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    Israel’s Campaign to Win Eurovision Went All the Way to the Top

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    Government social media accounts and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined a campaign to encourage people to vote for Israel’s entrant.Just minutes before Yuval Raphael went onstage to represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest final last weekend, the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, posted an appeal to his 1.5 million Instagram followers.“Vote #04 — New Day Will Rise” the prime minister’s post urged followers. “Vote 20 Times!” it added, a nod to the maximum number that viewers are allowed to cast under the contest’s rules.On a day when Israel’s military began mobilizing to advance farther into Gaza, and Israeli and Hamas negotiators were engaged in cease-fire talks, it was perhaps surprising that Netanyahu was weighing in on a spectacular, high-camp pop contest.Yet at a time when Israeli singers and artists are often shunned on the world’s stages over their country’s actions in Gaza, Eurovision appears to have grown in importance for Israel’s government.Eurovision fans vote for a variety of reasons, but Netanyahu’s direct plea was part of a wider effort by the government and pro-Israel groups to generate support for the Israeli contestant, via social media posts, email campaigns and YouTube ads.Israel secured the largest public vote at the final in Basel, Switzerland, which led to a nail-biting end to the show. Israel seemed poised to win right until the last minute of the vote count, when Austria, which had performed better in points from expert juries, leaped ahead.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      To stay in the competition, Malta had to change the lyrics.

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      Reporting from from the St. Jakobshalle arena in BaselLouane singing “Maman,” a song addressed to her mother, who died of cancer.Fabrice Coffrini/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesWhen Louane was offered the chance to represent France at Eurovision, she immediately knew what she wanted to sing about: her mother.As a child growing up in a small town, Louane, whose real name is Anne Peichert, watched Eurovision with her parents and five siblings while gathered around the TV eating pizza. Even when it wasn’t Eurovision season, Louane recalled in an interview, her mother would put on videos of Celine Dion’s winning performance from 1988, and they would watch together, mesmerized by the Canadian singer’s voice.Those happy Eurovision sessions ended abruptly in 2014 when Louane’s mother died from cancer.A star in France with five hit albums, Louane, now 28, said that over the past decade she had written and sung many songs expressing grief and anger over her mother’s death.Her Eurovision track, a powerful ballad called “Maman,” has an altogether different message, however. “It’s a letter to my mother saying: ‘I’m finally fine. I’m finally good in my life. I am, myself, a mother,’” Louane said. “It’s a super special song to me.”Louane makes that transformation clear when she sings in French: “I’m better now / I know the way / I’m done walking down this memory lane.”Louane said the track had a secondary message that went beyond her own story. “What I’m going to try and make everyone understand,” she said, “is that even through the deepest pain, deepest sadness, you can find a way to be better, to finally be well.” More

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      Can Eurovision Avoid Politics in Neutral Switzerland?

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      The competition is run by an opaque Swiss organization that wants to sidestep controversies that could spoil the fun.At the Eurovision Song Contest, one rule stands above all others: no politics.That order is enforced by the competition’s organizer, the European Broadcasting Union, an opaque federation of nearly 70 public service broadcasters, based in Geneva. It scrutinizes performers’ lyrics, their outfits and even their stage props in hopes of bringing some Swiss neutrality to the contest and avoiding anything controversial that could spoil the fun.Yet when the Eurovision final takes place this Saturday on the European Broadcasting Union’s home turf in Basel, Switzerland, politics will still be bubbling in the background, even if the organizers manage to keep such topics off the stage. At a time when the effects of Israel’s war in Gaza are still rippling through cultural life, and Russia and Belarus are pariahs because of the invasion of Ukraine, the question of who gets to compete in Eurovision brings politics to the fore. And the question of what is actually political can be slippery, and one for which the European Broadcasting Union sometimes lacks a consistent answer.In recent weeks, broadcasters in Spain, Ireland and Slovenia have called for a debate on Israel’s participation, rehashing a furor that threatened to overshadow last year’s competition. Before the last final, in Malmo, Sweden, some Eurovision performers signed petitions and made statements calling for Israel’s exclusion because of its actions in Gaza. Some crowd members booed Israel’s singer during the final, though others cheered. Yuval Raphael, representing Israel, at a Eurovision rehearsal in Basel. Broadcasters in Spain, Ireland and Slovenia have called for a debate on Israel’s participation.Alma Bengtsson/EBUEurovision officials responded with a line that the competition has clung to at previous moments of tension: Eurovision, it said, is a contest between broadcasters, not nations. That means a government’s actions should have no bearing on the contest.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Time to Get Over Eurovision? ‘Hell No!’ Says Joost Klein, a Disqualified Contestant Says.

