Israel’s public television (KAN) continues the successful recipe of Hakokhav Haba (The Rising Star), the talent show through which it basically chooses the artist to represent the country in the Eurovision Song Contest. Read more
Israel Public Television confirms that an independent investigation has been carried out, on behalf of the EBU, in relation to everything that happened during Eurovision 2024.
The EBU’s external partner conducting the said investigation has already contacted a senior executive of the Israeli public television. According to what KAN reported to Euromix, it is pointed out:
A conversation took place between the management of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation and an external examiner appointed by the EBU. The discussion was conducted in a very positive spirit, with the corporation’s team expressing and presenting their experiences and feelings about the Eurovision 2024 contest in Malmö in a full and transparent manner. During the conversation, the Israeli team also addressed the behavior of certain delegation members towards the Israeli delegation.
The EBU will use the results of this investigation to identify what mistakes happened that brought so much negative publicity, but also to learn lessons for the future.
Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!
The country that was in the spotlight this year like no other, both before and during the contest, has confirmed its participation for Eurovision 2025, while in a short time it will announce details of the selection process that will follow.
Israel’s public television has confirmed to our colleagues at Euromix that it will participate in Eurovision 2025 next May in Switzerland. In fact, as pointed out, KAN is going to give more information in the next period of time on how to highlight the artist, as well as the song, that will represent the country in the next contest.
Although they haven’t settled on the selection method so far, they are most likely to continue the Hakokhav Haba (Rising Star) format, through which since 2015 whenever they have used it they have always qualified for the final, achieving one win in 2018 and two more top 10s. Of course, internal selection is not excluded either (as was done in the case of Noa Kirel). The possibility of a national final does not seem to gather any chance.
KAN hopes that Eurovision 2025 will be quieter and with less drama, hoping for a more peaceful season for everyone.
Israel is the 11th country so far to have expressed a desire to participate in Eurovision 2024, following Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Malta, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Germany and host Switzerland .
We remind you that Israel was represented this year by Eden Golan with Hurricane, which won fifth place.
Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!
Eden Golan faced boos from the audience during a rehearsal, as you have read in one of our previous articles, the Israeli broadcaster Kan filed a formal complaint with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) ahead of tonight’s broadcast.
During rehearsals, where the arena audience was limited, there was both imposed applause and a sound carpet added to the broadcast in the press center. This sound carpet created the illusion of a large audience in the arena, even though it wasn’t the case.
Eden Golan, Photo: Andreas Papagiannakis
In previous years, Russian artists in the Eurovision contest experienced loud protests and boos during their performances. In 2015, the Austrian TV channel that produced Eurovision in Vienna chose to censor the boos by adding fake shouts during the broadcast.
Aftonbladet‘s Tobbe Ek reached out to SVT’s executive producer, Ebba Adielsson, with a detailed question and she clarified the situation:
“As with any major TV production with an audience, we work with broadcast audio to level the playing field for the TV audience. It is only to get as balanced a soundscape as possible for the viewers, we do not censor sound from the audience in the arena. It’s the same principle for all competing entries, including opening and intermediate acts.“
Let’s see what will happen at tonight’s Second Semi Final which is already on-air!
Source: Schlagerbloggen/Tobbe Ek/Aftonbladet
Stay tuned for more regarding this year’s Eurovision Song Contest that is held in Malmö Arena, in Malmö, Sweden.
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Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!
Eden Golan, the Israeli representative in this year’s Eurovision, gave an interview to Israel Hayom, and revealed more information, regarding her staging in Malmö. Read more
One of the most well-known radio producers on Israeli public radio, Yigal Ravid, mentioned today on a KAN radio program that members of the Swedish broadcaster admitted to the Israeli delegation that Malmö’s selection as the 2024 Eurovision host city was apparently a mistake.
For SVT and the EBU, choosing Malmö to host the 68th Eurovision Song Contest is turning out to be a major security risk. With over 70,000 Muslims calling this city home, it is widely regarded as the most pro-Palestinian city in the nation, with numerous anti-Israel demonstrations occurring literally every day.
When the host city was chosen, the events of October 7th had obviously not occurred. But now that the situation is tense, this option appears dangerous.
On the other hand, Stockholm was out of the running due to Taylor Swift’s concerts which coincide with Eurovision, as well as the refusal of the city’s football teams. Hence, there was no arena available, making Malmö the only choice for hosting the event.
Eurovision 2024 approaches, with security measures tighter than ever before, as the EBU and Swedish organizers face their most difficult challenge.
@kan_reshetbet ״הבחירה במאלמו הייתה טעות גדולה״: יגאל רביד על המשלחת הישראלית לאירוויזיון והאיומים שעלו מדרגה #השעההבינלאומית #עדןגולן #אירוויזיון ♬ original sound – כאן רשת ב
There have been numerous voices calling for Israel to be excluded from the Eurovision Song Contest since the start of the crisis in Gaza in October. Many participating countries have witnessed protests, and many artists who were competing in national selections have expressed doubts and worries about taking part in Eurovision because of Israel’s presence.
