Finland’s potential victory in the Visa is talking in Israel.
Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen will represent Finland at Eurovision this year. Elle Laitila
Concern has arisen in Israel about Finland’s possible visa victory, writes the Israeli media Ynet News.
Finland will be represented this year by Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen Flamethrower– song. Finland has been the bettors’ favorite to win all spring.
If Finland wins the Eurovision Song Contest, there is a high probability that the song contest will be held in Finland. According to Ynet News, this scenario worries Israel’s visa delegation.
– If Finland wins, it will be very challenging for us, an anonymous source tells the newspaper.
– We survived Malmö, but the amount of hatred shown towards us keeps rising to new heights, and we have to discuss these issues very seriously if we get to that point, the source commented.
Israel’s participation in the song contest has aroused strong opposition internationally. The Eurovision Song Contest was held in Malmö a couple of years ago, when large demonstrations against Israel were seen in the city and in the vicinity of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Eden Golan, the singer who represented Israel in 2024, later said that the visa experience was very traumatic.
– I’m scared all the time. I look in every direction like a security guard. I’ve been suffering from anxiety since Eurovision. “When I walk into a place, a restaurant or a performance, I think that someone is going to shoot me from behind,” Golan told Ynet News.
– I have recurring nightmares where people chase me and kill me. But I try to live with it. No one is going to shut me up anymore.
Eden Golan represented Israel at Eurovision in 2024. EPA / AOP
This year, as many as five countries boycotted the song contest because of Israel’s participation. The background of the boycott is Israel’s military actions in Gaza and accusations of genocide.
Several artists have signed an address calling for a boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Finland’s Eurovision representatives have condemned Israel’s participation in Eurovision on social media.
– We think the decision to allow Israel to participate in Eurovision is wrong. The events in Palestine are inhumane and reprehensible, Parkkonen and Lampenius commented on Facebook before the final of the New Music Competition.
Israel is represented this year by a singer Noam Bettan with a song Michelle. Like Finland, Israel will compete in the first semi-final on May 12. The singing competition takes place in Vienna, Austria.