Israel is changing the lyrics of its Eurovision Song Contest candidate song.
The Israeli broadcasting company Kan has agreed to revise the lyrics of its Eurovision song, reported by the British media, among others BBC and The Guardian.
Israeli media reported in February that the European Broadcasting Union EBU has demanded changes to the five candidate October Rain to the lyrics of the song. The EBU confirmed to the Huffington Post that an undercover investigation had been launched into the lyrics of the competition song.
There has been some hand-wringing about Israel’s visa participation. Last year, the country was represented by Noa Kirel. PDO
The EBU has suspected that the song’s lyrics talked about the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7. Political opinions are prohibited in the visas.
Israel initially said that he was not going to change the lyrics of his song, even under the threat of a ban. The mind changed when the president of Israel Isaac Herzog took a stand and demanded “necessary adjustments” to the song.
– The president emphasized that especially in this time, when those who hate us are trying to push aside and boycott the state of Israel from every stage, Israel must let its voice be heard with pride and raise its flag on every stage of the world, especially this year, Kan said in his statement.
President Isaac Herzog took a stand on the five-year-old. PDO
Israel’s quintet has not yet been officially chosen. October Rain is currently Kan’s strongest candidate, second is the song Dance Forever. EBU has also rejected of Dance Forever lyrics as they were considered too political.
Israel is represented in the wise by a singer Eden Golan.
Boycott demands
Israel’s participation in Eurovision has sparked a great debate. Several countries and parties have demanded that the European Broadcasting Union exclude Israel from Eurovision because of the conflict in the Middle East.
Eden Golan has been chosen as Israel’s representative this year. Wikimedia
Despite the demands, the EBU has decided to allow Israel to participate in Eurovision.
– Eurovision is a competition of public broadcasting companies in Europe and the Middle East, not governments. Israel’s public broadcasting company has participated in the competition for 50 years, the EBU stressed earlier in its announcement.
– Eurovision is still a non-political event that unites the entire audience around the world with the help of music, EBU emphasized.
Many have seen the EBU’s decision as contradictory, as it had nevertheless excluded Russia from the competition in 2022 due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.