# Controversies of the Eurovision Song Contest

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The Eurovision Song Contest is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) which features participants representing primarily European countries. One of the stated aims of the contest is that the event is of a non-political nature, and participating broadcasters and performers are precluded from promoting or referring to anything of a political, commercial or similar nature during the contest. However, several controversial moments have occurred since the event's creation in 1956, which have included political tensions between competing countries being reflected in the contest's performances and voting, disqualification of entries due to political references in song lyrics, and demonstrations against certain countries competing due to said country's politics and policies.

## Armenia and Azerbaijan

The continuing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has affected the contest on numerous occasions since both countries entered the contest in the late 2000s. In 2009, a number of people in Azerbaijan who voted for the Armenian entry were reportedly questioned by Azeri police. The Armenian broadcaster AMPTV requested for its entry to the 2015 contest to be changed from its original title "Don't Deny" to "Face the Shadow", following claims that it contained a call for recognition of the Armenian genocide, which would violate contest rules regarding political statements. Controversy erupted again in 2016 when Armenia's representative Iveta Mukuchyan was shown waving the flag of the Republic of Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway state internationally recognised as a part of Azerbaijan but largely inhabited by ethnic Armenians, at the contest's first semi-final. This again contravened Eurovision rules on political gestures and resulted in disciplinary action being levied against Armenian broadcaster ARMTV.

## Russia and Ukraine

Interactions between Russia and Ukraine in the contest had originally been positive in the first years of co-competition, until the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas. In 2016, Ukraine's Jamala won the contest with the song "1944", whose lyrics referenced the deportation of the Crimean Tatars. Given the events in Crimea, many saw this song as a political statement against Russia's actions. However, the song was permitted to compete given the perceived historical nature of the song, despite protests from the Russian delegation. Calls for a Russian boycott of the 2017 contest in Ukraine were dismissed, but their representative Julia Samoylova was subsequently banned from entering Ukraine, due to breaking Ukrainian law by having performed in Crimea in 2015 and entering the region directly from Russia rather than going through Ukraine. Offers for Samoylova to compete remotely from a venue in Russia, or for another representative to compete in her place, were rejected by Russia's broadcaster Channel One, eventually pulling out of the contest. The EBU condemned the Ukrainian government's decision to impose a travel ban, and warned that UA:PBC risk exclusion from future events.
In the wake of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the UA:PBC appealed to suspend Russian EBU member broadcasters VGTRK and Channel One from the union, and to exclude Russia from competing in that year's contest. The appeal alleged that since the beginning of the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, VGTRK and Channel One had been a mouthpiece for the Russian government and a key tool of political propaganda financed from the Russian state budget. The EBU initially stated that Russia as well as Ukraine would still be allowed to participate in the contest, citing the non-political nature of the event. Following complaints levied by other participating countries, the EBU announced on 25 February that Russia would not be allowed to take part in the 2022 contest, stating it would bring the competition into disrepute. Ukraine went on to win that edition of the contest, with the highest number of points from the televote in its entire history.
Following its 2022 win, Ukraine was initially given the opportunity to host the 2023 contest. However, the EBU later decided that the country would not be able to host due to the Russian invasion. The United Kingdom, which had finished in second place in 2022, was instead chosen to host the contest on Ukraine's behalf. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested to address the audience during the final of that year's contest, but it was rejected by the EBU on the basis of its wish to not politicize the event. Ternopil, the hometown of that year's Ukrainian representatives Tvorchi, was targeted by Russian missile strikes ahead of Tvorchi's performance; the duo later held up a makeshift sign with 'Ternopil' written on it during the recap of the competing performances.

## Georgian withdrawal in 2009

Georgia's planned entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow caused controversy: in the aftermath of the Russo-Georgian War, Stephane and 3G were selected to compete with the song "We Don't Wanna Put In", however the EBU objected to the lyrics as they appeared to criticise Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Requests by the EBU for the lyrics of the song to be changed were refused by the group, and Georgian broadcaster GPB subsequently withdrew from the event. A number of boycotts of the contest were considered by the Baltic states over Russia's actions in Georgia, however none eventually occurred, with Estonian broadcaster ERR hosting a poll on its website to gauge public opinion on competing in Russia.

