Death threats

Politics once again overshadows the Song Contest

Israel's candidate Eden Golan received death threats and the EBU spoke out against hatred.

(Bild: EBU/Ran Yehezkel)

There will probably not be a Eurovision Song Contest without political debates any time soon. Gender roles, corona cancellations, conflicts in the Caucasus or the war in Ukraine - something has always overshadowed the world's biggest music competition. This year, the Gaza war casts its shadow over the event, which starts on May 7 with the first semi-final in the Swedish port city of Malmö.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), as the organizer, recently felt compelled to condemn "targeted campaigns" against artists as "unacceptable", even though it understands that people want to express their views on the war in the Middle East.

Freedom of expression is supported, but the government is firmly opposed to insults, hate speech or harassment.

Israeli woman received death threats
Even though no artist was named, it is easy to relate the background to 20-year-old Eden Golan, who is representing Israel this year and received death threats on her Instagram channel.

The EBU had previously ordered the Israeli broadcaster to change the lyrics of the song "October Rain", which was considered too political because it was seen as a reference to the victims of the Hamas attack on Israel. Now the title is "Hurricane" - with the same music.

Tuning in to the ESC together
But there is not dissent everywhere. As in the previous year, ESC fans from Austria, Germany and Switzerland have the chance to tune into the competition together. The respective broadcasters are working together on the supporting formats "Eurovision Song Contest 2024 - The Countdown" and "Eurovision Song Contest 2024 - The Aftershow", which will be presented by Barbara Schöneberger on May 11.

And between the countdown and the aftershow, there will be the grand final with 26 participants and the two semi-finals before that. A total of 37 countries are taking part again this year.

Kaleen with a good chance of reaching the final
Austria is one of the nations that will have to compete for one of the 20 tickets to the final in one of the two preliminary rounds on May 7 or, in the case of Kaleen with "We Will Rave", on May 9. According to the bookmakers' forecast, the 29-year-old, who relies on a free-flowing disco atmosphere and hard beats, is currently looking good for a place in the final.

Kaleen has a good chance of making it to the final.

(Bild: ORF)

This also applies to Switzerland with Nemo and the song "Code" in the same semi-final. The Swiss entry is currently even considered one of the favorites to win.

In "Code", Nemo talks about life as a non-binary person, which currently puts the Swiss ahead of Croatian singer Baby Lasagna and his upbeat "Rim Tim Dagi Tin", which is about the emigration of young Croats. All in all, however, the field of favorites this year - unlike in many previous years - is still pretty much in flux. At this point in time, not everything seems possible, but a lot.

"United by Music"
Malmö and the Malmö Arena, which seats around 15,000 people, are ready and waiting, as the city of 300,000 inhabitants opposite Denmark has experience with the event, having already hosted it in 1992 and 2013.

Swedish comedian Petra Mede can also boast experience, as she makes her third appearance as host after 2013 and 2016 - this time alongside Malin Åkerman. The celebrations will once again be held under the motto "United by Music", the future permanent motto of the competition, which sometimes seems like a pious wish in view of the debates.