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Iceland: Silvia Night signs an open letter to the EBU against Israel!

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It seems like the statement of EBU that confirms that KAN and Israel can normally participate to the contest has sparked reactions among the fans but not only.

Now the Icelanding artist and singer Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir is added to the list of artists that protest against the participation of Israel in this year’s contest. Her name might not ring a bell for you, but for sure you remember her as Silvia Night, the TV persona she played on an Icelandic TV show and her Eurovision participation in Athens, back in 2006 with the song “Congratulations“.

 

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“As an artist who has had the privilege of competing in eurovision, it is my shared opinion that israel should be removed from the 2024 contest.
I have signed an open letter to the european broadcasting union asking them to remove israel as it is unfair to any artist they select to have their participation tied to political motivation. This is not the spirit of eurovision’s celebration of music.”

Who is Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir?

Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir is an Icelandic actress and singer. She is best known for her portrayal of the controversial character Silvía Night in the television series Sjáumst með Silvíu Nótt and during the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, in Athens, Greece. Her antics, both onstage and offstage, created controversy and garnered international media attention. She even staged slapping one of her dancers and sweared on Greek TV reporters live on Greek TV news, after she got disqualified from the finals, while in character.

Silvía Night participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song “Congratulations“. Have a look on her live performance below:

There have been calls to ban Israel from Eurovision 2024, like outside NRK right before the first and second semi-finals of MGP. In Iceland, more than 500 artists signed a petition asking RÚV to withdraw from the contest. In Finland, 1300 artists signed a petition asking for Israel to be removed. The British representative Olly Alexander has also shared in public his opinion against Israel. Also just recently Montaigne signed an open letter to the EBU asking the ban of Israel from the contest and Ben Dolic joined her by doing the same.

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Germany: Ben Dolic signs an open letter to the EBU against Israel!

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It seems like the statement of EBU that confirms that KAN and Israel can normally participate to the contest has sparked reactions among the fans but not only.

A few hours later, the (almost) Eurovision Song Contest 2020 representative of Germany, Ben Dolic, signed an open letter to the EBU and made a post on X (Twitter) about it, which you can see below:

“The continued acts of violence by the state of Israel cannot be supported under any circumstances. As an artist, a past Eurovision participant and as a human being, I will not support the EBU’s decision to allow a state that has committed so many atrocities to tens of thousands of civilians participate in the Eurovision Song Contest.

There is no logical explanation for a music competition with the main message of spreading love to have a connection with a place that has acted against their main message in such horrific ways.”

There have been calls to ban Israel from Eurovision 2024. In Finland, 1300 artists signed a petition asking for Israel to be removed. The British representative Olly Alexander has also shared in public his opinion against Israel. Also just recently Montaigne signed an open letter to the EBU asking the ban of Israel from the contest, just as Ben did.

Germany originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song “Violent Thing” written by Borislav Milanov, Peter St. James, Dag Lundberg, Jimmy Thorén and Connor Martin and performed by Ben Dolic, but then the contest was cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak. You can listen to “Violent Thing” on the video down below:

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Sweden: The left party demands the ban of Israel from Eurovision Song Contest! | The response of SVT!

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In May, Malmö will host the Eurovision Song Contest. On May 7, the festivities kick off and on May 11, it’s time for the final. But lately the contest is leaning towards politics. The leader of the Left Party, Nooshi Dadgostar, demands that the organizers ban Israel from participating in the competition. Nooshi Dadgostar explicitly says:

“Eurovision should not invite Israel.”

The reason for the Left Party‘s announcement is the ongoing war that in Gaza, where Israel has been dragged before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The legal process has been initiated after South Africa filed a complaint against Israel to the court.

“Aggressive war against children”

Nooshi Dadgostar adds on the matter:

“Tens of thousands of people have been killed. It is not the right signal to send that Sweden gives space on stage to such a state. Israel is waging an aggressive war against children and their parents and is now being prosecuted for genocide and there are many indications that they are committing war crimes right now.”

When asked if it is reasonable for her, as a politician, to interfere in a production in this way, she responded:

“I love Eurovision. It is a place of celebration and fellowship, but I think many people share the view that a state that has killed so many children cannot be given this place. Otherwise, it’s as if the outside world doesn’t care about the killing. This has to stop.”

Social Democratic party doesn’t want to interfere

Social Democratic MP Lawen Redar, who sits on the Riksdag‘s Culture Committee, strongly disagrees.

“I don’t interfere in how this type of programme should be implemented. It must be up to the public service broadcasters in Europe, and it is certainly unusual to boycott individual nations from participating.”

The response of SVT

SVT refers the question of Israel‘s participation in Eurovision to the European Broadcasting Union and Madeleine Sinding-Larsen write:

“SVT will not comment on this because it is the EBU that decides which members participate in the competition and SVT will follow the EBU’s decision.”

Aftonbladet has reached out to the EBU but there is no response yet.

Source: Aftonbladet / Fredrik Björkman
Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett/EBU

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