Photo: Pexels // Lisa from Pexels
The Eurovision Song Contest is a program that practically everyone knows and that is held
every year without fail. Since 1956, this show has united us to enjoy music internationally,
introducing us to artists with great potential in many countries. The only year this contest
was not broadcasted was 2020, due to COVID, which brought absolutely everything around
us to a standstill. Some examples of artists who have participated in Eurovision and
achieved great fame include ABBA, Céline Dion, Måneskin, and Loreen, among others.
It has always been presented as an apolitical contest where conflicts are set aside to focus
solely on music and culture. However, this argument is becoming increasingly difficult to
maintain given the conflicts of recent years. According to Tribuna Segovia, Yugoslavia was
expelled from Eurovision in 1993 due to UN sanctions during the Balkan Wars, Armenia
withdrew in 2021 due to the war with Azerbaijan, and Russia was excluded in 2022 after its
invasion of Ukraine.
Currently, the debate has focused on Israel’s participation in Eurovision, given the
unsustainable situation in the Gaza Strip. Euro News lists a total of 72 former contestants
who signed an open letter to the European Broadcast Union (EBU) asking the organizers to
ban Israel and its national broadcaster from the competition. In this letter, they argue that
Israel’s participation is unfair given the “genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza and the
decades-long apartheid regime and military occupation against the entire Palestinian
people.” Even Nemo, the winner of the last edition, returned his trophy as an act of protest
against their participation.
However, this debate is not new, as unrest with Israel’s participation has been simmering
since the attacks against Palestine intensified in recent years. Although in the last two
editions, the organizers banned Palestinian flags from the contest and muted live audience
boos directed at Israel or other comments related to the conflict.
The Eurovision Song Contest participants are active member countries of the EBU, which
includes non-European countries, such as Israel. In fact, Israel is one of the contest’s
biggest sponsors through the Israeli company Moroccanoil, which has no connection to
Morocco.
Given this situation, the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest has seen several countries withdraw
their support for Israel’s participation and have decided to boycott the contest if it remains a
participant. In total, five countries have now joined the cultural boycott of the 70th edition of
Eurovision, to be held in Vienna this May. These include Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland,
Slovenia, and Iceland. Many of these countries are highly influential in the contest, either
due to their number of victories or because they belong to the Big Five, the countries that
contribute the most financial support to Eurovision.
This is why the format has suffered significant losses, which will undoubtedly have both
economic and media repercussions. The withdrawal of several countries, including one of
the Big Five, will result in the loss of millions of euros allocated to the festival’s organization.
A decrease in viewership is also expected, as public broadcasters in these countries will not
air this edition.
Despite the consequences they face, the contest organizers continue to accept Israel’s
participation, stating that the rules do not allow exclusions based on a state’s alleged human
rights record. They also emphasize that it is an apolitical event where culture takes
precedence. Thus, to compensate for the withdrawals, the EBU has explored the possibility
of countries like Bulgaria, Moldova, and Romania returning to participate in recent months.
However, many countries are still continuing their participation, including Norway. After
contacting NRK, their public broadcaster and therefore the body that makes the decision, I
was able to obtain some answers that help clarify the reasons why other countries choose
not to join the boycott. While it has certainly been a topic of debate for NRK and the Nordic
countries, the decision-making process was quite natural, focusing on the public figures they
represent. Charlo Halvorsen, content editor at NRK, explains it this way:
“Among the staff, there was naturally some disagreement, as there was among the rest of
the population. In the management, there was agreement that NRK, as a public broadcaster,
cannot take their own position in political conflicts.”
Charlo Halvorsen asserts that NRK is not whitewashing the Gaza genocide by participating
in the contest, as they have consistently reported on the conflict in their news coverage.
“We have had daily news coverage of the conflict in Gaza, where all sides of this terrible war
are well-illuminated.”
And, regarding the apolitical factor that justifies the organization’s inclusion of Israel among
its participants, Halvorsen finds it difficult to remain completely neutral. However, the key is
to treat the situation as neutrally as possible.
“There has long been an element of politics in the ESC [Eurovision Song Contest]. So, it’s
probably more about making it as apolitical as possible, without succeeding 100%. Even in
today’s geopolitical climate.”
It is clear that this is a situation with very different viewpoints among the participating
countries and those that have decided to withdraw, and this is a consequence of the current
climate where the country in the spotlight wields considerable power. The Eurovision Song
Contest format is also very important, so it is not an easy decision for each country, given
their individual approaches.
What does seem to be an innovative and realistic measure is the elimination of censorship in
this edition, compared to the previous two. This year, the display of the Palestinian flag
among attendees will not be prohibited, nor will boos directed at Israel’s performance be
censored. Michael Kroen, executive producer of the Eurovision Song Contest, made the
following statements, which Euro News shared, regarding this year’s organization: “We will
not sugarcoat anything or avoid showing what is happening, because our task is to show
things as they are.”