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      Joost Klein was thrown out of last year’s contest after being accused of threatening a camerawoman. On a new album, he’s still stuck in that moment.In the run-up to last year’s Eurovision Song Contest final, Joost Klein was amped for victory.Klein, a Dutch pop star, was a favorite to win with “Europapa,” a madcap song in which he raps over a bouncy beat and circling piano riff about a journey through Europe. The track ends in a hyperfast dance break, but the upbeat song also has a melancholy side: Klein wrote it as a tribute to his father, who died when Klein was 12.Then, just hours before the finale, Klein’s chance to honor his father vanished when Eurovision organizers threw the singer out of the contest, saying he had threatened a camerawoman. When Klein learned he was in trouble, he was backstage and dressed up in a comically large blue suit for a rehearsal. He begged to talk to the upset camerawoman, in a desperate bid to change his fate. But his pleas went nowhere: Klein was out.Nearly a year has passed, and the incident doesn’t appear to have hurt Klein’s career. He now has over three million monthly listeners on Spotify, and in February, he released a new album, “Unity,” to rave reviews in the Netherlands. After finishing a string of large European dates, this week he is embarking on his debut U.S. tour, including two shows at Irving Plaza in New York.Still, in a recent interview in London before a show, Klein, 27, was stuck under the cloud of his Eurovision misadventure. “Everyone’s like, ‘Hey, your career grew,’” Klein said. “I don’t care.”“Everyone’s like, ‘Hey, your career grew,’” Klein said. “I don’t care.”Jeremie Souteyrat for The New York TimesThe disqualification still “stings,” he said, and he didn’t expect to get over it soon. Klein said that both his parents died before he was 14, and it took him more than a decade to process their deaths. He feared that shrugging off the Eurovision fiasco could take just as long. His new album features several tracks brooding on the incident.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Sweden Drops Case Against Joost Klein, Disqualified Eurovision Entrant

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      Investigators could not prove that Joost Klein, the Dutch entrant, had behaved threateningly during an incident shortly before the event final.Swedish prosecutors said Monday that they were closing an investigation into Joost Klein, the Netherlands entry to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, whom organizers threw out of the singing competition hours before the final in May after an altercation with a camerawoman.Fredrik Jonsson, a Swedish prosecutor, said in a news release that he could not prove that a gesture Klein had made at the camerawoman during the incident “was capable of causing serious fear,” or that Klein had intended it to scare her.The brief statement added that although Klein had “made a movement” toward the crew member, and touched her camera, “the course of events was fast and was perceived differently by the witnesses of the incident.”The run-up to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest was unusually tense, with months of protests around Israel’s participation. In the days leading up to this year’s contest final, pro-Palestinian groups held several marches through the host city, Malmo, Sweden, and some Eurovision acts used social media to discuss their pro-Palestinian views.On the day of the final, Klein’s disqualification came as a last-minute curveball.The day before the final began, Klein, a well-known figure in Dutch pop music whose songs feature silly lyrics and very fast beats, did not appear at a rehearsal to perform his track, “Europapa.” Shortly afterward, the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the contest, said in a statement that it was investigating Klein because of “an incident” involving a member of the show’s production crew. The next day, just hours before the final, the union organizers said in a new statement that Swedish police were also investigating, and it would not have been appropriate for Klein to take part while a legal process was underway.Klein’s disqualification caused immediate uproar among Eurovision fans on social media. And in the days following the competition, many in the Netherlands rallied around the singer, with radio stations repeatedly airing Klein’s song. Some churches even rang their bells to its tune in protest.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      With Church Bells and Hashtags, the Netherlands Backs Its Eurovision Act

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      The details of an incident that led to the singer’s disqualification remain elusive. But many Dutch fans have already made up their minds.At noon on Tuesday, some church bells and carillons in the Netherlands didn’t sound like they usually do. Rather than solemnly tolling, they played the melody of “Europapa,” the song that was supposed to be the Dutch entry in the Eurovision Song Contest final this past Saturday.Dutch radio stations are also regularly playing the three-minute pop song, and some fans have added the hashtag “JusticeforJoost” to their social media accounts.Support is strong in the Netherlands for Joost Klein, the singer behind “Europapa,” who was a preshow favorite among Eurovision fans and bookmakers until he was disqualified just hours before the final in Malmo, Sweden.Eurovision’s organizer, the European Broadcasting Union, barred Klein from taking part after an “incident” during which he showed “threatening behavior directed at a female member of the production crew,” it said in a statement.The E.B.U. called in the Swedish police to investigate, although details of the incident remain elusive. But support for Klein seemed to get only stronger in the Netherlands since Saturday’s bombshell announcement, thanks to a general belief, promoted by the Dutch public broadcaster, that Klein did not commit an offense large enough to justify the disqualification.AVROTROS, the broadcaster that had picked Klein to represent the Netherlands, responded to the E.B.U.’s decision on Saturday with a statement calling it “very heavy and disproportionate.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Nemo Wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland

