After the controversy surrounding the Israeli ESC entry “October Rain,” Israel recently presented the modified text of the piece, which is now called “Hurricane.” The country can now take part in the competition as planned, the final of which will be held in Malmö on May 11, 2024.
Israel came under heavy criticism because interpreter Eden Golan’s original piece “October Rain” contained some lines of text that were read as a specific allusion to the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. The Eurovision Broadcasting Union (EBU) found this too political – they demanded a change to the piece.
Israel initially reacted with incomprehension. “It should be noted that Israeli Broadcasting has no intention of replacing the song. This means that if the song is not approved by the European Broadcasting Union, Israel will not be able to take part in the competition that will take place in Sweden in May next year,” Israeli public broadcaster KAN said in a statement at the time.
“October Rain” became “Hurricane”
Now Israel gave in and presented the changed song. A look at the new lines of text shows that, among other things, the chorus has been changed. “And I promise you that never again / I’m still wet from this October rain” became “Baby, promise me you’ll hold me again / I’m still broken from this hurricane” in the new version.
According to NME, the outro’s lyrics, which were sung in Israeli, were also changed. The fact that the song was changed is also thanks to a request from Israeli President Isaac Herzog to the station.