Song Contest
Next chaos at the ESC: Dutch excluded
Joost Klein will not be allowed to show his song “Europapa” at the ESC 2024. photo
© Jens Büttner/dpa
Connecting Europe with music – that is the goal of the Eurovision Song Contest. But it’s less and less about music.
Even before the grand finale, the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) overshadowed by a scandal. A few hours before the final on Saturday evening (9 p.m./Das Erste), the organizer, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), officially excluded the Dutch candidate Joost Klein from the competition.
It was previously announced that the Swedish police were investigating an incident involving the rapper after the semi-final show. The decision was greeted with horror in the Netherlands.
The ESC was already extremely politically charged: several candidates criticized the participation of the Israeli singer Eden Golan with a view to the Gaza war. Irish contributor Bambie Thug said he cried over Golan’s entry into the final. Two pro-Palestinian demonstrations were announced for Saturday alone in the southern Swedish venue of Malmö. At a rally on Thursday with thousands of participants, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, things remained quiet. In Helsinki, demonstrators in the reception area of the Finnish broadcaster Yle called for a boycott of the ESC broadcast.
The 26-year-old Klein was considered one of the favorites with his song “Europapa” – a tribute to his late father. Now the EBU said: “Swedish police have investigated a complaint from a female member of the production team following an incident following his performance in the semi-finals on Thursday evening. During the investigation it would not be appropriate for him to continue to participate in the competition.” The grand finale of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest will therefore only have 25 participants. Germany is there with the artist Isaak and the song “Always On The Run”.
Horror in the Netherlands
The participating Dutch television station Avrotros was shocked and criticized the EBU decision as disproportionate. The Dutch public broadcaster (NPO) also regretted the disqualification. “The NPO considers this to be a very drastic decision,” the broadcaster said. This is a disappointment for the millions of ESC fans in the Netherlands and other European countries. The course of events after the competition will be assessed in detail with everyone involved.
Dutch TV commentator Cornald Maas said the incident had nothing to do with Israel or the Israeli delegation. “The incident is hardly worth mentioning.”
Exact circumstances of the incident unclear
The EBU and the police in Malmö initially did not provide any further information on the background to the alleged incident, which is said to have taken place on Thursday evening and was reported on Friday. A police spokeswoman told the German Press Agency that a man was accused of making threats against an employee at the Malmö Arena venue. The EBU said: “We would like to clarify that, contrary to some media reports and speculation on social media, no other artists or delegation members were involved in this incident.”
The ESC organizer emphasized that it has a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behavior at the event and is committed to providing a safe working environment for all employees at the competition. “Against this background, Joost Klein’s behavior towards a team member is viewed as a violation of the competition rules,” it continued.
Joost Klein was already suspended
The musician had already not taken part in the two rehearsals for the final on Friday. According to the EBU on Friday, this was also about investigating an incident involving the artist. The Dutchman showed up for the first rehearsal and also took part in the flag parade. However, he did not rehearse his song “Europapa”. A little later, the EBU decided not to let the singer perform during the second dress rehearsal of the competition. The juries from all participating countries regularly vote on this. You should evaluate Klein based on a previous performance.