Eurovision 2024

[RunningAndSinging]

Anyone interested in the build up this year? I have been more aware this year as the songs are announced. I like Croatia, Ireland and Finland. Dizzy is hopefully going to do well which makes it exciting - Olli Alexander should be good performing live and he is well known in Europe.

Just reading about the controversy with Israel’s entry and I see that Iceland might send a Palastinian singer.

Ukraine have been the favourites for a while but Croatia is just ahead of them now.

Is government involvement in eurovision against the rule? Australia's 2023 act was openly partially funded by the WA government.
I don't think the 2024 act was though - which is why it was 6 people wandering around on stage.

No, it is not. What is against the rules is politicising the event. Portugal's singer putting pro-Palestinian motifs on her nails was a clear breach of the rules. Some of the other performers also broke the rules on this point. Bambie Thug, for example, had "ceasefire" on her face and "freedom for Palestine" on her legs in Ogham script during rehearsals, although this was changed for the final. These are not the only instances.

An Israeli comedy show has done a sketch where Bambie, Nemo, Joost and Marina Satti were kidnapped by the IDF, blindfolded and forced to apologise to Eden.

Eden herself posed with the comedian playing her in the sketch, so she clearly doesn't have any issue with it.

https://twitter.com/Tz4H1e_r1g4t/status/1790593665213075456?t=jJPc2rw3XzGCDcEOXBR-Gg&s=19

What the fuck is wrong with these people?

It's just vile, and so disrespectful towards the hostages and their families.

It seems highly unlikely that an Israeli satire show would perform a sketch with the intention of being disrespectful to Iraeli hostages and highly unlikely that the Israeli contestant, who dedicated her performance to the Israeli hostages, would either. Do you understand the dialogue in the sketch? I don't, so I can't make a judgment - other than by its visual content which seems to parody some of the contestants judged to have exhibited anti-Israel bias.

It's pretty obvious from the imagery in the videos, plus there are translations posted online.

They blindfolded and gagged them, that's very clear.

They finished with "Karma will get them in the end?" For what, not wanting to be filmed repeatedly without consent and for yawning in a press conference?

Unhinged.

plus there are translations posted online

Can you link to one, please? I can see hundreds of people frothing over a sketch they can't understand but no actual translation.

https://www.svt.se/kultur/joost-kleins-advokat-han-fornekar-brott.

Joost Klein's lawyer: "He denies any crime"

The Netherlands' Eurovision artist Joost Klein risks being prosecuted for illegal threats after his stay in Malmö. Now his lawyer is commenting on the incident.

- He denies crime, says Jan-Åke Fält.

The Netherlands' Eurovision artist Joost Klein was reported for illegal threats in connection with the competition and was stopped from participating in the final.

The police have previously stated that they used faster prosecution because they consider the evidence to be good in combination with the fact that it is not a more serious crime.

According to Jan-Åke Fält, Joost Klein denies any crime.

- As I understand it, there was an agreement between him and the management. It was a sensitive occasion where he would not be photographed when he left the stage. He was to be met by his team but there is a photographer. He asks the person to stop filming.

Jan-Åke Fält says that the photographer did not listen to Joost Klein.

- Then he pushed the camera away to remove it. He denies threatening this person.

According to Jan-Åke Fält, a preliminary trial date is set for the beginning of June. The police are not yet finished with their investigation.

- We have had access to the investigation and now have the opportunity to comment on it. We will request that some Dutch people be heard. Then we'll see if we get it through. I see the chances of release as good.

"Europapa" by Joost Klein debuts at #13 in Germany's official singles chart.
"The Code" by Nemo debuts at #14 in Germany's official singles chart.

"Europapa" by Joost jumps to #1 in Lithuania's official singles chart this week.

Slovenia broadcaster not mucking about with this.

Official request for exact data regarding Slovenian vote (questioning it's integrity), asking about the influence of the main sponsor, the Netherlands disqualification, the anti-booing tech... The works basically.

This goes further than anyone else to date.

Televizija Slovenija's main question should be how the hell did their entry get through to the final .

Naked lady innit?! 😉

Of course. Silly me!

One of my guests for the final gave her 'points' in our own jury vote purely because of her costume.