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      The nonbinary singer Nemo won the high-camp contest, during a night that included pro-Palestinian demonstrations outside the arena and fireworks onstage.The run-up to this Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest final in Malmo, Sweden, was unusually tense and anguished, with months of protests over Israel’s involvement in the competition, a contestant suspended just hours before the show began and confrontations between the police and pro-Palestinian demonstrators outside the arena on the night.But when the final began, the uproar swiftly disappeared. Instead of protests and outrage, there was the usual high-camp spectacle, featuring singers emoting about lost loves, near-naked dancers and, at one point, a performer climbing out of a giant egg.At the end of the four-hour show, Nemo, representing Switzerland, won with “The Code,” a catchy track in which the nonbinary performer rapped and sang operatically about their journey to realizing their identity. “I went to hell and back / To get myself on track,” Nemo sang in the chorus: “Now, I found paradise / I broke the code.”The performance was delivered while Nemo, whose real name is Nemo Mettler and who uses they/them pronouns, balanced on a huge spinning disc.Nemo received strong support from music industry juries in the competition’s participating nations and viewers at home.Martin Meissner/Associated PressFans cheer in Malmo Arena after Nemo’s victory was announced.Gaetan Bally/EPA, via ShutterstockWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Eurovision Disqualifies Joost Klein Hours Before Final

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      Just hours before this year’s Eurovision Song Contest final was scheduled to begin in Malmo, Sweden, on Saturday, the glitzy singing competition was thrown into crisis after organizers banned the Netherlands’ entry from taking part.On Friday, the Dutch musician, Joost Klein, whose songs mix pop with hyperfast beats, did not appear for a scheduled rehearsal to perform his song “Europapa,” a song about a transcontinental European odyssey that had been among the favorites to win.Shortly afterward, the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the contest, said in a statement that it was “investigating an incident” involving the Dutch artist. On Saturday morning, a Swedish police spokeswoman said in an email that officers were investigating a man “suspected of unlawful threats” toward a Eurovision employee and had passed a file to prosecutors to consider charges.Eurovision organizers said in a new statement that it was Klein under investigation, and that “it would not be appropriate” for the musician to compete in Saturday’s final while a legal process was underway.The decision caused an immediate uproar among Eurovision fans on social media, many of whom were backing Klein to win.AVROTROS, the Dutch public broadcaster that picked Klein to represent the Netherlands at Eurovision, also objected to his disqualification. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the broadcaster said that the organizers’ decision was “very heavy and disproportionate.” The spokesperson said that, on Thursday, Klein made “a threatening movement” toward a camera operator who was trying to film him after his semifinal performance. The camera operator had continued recording Klein even though he had “repeatedly indicated that he did not want to be,” the spokesperson added.Klein’s Eurovision journey, the spokesperson said, “shouldn’t have ended this way.” More

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      Before the Eurovision Final, a Pro-Palestinian March

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      Just hours before this year’s Eurovision Song Contest final was set to begin on Saturday in Malmo, Sweden, around 5,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through the city center to protest Israel’s participation in the competition.Waving huge Palestinian flags and accompanied by drummers, the protesters shouted slogans including, “Eurovision, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide,” and “Free, free Palestine.”The demonstration, two days after a similar march in Malmo that the Swedish police said involved around 12,000 people, was the latest sign of some Eurovision fans’ discontent with Israel’s involvement in the high-profile contest because of the war in Gaza.At Eurovision, singers representing their countries compete for votes from music-industry juries and a television audience. Although not part of Europe, Israel has competed since 1973 and won four times.For months, pro-Palestinian groups have called on Eurovision’s organizer, the European Broadcasting Union, to ban Israel from the competition. Thousands of musicians, including pop stars and former Eurovision entrants, signed petitions that said there was a precedent for throwing Israel out of the event: In 2022, Eurovision banned Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.The European Broadcasting Union has repeatedly dismissed the comparison and said Eurovision is an apolitical contest that aims to unite music fans, not divide them.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More