The Eurovision Grand Final was set in Malmö, Sweden. The event was shrouded in controversy (more than usual!), KTS music lover W Wootten reports
The Eurovision Song Contest is the world’s biggest musical event, with 37 countries participating in the competition, but only 26 in the Grand Final (25 this year). So what was the controversy surrounding 2024’s Eurovision?
The Netherlands song ‘Europapa’ was disqualified by the EBU on Friday, just before the final. The reason was that the Dutch artist Joost Klein had been kicked out from the Eurovision Song Contest after a backstage incident on Thursday after the semi final. An allegation of intimidation was made to Swedish police by a female member of the production crew. Instantly, protests broke out across Europe as the song had been incredibly popular. Waves of sympathy poured out of the public as the song had been written about Klein’s father’s death from cancer.
Eurovision, which has always billed itself as non-political, has resisted calls for Israel to be excluded from the contest, as many resent the Israeli government for their actions in Gaza. However, they did demand that the country's performer, Eden Golan, change the lyrics of her entry, titled Hurricane, to remove references to the 7th October attacks. On the 7th October 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups, launched coordinated armed attacks from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza part of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
The UK’s entrant was Dizzy-by Olly Alexander had mixed feedback due to the strangeness of the song, and the (as some feel) overly sexual nature of the dancing. The jury vote gave it 46 points but the public (and myself) hated it and gave it 0.
This year’s Eurovision was not a classic because the songs went in different directions like electro-metal Doomsday Blue (song six in the playlist) or the Arabian style Mon Amour (song 33). Switzerland’s Nemo won with the song ‘The Code’. The staging in Eurovision has always been special, with flaming walls, catapults and crazy costumes. The winning song was performed on a giant spinning platform and others followed with Ukraine’s entry having a large rock as part of the staging, as well as a piece of armour on the shoulder of the main singer. Baby Lasagna used some absurd decals involving neon farm animals and lots of flashing lights. All of which are nothing compared to the Euro-gem we got when watching No Rules!, the Finland entry (song 36).
Eurovision has always been a good contest- the best song contest in the world! Hundreds love it and so do we at NewsKnight! Let’s hope there are less controversies next year.
A Brief History of Eurovision
The very first Eurovision Song Contest took place on 24th May 1956 in Lugano, Switzerland. Switzerland was chosen to host the first contest thanks to its location in the heart of Europe. This made it an ideal choice for broadcasters, who felt it was in the best position to televise the programme. Created by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the very first contest was broadcast live to nations across Europe. Only seven nations competed in the 1956 contest: the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Italy. The original concept for the first few years of Eurovision was for each country to submit two songs, and the winner would be chosen by a panel of judges. At this time only solo artists were allowed to participate and each song could be no longer than 3 and a half minutes. In the end, host country Switzerland claimed the very first Eurovision victory with Lys Assia’s song ‘Refrain’.
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