## Israeli participation

Israel first competed in the contest in 1973, becoming the first country from outside of Europe to enter. Its participation in the contest over the years has been at times controversial, but it has remained a regular competitor in the contest and been crowned the winner on four occasions. The country's first appearance was marked by an increased security presence at the contest venue in Luxembourg City than what would have been considered normal in the early 1970s, coming less than a year after the Munich massacre where 11 members of the 1972 Israeli Olympic team were killed by the Palestinian militant organisation Black September. Armed guards were stationed at the venue, and the audience in attendance were warned not to stand during the show at the risk of being shot.
The contest was regularly broadcast in the Arab world during the 1970s, however as many of these countries did not recognise Israel, their broadcasters typically cut to advertisements when Israel performed. When in 1978 it became apparent that Israel was on course to win the contest, the broadcast in many of these countries was cut short before the end of the voting, with Jordanian broadcaster JTV explaining the end of its transmission as due to "technical difficulties" and concluding its transmission with an image of daffodils; Jordanian media later announced that Belgium, the eventual runner-up, had won instead.
Israel's participation in the contest means that many Arab states that are eligible to participate in the contest choose not to do so, however, a number of attempts have been made by some of those countries to enter. Tunisia had applied to take part in the 1977 contest, and had been drawn to perform fourth on stage, but later withdrew. Morocco competed for the first, and to date the only time, in 1980, when Israel had withdrawn from the contest due to it being held on the same night as Yom HaZikaron. Most recently, Lebanon had signed up to compete in the 2005 contest, and had selected "Quand tout s'enfuit" as its debut entry, to be performed by Aline Lahoud. After being told by the EBU that it would have to broadcast the entire programme in full, including the Israeli entry, Télé Liban responded that it could not guarantee this as it would be incompatible with Lebanese law. The broadcaster therefore withdrew its entry, resulting in sanctions from the EBU due to the late withdrawal.
Israel has hosted the contest on three occasions, with the first two (1979 and 1999) being held in Jerusalem. Due to the preparations and rehearsals which accompany the contest, and the Saturday evening timeslot for the final, objections from Orthodox religious leaders in the country regarding the potential interruption to Shabbat have been raised on all three occasions. In 1979, these objections were largely ignored and preparations for the contest were held mostly unchanged from standard, however, Turkey was pressured into withdrawing from the contest by Arab states who objected to a predominantly Muslim country taking part in Israel. Objections were again raised in 1999 with regards to the contest being held around Shabbat, as well as criticism levelled against Dana International, the contest's first trans winner, leading to an attempt to stop the contest being held in Israel at all. However, all of these criticisms were in vain and the contest went ahead as planned.
In 2019, a number of controversial incidents occurred in the run-up to that year's contest in Tel Aviv. Requests were once again received from Orthodox leaders that the contest not interfere with Shabbat, with a letter penned by Yaakov Litzman, leader of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, to several government departments demanding that the contest not violate the holy day. Shalva Band, one of the competing entrants in the country's national selection for that year's contest, ultimately withdrew from contention when told that, should they win, they would be required to perform in rehearsals on the Shabbat; the group ultimately performed as an interval act during the contest's second semi-final.
The 2019 contest also saw calls from a number of different groups for a boycott of the event, which included proponents of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in response to the Israeli policies towards Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as in opposition to what they see as "pinkwashing" by the Israeli government. However, others also campaigned against a boycott of the event, asserting that any cultural boycott would be antithetical to advancing peace in the region. Most notably, the Icelandic entrants Hatari raised banners showing the Palestinian flag as their televoting points were announced in the final; this eventually caused the Icelandic participating broadcaster RÚV to be fined €5,000.
Israel's participation in the contest was again put into controversy ahead of the 2024 edition in Malmö, Sweden, following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023 and the humanitarian crisis resulting from Israeli military operations in Gaza during the war. A separate controversy erupted regarding the lyrics of the song Israel had originally submitted the 2024 contest, "October Rain". The EBU ruled that the song was in violation of the rules, as its lyrics appeared to reference the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas-led Palestinian militants. Israel eventually submitted a modified version of the song with a new title, "Hurricane", which was accepted by the EBU to compete. Protests against Israel's participation were held in Malmö during the contest, and Israel's performances on stage were met with booing from the audience.