Protests expected

Controversial ESC participation: She sings for Israel

Eden Golan(Bild: APA/AFP/GIL COHEN-MAGEN)

The Eurovision Song Contest begins in the Swedish city of Malmö in a few days' time. Singer Kaleen will be competing for us with "We will Rave". And the Israeli participant Eden Golan is also preparing herself, her song is called "Hurricane". Her participation is not without controversy.

"I'm looking forward to flying to Malmö with the whole delegation, my team, to experience this crazy journey called Eurovision, to get in touch with the people and perform in front of them," she says in an interview with AFP.

Contribution had to be rewritten
However, her performance was about more than just music. Golan originally wanted to perform her song "October Rain". Many understood the lyrics as an allusion to the victims of the cruel attack on Israel by the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas on 7 October, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.

The original version was deemed too political by the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the competition, and therefore a breach of the rules. "Hurricane" - the new song - has the same melody but new lyrics.

Eden Golan is competing for Israel at the Song Contest in Malmö.(Bild: APA/AFP/GIL COHEN-MAGEN)

Israel has its own approach to the song
The song is now about a girl, herself or someone else, who is really listening, explained Golan. "This person is experiencing a crisis in their relationships, a midlife crisis, anything that a person can experience emotionally, a storm." Golan believes that every listener can find their own approach to the song.

"But our people, our country, definitely has its own, very different approach, on an emotional level, because of the tragedy we've been through."

Demonstrations expected
Police are expecting both anti- and pro-Israeli demonstrations on the fringes of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Thousands of musicians around the world called for Israel to be banned from the ESC because of its war against Hamas - just as Russia was not allowed to take part in the competition in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine.