The ongoing dispute over Israel’s participation in the ESC 2024, which will take place from May 7th to 11th in Malmö, southern Sweden, is now reaching the highest political circles. Israeli President Isaac Herzog has intervened in the ongoing debate and called for “necessary adjustments” to the lyrics of the song “October Rain.”
After calls for a boycott against Israel from various Scandinavian artist initiatives, the official organizers also criticized some text passages that could refer to the Hamas attack on October 7th. All of this against the regulatory background that the ESC defines itself as a “politics-free zone”. Accordingly, the organizers can disqualify participants who violate the rules of neutrality.
In this case, Israel’s national television station KANN is responsible for selecting the entry. For 2024 it is the ballad “October Rain”, performed by 20-year-old singer Eden Golan, which emerged as the winner of the contest in the regional casting show “The Next Star”.
The song’s lyrics initially circulated in Israeli media. This was later confirmed by KANN. It contains (loosely translated) lines such as “There is no air left to breathe” or “They were all good children, every single one of them”. It’s easy to identify as references to people in shelters. A reference to the brutal Hamas attack at an open air rave in the desert. An excess that ultimately triggered the new Gaza war.
A reference to the Guns N’ Roses classic “November Rain” has not yet been diagnosed. Here, rather dark expressions of heartbreak predominate: “I know that you can love me when there’s no one left to blame. So never mind the darkness, we still can find a way. Cause nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain…”
KANN said she asked the writers of “October Rain” and the runner-up song project “Dance Forever” to revise their lyrics while maintaining their artistic freedom as much as possible. She will then officially select a song to submit to the Eurovision committee.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes and hosts the Eurovision Song Contest as an umbrella organization, had previously said it was in the process of checking the lyrics to “Octocber Rain”. The EBU has not yet responded to inquiries about this from various media outlets.
The Israel Broadcasting Corporation, however, said it had agreed to the changes at the request of Israeli President Isaac Herzog:
“The President emphasized to us that precisely at this time when those who hate us are trying to oust and boycott the State of Israel from every stage, Israel raises its voice with pride and head held high and its flag in every world forum must be hoisted. Especially this year,” says KAN.
The oh-so-apolitical neo-hit competition will continue to be the venue for bitter disputes in (pop) culture, as was the case most recently at the Berlinale or at the Architecture Biennale, which starts on April 20th in Venice.