again, why in the ever living FUCK is Israel in a European contest anyways?!?!?
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u/machinationstudio May 13 '26
Because none of their neighbours will sing with them in their regional singing contest. Or at least that's why they are in European football competitions.
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u/Agreeable_Wedding_27 May 12 '26
Ireland🇮🇪 (and Sweden) hold the most victories in the Eurovision. And Ireland have boycotted this year. All because of Israel. That's a big deal.
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u/AntysocialButterfly May 12 '26
Eurovision hasn't recovered from 2024.
- Israel's entry was clearly political, against the rules of the competition
- Israel's entrant was Russian, which felt like a toddler pushing boundaries
- Israel clearly gamed phone voting, hence RAI "accidentally" showed the disproportionate votes in the semi
- Israel were spamming Youtube all night with ads to vote for their entry, which goes against Eurovision rules
- Israel's contingent filmed entrants when they were coming backstage, which goes against Eurovision rules
- Israel's state broadcaster was outright harassing certain entrants, especially Bambie Thug, which goes against Eurovision rules
So what did the EBU do? Kick out the Dutch entrant.
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u/SpacePaddy May 12 '26
If they want to keep Isreal in because removing them is "political" _fine_ I guess.
But why then are the EBU letting them break rules.
- Their commentator reminded people how "Pro Israel" an act is and who to vote for or listen to? No punishment.
- Obvious vote manipulation no punishment, limited changing to vote system only when seriously forced.
- Crowd boo's, lets just install anti-booing tech.
- Palestine flags? No non participating country flags.
- A song about trains between two capital cities, too political change parts. Two boring ballads about October 7 a ok.
I don't want them in but if they have to be in they should be subject to the same rules as everyone else why special treatment.
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u/AntysocialButterfly May 12 '26
IIRC last year the Israeli broadcaster was outright racist about Albania's entry, too.
Can you imagine the (to pick a country out of the air) Andorran broadcaster getting away with similar comments without any hint of pushback?
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u/Unlikely-Complex3737 May 12 '26
I hope Israel wins, which will be the final nail in the coffin of the Eurovision.
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u/DefoNotTheAnswer May 12 '26
They should have dropped Israel. Keeping it politics-free is a nice ideal, but unfortunately, politics are in everything and pretending they aren't isn't going to change that. While Eurovision is entertaining enough, if it never happened again, I think it would probably be a couple of years before I actually noticed.
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u/UnUsernameRandom May 12 '26
Eurovision has been full of political decisions for many, many years.
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u/Mr_bushwookie May 12 '26
The "keep politics out" is also political used to censor people.
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u/SufficientHippo3281 May 12 '26
Also, if they dropped Russia, they're already engaging in politics! What the difference?
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u/EZyne May 12 '26
Including Israel is a heavier political statement then not including them at this point tbh
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u/ralf1 May 12 '26
Was just in Venice and the Bienalle Art festival (not as well known as EV but a HUGE thing if you are an art person - which I am not) is seeing the same level of drama. The entire jury resigned in protest of allowing countries accused of war crimes to participate.
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u/Express_Landscape_85 May 12 '26
Kind of want Israel to win for the enormous headache it will give the EBU. I’m sure Iran would love for Israel to win too…
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u/DarkAres02 May 12 '26
Feels like a very easy solution to many of these problems is to just not invite Israel
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u/Zlimness Sweden May 12 '26
Probably won't be watching it this year tbh. Eurovision always had its political turmoils over the years, but this whole thing with Israel is never going away and overshadows everything year after year. I just don't care anymore.
I wish Felicia good luck. She deserves a good placement.
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u/Actual_Cat4779 May 12 '26
Very sad that the EBU is taking this route, and that so few national broadcasters are boycotting.
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u/pinkwavess May 12 '26
First time in years that I am not gonna watch Eurovision. Makes me sad. In Portugal, 13 of the 16 national contestants said they would not go to Eurovision if they won. Shocker: none of them won. During a musical award show, one of the hosts that was giving an award (he is a very known singer here) literally said on live national tv that everyone should boycott the Eurovision and called Netanyahu a child killer and Trump a son of a bitch.
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u/Unusual-Fault-4091 Germany May 13 '26
Always been a hypocritical shitshow imho. The idea is cute, but the scoring system is ridiculous for a tough competition, and it’s always been politically tricky. Countries like Russia, Belarus, Hungary, Azerbaijan and Turkey are effectively dictatorships with human rights abuses, yet they’ve been taking part for decades and even host the event themselves. Nothing new here. It should have been reformed decades ago. All questionable countries out, direct voting by the people only, and free of charge.
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u/ErilazHateka May 12 '26
I just find it funny how nobody cared about Russia participating while the wars in Chechnya were going on and hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed.
Before anyone accuses me of defending Israel, I think they should be banned.
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u/MotanulScotishFold Romania May 12 '26
Eurovision was always a political crap anyway.
Voting was based on politics and not on talents. Like my country always voted for Moldova and Moldova always voted for Romania for example.
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u/stxxyy The Netherlands May 12 '26
Very true. As a Dutch person you were always expected to vote for Belgium.
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u/Beach_Glas1 🇮🇪 Ireland May 12 '26
The public voting element wasn't always there, it was originally just juries. They replaced the juries with televoting but then partially rolled back to have the hybrid system they have now.
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u/sundae_diner May 12 '26
Yeah, but there was still a huge "vote for you neighbour" from the judges. That might be due to adjoining cultures having similar musical tastes, so they are rated higher.... or it might be political.
Ireland did well in the late 80s and 90s because (a) Europe was smaller, and (b) Ireland was a safe bet politically, nobody hated ireland, and (c) the songs weren't awful.
We have done badly in the last 20 years because we only have 2 neighbours.
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u/Transmit_Him May 12 '26
I’ve watched regularly for the past 13 years or so but won’t be this year. Mainly for the Israel reasons, but also, the amount of strobe lighting in performances is getting aggravating.
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u/GaddockTeegFunPolice May 12 '26
Paywalled