But in spite of all the criticism, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) chose to list Israel among the participating nations for Eurovision 2024, a move that incited more criticism.
A press release from the EBU has been prepared to address any frequently asked questions regarding Israel’s participation in Eurovision 2024.
The Eurovision Song Contest is open to all members of the European Broadcasting Union which represents broadcasters from right across Europe and the Middle East.
The Israeli public service broadcaster has been a member of the EBU since 1957 and has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for 50 years.
The Eurovision Song Contest remains a non-political event that unites audiences around the world through music.
As a non-political organization, the EBU’s role is to support public service broadcasters throughout Europe and the Middle East.
The Israel public service broadcaster has been a member of the EBU for over 60 years. The Russian public service broadcasters had their EBU membership suspended in 2022 due to consistent breaches of membership obligations and the violation of public service media values.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) can confirm that the official submission from its Israeli Member Kan has been deemed eligible to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest in May.
The Contest’s Reference Group, its governing board, made the decision to accept the song ‘Hurricane’ for the upcoming competition after careful scrutiny of the lyrics.
It was agreed that ‘Hurricane’ met the necessary criteria for participation in accordance with the rules of the competition.
We take the safety of attendees and staff at the Eurovision Song Contest very seriously. We continue to work closely with SVT, the City of Malmö, Malmö Arena, the local Police and other law enforcement agencies and feel confident in being able to create a safe event for all participants and visitors in May.
The EBU is a firm advocate for freedom of speech and the right for people to express their deeply held views and opinions. We understand that people may wish to make their voices heard and support the right of those who wish to demonstrate peacefully.
We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East but the Eurovision Song Contest’s values of universality, inclusivity and celebrating diversity through music have never been more important. Hundreds of millions around the world share those values and engaged with the event on television and online in 2023. We look forward to being “United By Music” again this year.
EBU’s official response on Israel’s participation in Eurovision 2024 was given back in February by the organization’s General Director, Noel Curran.
Israel will participate in Malmö with Eden Golan and her song “Hurricane“. Eden Golan will perform fourteenth in the second semi-final on May 9.
You can also watch EurovisionFun’s reaction video on “Hurricane“, below:
Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!
After submitting two songs recorded by Eden Golan, both of which were rejected by the EBU regarding their lyrics, KAN, the Israeli public brodcaster decided to change the lyrics of their initial choice, “October Rain”, and re-submit it for Eurovision 2024! Read more
The new lyrics for Israel’s Eurovision entry has been revealed. “October Rain” has been replaced and the new song, called “Hurricane,” has received the coveted approval, Israel can now reveal the lyrics that Eden Golan will perform on the big stage in Sweden.
Much of the song is identical to its original version except for changes that allude to the war and the mood of the country. The most significant change is in the Hebrew lyrics that come at the end of the song.
The new words in Hebrew read the following: “No need for big words, only prayers, even if it’s hard to see you always leave me one small light.”
There are also changes to the English part. The opening words of the song, which in its original version focused on “the writers of history,” but in the current version address just players of an orchestra.
Another change is replacing the word “flowers,” which implies war casualties; was replaced with “powers”. As expected, the phrase “October Rain,” which recurred several times, was completely omitted from the text.
Contrary to the text, it should be noted that the melody remained unchanged. It’s a powerful, emotional, and beautiful ballad that will be revealed tonight in its full musical format.
Here are the English lyrics of the song:
____ symphony, playing with me,
Look into my eyes and see
People walk away but never say goodbye
Someone stole the moon tonight,
Took my light,
Everything is black and white
Who’s the fool who told you boys don’t cry?
Hours and hours and powers
Life is no game but it’s happen
While the time goes by…
Every day i’m losing my mind
Holding on in this mysterious ride
Dancing in the storm, i got nothing to hide
Take it out and leave the world behind
Baby, promise me you hold me again
I’m still taken from this hurricane,
This hurricane
The video clip of the song will be revealed tonight at 22.00 cet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJYn09tuPw4
Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!
In an official announcement, the Israeli public television (KAN) informs us that Eden Golan’s new song entitled Hurricane has been approved by the EBU and therefore it is now official that it will compete normally in Eurovision 2024!
The song will be announced in a special show on Sunday, March 10 at 21.30 Greek time. Hurricane is signed by Keren Pels, Avi Ohion and Stav Begar and has the same melody as October Rain, which was rejected by the EBU, considering it to have political lyrics, since it referred to the events of the terrorist attack by Hamas last October in southern Israel.
While KAN initially stated that it did not intend to change the lyrics of the song and would therefore withdraw from the competition, the intervention of the country’s president seemed to be the catalyst. Isaac Hertzog urged KAN to make the necessary changes to the lyrics of the song, so that Israel would not miss out on this important international event, thus giving joy to the country’s opponents, who wish for its international isolation.
We await with interest the announcement of the Israeli participation.
Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!