It was very Pan’s People circa 1975, as worn by the lovely Babs, writhing around to Gilbert O’Sullivan or something equally as incongruous. Horrifying memories.

According to my SM contacts a lot of people in Ireland boycotted the Eurovision this year and there were alternative events taking place on the night. Perhaps this had an impact on the votes for Olly. I know my daughter rates him but she didn't vote at all this year.

Couple of updates on the fallout

Firstly a Norwegian newspaper reported a couple of days ago that we were 25 mins away from Greece, Switzerland, Ireland, UK, Norway and Portugal not performing in the final. Agreement with the EBU was only reached at that stage of the night.

The Greek broadcaster has since denied the report.

Secondly more on Joost Klein's case via ESC discord

Joost Klein's lawyer has requested that more witnesses that live in the Netherlands will be interviewed.

If a European Investigation Order will be issued to make this possible, the preliminary trial date for early June will be postponed.
^www.ad.nl/show/advocaat-joost-klein-wil-nieuwe-getuigenverhoren-in-nederland~a2c01604/^

Translated from Dutch
Joost Klein's lawyer wants new witnesses to be interviewed in the Netherlands in the investigation into the alleged threat to a camerawoman during the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. These are witnesses who live in the Netherlands, Swedish public prosecutor Fredrik Jönsson confirmed to this site after reporting about this from the Swedish newspaper Expressen .

Justice in Sweden must apply for a so-called European investigation order for this. Jönsson cannot say how much time the application will take and when the hearings can take place. Nor is anything said about which witnesses should be interviewed. Only then can a decision be made about possible prosecution. "All I can say is that a few witnesses will be interviewed," Jönsson said. “We can then request the Dutch police to conduct the interrogations through the European investigation order.”

Klein's Swedish lawyer, Jan-Åke Fält, did not want to comment on the news when asked. However, he tells this site that he will make a statement 'hopefully soon'.

Disproportionate
The police investigation into the incident involving Klein is currently before the judiciary. The Dutch Eurovision entry was disqualified just before the final because he was involved in an incident with a camera woman after the second semi-final, who reported threats. What exactly happened is still unclear.

According to AvroTros, Klein made 'a threatening movement' towards the woman when she filmed him, while it had been repeatedly agreed that she would not do that. The broadcaster found the measure taken by the Eurovision Song Contest organizer European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to exclude him on this basis as 'very severe and disproportionate'.

Fält previously announced that a provisional trial date had been set for early June. That hearing will now be postponed. His lawyer also stated that Klein was not guilty of threats and that the chance of an acquittal would be high.

If anyone is still following, I have a Joost Klein update.

https://www.nu.nl/songfestival/6324340/joost-klein-niet-vervolgd-voor-songfestival-incident-wegens-gebrek-aan-bewijs.html

The Swedish prosecutor will be taking no further action due to lack of evidence.

The last I heard was the process for the Dutch to select a song for next year hasn't started yet. Normally it would.

So some pretty big questions ahead about next year's Dutch participation and why the EBU threw him out and he's had his name dragged through the mud on this.

The Swedish public prosecution has closed the criminal investigation against Joost Klein.

"Today I have closed the investigation because I cannot prove that the act was capable of causing serious fear or that the man had any such intention"

https://via.tt.se/pressmeddelande/3571443/investigation-concerning-illegal-threats-in-malmo-has-been-closed?publisherId=3235541&lang=en
Official press release by the Swedish prosecutor

Eurovision bosses are standing by their position, which makes things interesting for next year.

Any idea how the Dutch select their entrant?

I assumed that there's nothing stopping either side publicly discussing what happened now the prosecution case is dropped, but the Dutch might be weighing up whether to resend Joost.

There is a selection process with a committee or something. Except the committee hasn't been set up yet this year. It normally would be.

There was a question asked to the EBU a few weeks back about whether they would allow Joost to compete in 2025. The EBU side stepped the answer.

Joost himself has been trolling the EBU and Eurovision 2025 has cropped up on his social media. Whether this means there is an intention to select him by the Dutch Broadcaster, or just Joost on a wind up or whether the Dutch even intend to enter is open to question at this stage.

