The organizers long strived to keep politics aside, but global tensions have often imposed themselves on the contest and things are no different this year.
If you call genocide "politics", yes. Some of us would say Israel's ongoing genocidal slaughter of tens of thousands of children and adults is what "gets in the way of pop".
The biggest problem of racist libs pretending they are just following rules is that they can't claim they are just separating politics from the event. Because they broke all those rules to ban Russia.
I haven't heard it at all so I can't comment, but I do know they were forced to re-write it pretty late in the game to turn down the more obvious anti-palastine political messages in it after several countries threatened to boycott this year. It might have already sucked, haven't heard either version, but a late re-write changing it can't have helped.
MALMÖ, Sweden — Behind the music, color and high camp, geopolitics has never been far from the surface at the Eurovision Song Contest, be it through subtly political lyrics, boycotts or the outright ban on Russia after it invaded Ukraine two years ago.
And as thousands of people flock to the coastal city for the event, large protests are taking place over Israel’s participation in the competition, including on Thursday, ahead of Israeli representative Eden Golan's semi-final performance.
The decision by the contest’s organizer, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), to ban Russia after it invaded Ukraine was something she agreed with, she said, adding that she thought it was hypocritical to let Israel compete while it waged war in Gaza.
While they did not demand a ban for Israel, artists from the U.K., Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, San Marino and Switzerland signed a joint statement calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, where almost 35,000 people have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
Having initially balked at the idea, Israeli public broadcaster Kan, which manages the country’s entry, eventually amended the song, now called “Hurricane,” following an intervention from President Isaac Herzog.
Yair said some artists had tried to skirt the ban on overtly political statements by using more subtle elements in staging or costume, and he said he expected Israel would try in some way to commemorate Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on the country.
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I just hope there won't be a terror attack in Malmö during Eurovision. There's a huge amount of police and security involved, but Malmö also has a problem with islamic extremism.
Violence from religious extremists has been a problem in Sweden for several years now, and the war in Gaza has escalated the situation even further. I've a family member living in a larger city whom I worry about - particularly because they choose to be open about their jewish identity. There have also been threats against the university I study/work at, and against public transit - one of the many reasons that I no longer use it. As such, I tend to keep these sorts of considerations in mind.
However, I'm glad you don't have to worry about such things.
No, we need to be able to keep two thoughts in our heads at the same time or we are bound to repeat the mistakes. Terror and oppression is terrible regardless of what the purpetrator and the victim are called.