Despite protests outside the arena and boos inside, Israel’s Eurovision representative, Eden Golan, kept her head held high and her eyes on the prize as she performed the song “Hurricane” in the second semi-final at the 68th Eurovision Song Contest on Thursday night in Malmo, Sweden, and fans from around the world voted her into the Grand Final.
The haters in the audience seemed to give Golan energy, and she gave a polished, dramatic performance.
עדן בביצוע בלתי נשכח pic.twitter.com/KabXoC1oHo
— כאן (@kann) May 9, 2024
Golan and her dancers were also booed in a dress rehearsal on Wednesday.
Golan will go on to compete in the final on Saturday against the 19 other acts that made it into the finals, along with the automatic qualifiers, the “Big Five” -- France, Germany, Italy, the UK, and Spain – and Sweden, the host country which won last year, will also take part on Saturday.
A few hours after Golan qualified, she skyrocketed from eighth place in the betting tables to second place. Italy accidentally published the results of its votes for the semi-final on Thursday night, showing that Golan had received over 39% of the votes in the country. Countries are not allowed to release the results of their votes during the semi-finals.
Golan won’t be the only Israeli performing in the final, because Jerusalem-born Tali Golergant, who is representing Luxembourg, won a place after she performed her song, “Fighter,” in the first semi-final on Tuesday night. An Israeli who has lived all over the world, she has been a professional singer for seven years already, even though she is only 23.
Golan, who has also had a long career as a professional singer even though she is only 20 and who spent much of her youth in Russia due to her father’s career, is currently in eighth place in the Eurovision betting tables out of 37 countries. Due to Israel's involvement in the war against Hamas in Gaza, many artists have called for Israel to be barred from competing, but the European Broadcasting Union, the body that oversees Eurovision, has not heeded these calls.
Tension surrounding Israel's participation in Eurovision
While Eurovision’s slogan is “United by Music,” this year, there has been an enormous amount of tension surrounding the song contest, not only because of the calls to force Israel to withdraw but also because of threats to the safety of the Israeli delegation and fans and the fear of violent protests. There were protests during the day on Thursday outside the arena and Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg, wrapped in a keffiya, took part.
The head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, Ronen Bar, visited Malmo to personally oversee the security arrangements for Golan and the rest of the Israeli delegation. The Israeli government has issued travel warnings for Israelis visiting Malmo due to anti-Israel threats from the local population, and the Israeli security service has warned Golan and her entourage against leaving their rooms except when absolutely necessary.
KAN, the public broadcaster that sponsors the contest, released a statement praising Golan’s perseverance following the dress rehearsal on Wednesday: “Eden stood on the stage during the dress rehearsal with pride and gave an incredible performance. They did not silence her, and they will not silence us. See you tomorrow.”
Golan said, “I am proud to represent my country, particularly this year. I am receiving support and love and I am determined to give my best performance tomorrow in the semifinal and nothing will deter me from that goal!”
Many other performers wished Golan well backstage, but these did not include Ireland’s Bambie Thug, who qualified for the final on Tuesday night. The producers required Bambie Thug to remove pro-Palestinian messages from their costume when they performed.
Thousands of artists from around the world have signed statements asking that Israel be ejected from the competition. Former Swedish Eurovision competitor, Eric Saade, performed before the semi-final on Tuesday with a keffiya wrapped around his hand. Political symbols like this are strictly prohibited for artists performing or competing in the show, but Saade's keffiya, a scarf associated with the Palestinian cause, almost matched his black-and-white shirt, so it could have passed for part of his outfit. However, Eurovision chose not to post video of him on social media. He is one of more than one thousand musicians from Sweden who published a joint statement in January of this year calling for Israel to be kicked out of the competition, and artists from other countries have also requested this. However, no artists agreed to boycott the competition despite these calls.
Mustii has "Peace" written on his shoulder #Eurovision #Belguim pic.twitter.com/aRsknEORy2
— Eurovision Insider (@escinsiders) May 9, 2024
Belgium's representative, Mustii, had the word "peace" written on his arm during his performance at the semi-final.
The Flemish Broadcasting Authority in Belgium opened the Eurovision broadcast on Thursday night with a protest slide against Israel that said, "We condemn Israel's violation of human rights, which also harms the freedom of the press. Ceasefire now."
The Finnish singer, Käärijä, danced with Golan as cameras rolled. The video was posted to social media by KAN and other places, but he later posted a disclaimer to Instagram that said, "I happened to meet Israel's Eurovision representative today, and a video was filmed of us. It was then posted on social media without my permission. Despite my requests for its removal, it has not been taken down. I would like to clarify and emphasize that the video is not a political statement or an endorsement of any kind."
Israel has won Eurovision four times, most recently in 2018 with "Toy," sung by Netta Barzilai. Last year, Noa Kirel performed "Unicorn" and came in third. But no matter where she places in the Final, Golan has already won hearts around the world with her grace under pressure.
Netanyahu wishes Golan luck ahead of performance
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wished Golan luck in her performance in a video released on Thursday ahead of the show.
In his statement, Netanyahu said, "Eden, I want to wish you success, but you have already succeeded. You not only face Eurovision in a proud and impressive way, but you successfully face a wave of antisemitism while standing and representing the State of Israel with respect."
Netanyahu referred to Golan facing booing from the crowd during her rehearsal in Malmö, telling her that Israel stood firmly behind her and supported her in her endeavors.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.