The Dutch Broadcaster said it would not enter unless significant changes where made and the EBU addressed the issues at hand. The Dutch are one of the bigger entries outside the Big 5 in terms of how much they pay towards the show. And the EBU have been worried about finances.

The Dutch have until October to make a decision about whether they enter or not.

So far the EBU's response with the independent review managed to say a lot without actually saying anything.

Statement from EBU
The EBU aims to ensure the Eurovision Song Contest is a show for everyone and is a safe place for staff, artists, guests and fans.

Like all responsible employers, we do not tolerate inappropriate behaviour and will always respond to any workplace issues that are reported to us.

The decision to disqualify Mr Klein from this year’s event was made in strict accordance with Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) rules and governance procedures, after an internal investigation.

In parallel, Swedish police decided to open a formal investigation into the conduct of Mr Klein during the Second Semi Final, which we understand was closed today without further action.

This was an investigation into whether a criminal act was committed and not whether Mr Klein behaved inappropriately and breached ESC rules and procedures. This new development therefore does not have any impact on our decision which we stand by completely.

Statement from AVROTROS
We have also just learned that the criminal investigation against Joost Klein has been suspended by the Swedish Public Prosecutor’s Office because there is no evidence of criminal conduct.

From the beginning, we have said that this disqualification was unnecessary and disproportionate and so it now appears to be. We are still deeply disappointed that the Europa adventure of Joost Klein and of the entire Netherlands was brutally ended in this way.

The next step is to have a meeting with the EBU management about this matter at very short notice.

This meeting will focus on this unjust disqualification. We will also discuss all our other objections about the course of events behind the scenes at the Song Contest that we previously sent to the EBU in a comprehensive letter of objection, which to date has remained unanswered.

AVROTROS’ approach is and remains that the Song Contest is about artists and their musical message. The ball is now in the EBU’s court.

Now I am totally unsurprised that the Swedish Prosecutor dropped the case. What I am more surprised at is the lack of evidence part. I thought it would be dropped because they couldn't prove intent given Joost's history and supposed agreement not to be filmed coming off stage. But the curious thing is the footage of the incident - which was supposedly being filmed - was never handed to the police.

The other interesting thing is the selection of the next host city. There are two bids which have gone to the final stage - Geneva and Basel. Geneva is where the EBU are based. And there some talk about this in terms of the venue which apparently doesn't meet the normal minimum criteria of the EBU. The final annoucement will be at the end of August and I have to say if they pick Geneva over Basel, I think there will be a few words whispered about it.

I don't think the EBU are doing themselves too many favours and arguably, if there is no evidence of a problem, then legally they could be on sticky ground because what evidence do they have for kicking out Joost either? That meaning between the EBU and AVROTROS could be tense to say the least... I wonder if the door is open to the Dutch now suing the EBU.

Dutch twitter has been interesting. There are a lot of very upset people upon hearing there is no case to answer.

Saying there was a lack of evidence misrepresents things a little. The prosecutor said that Joost made a movement that hit the woman's camera. It says the incident was quick and witnesses had differing interpretations. The investigation has been closed, not because of lack of evidence of what happened, but because the prosecutor has decided he cannot prove that the act was capable of causing serious fear or that Joost had that intention.

Thanks for the details? There's also the wider Eurovision community I guess.

Joost had done a single with Kaarija (my 10m son has been brought up loving Eurovision...). There are other countries to settle.

I absolutely understand that they're backing their staff member, however the agreement not to film does seem to be publicly acknowledged.

How did this ever get to the police looking at the incident, if there was this little evidence?

I'm left with the feeling of a vexatious issue because they didn't like what Joost had done at the press conference.

Sorry, but given everything and the position the contestants had been put in over the tension about Israel and the total lack of effort to protect them when everything was put in place to protect the Israeli singer, I can't get past that point. Especially given the known issues that Joost had.

I think it's been said that Sweden has very strict laws on the supposed offence?

But on the whole I agree with you. If Joost was indeed wound up by the Israeli delegation filming him, then it adds significantly to the context.

I had a difficult employee. She had significant personal and financial issues. A senior manager tried to use her in a power-play (I was similarly used), and she reacted very badly when it turned out his promises were empty.

Point being, they had a duty of care to Joost as much as anyone.

Should we have a Eurovision 2025 thread? Lots of songs announced this weekend.