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 said last week that it had no intention of replacing 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.
The broadcaster said on Sunday (March 3) on the . 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.
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 state: “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 previously been numerous international calls 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.
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.
