ESC 2024 in Malmö
Israel ready to revise post text
The Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden in 2024.
© imago/TT
Israel is apparently ready to revise the lyrics to its ESC entry song. There was a lot of fuss about the political content.
Because the Israeli entry in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, might be too political for the organizers, Israel had considered not taking part in the competition at all. The country’s public broadcaster, Kan, had announced last week that he did not intend to replace the song entitled “October Rain” by singer Eden Golan (20) if the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) declared it invalid. But now the twist: Israel is now apparently willing to change the lyrics of the song in order to guarantee participation.
Israel wants to announce new ESC song on March 10th
The broadcaster explained on Sunday (March 3) on platform X, they contacted the songwriters of the song and the runner-up song “Dance Forever” and “asked them to rewrite the lyrics while respecting their artistic freedom.” Kan will then select “the song that will be submitted to the Eurovision Control Committee” for admission to the competition. The selected song will be announced on March 10th.
The decision was made based on advice from President Isaac Herzog (63), who called for “necessary adjustments”. Herzog emphasized that Israel must now “raise its voice loudly and clearly in every world forum.” All ESC participants have until March 11th to officially report their songs to the EBU.
“October Rain” apparently refers to Hamas attack
The previous, mostly English lyrics of the contribution song “October Rain” probably refer to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. The second song, titled “Dance Forever,” is apparently intended to address the Hamas massacre at the Nova music festival.
The EBU might have considered this too political. The organization’s rules say so: “The ESC is a non-political event.” The participating broadcasters are responsible for ensuring that the competition “is in no way politicized and/or instrumentalized and/or otherwise brought into disrepute.”
There had already been numerous international demands, to exclude Israel from the music competition entirely. However, the EBU announced in December that Israel would take part. After all, the ESC is “a competition for broadcasters – not for governments”. Israel’s broadcaster therefore meets all participation rules.
ESC final takes place in Malmö
The final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 will take place on May 11th in Malmö, after singer Loreen (40) won the competition last year with her song “Tattoo” and brought the ESC to Sweden.