A participant in the popular European singing competition Eurovision has been banned from performing in the final… and organizers say it’s because police are investigating him.
Joost Klein – who represents the Netherlands in this year’s edition of the contest – will not compete in the final because Swedish police are investigating a complaint made by a woman on the production team, the Eurovision team announced in a statement on Saturday.
While the European Broadcasting Union doesn’t say exactly what the allegations imply… it mentions that it occurred after the semi-final performance on Thursday night – adding that it would not be appropriate for Klein to continue while the investigation continues.
The news comes less than 24 hours after the EBU banned Joost from rehearsing… a shocking move that sent social media into a frenzy.
Some have speculated online that the alleged incident may have involved Joost and another artist… but the EBU says that is simply not the case.
Klein was one of 26 artists who qualified for the final, which will take place in just a few hours… but the show will continue with just 25 songs.
Incidentally… Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS released their own version of events – saying that Klein’s repeated requests not to be filmed backstage were ignored, which they say led to Joost’s threatening movement towards the camera and the subsequent prohibition.
SMASH:
Around 15,000 anti-Israel protesters are marching through Malmö right now in protest against Israel being allowed to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest.
They are singing:
“We will crush Zionism”
“There is only one solution. Intifada Revolution”Sweden 2024… pic.twitter.com/fXxC4cKgo7
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 11, 2024
@visegrad24
This entire competition was controversial from the start… allowing a representative from Israel, Eden Golan, to participate despite tensions surrounding the country’s war in Gaza. Thousands of protesters turned out on Saturday to express their displeasure at her reaching the final.