Eurovision 2024: how the war between Israel and Hamas entered the singing competition
“People have the right to express themselves. I focus on my role, giving the best of myself, and seeing the positive side.” No one knows how the audience in Malmö (Sweden) will receive the Israeli song Hurricane, Thursday May 9, during the second semi-final of Eurovision. Not even the singer Eden Golan, who recognized him in an interview with Times of Israel. Maximum security, Palestinian flags banned, Israeli supporters persona non grata, geopolitical issues at all levels… It is an understatement to say that the conflict between the Hebrew state and Hamas since the attack on October 7 has dampened the atmosphere of the European high mass of song.
This year, in Israel, the television channel Channel 12 decided to decide between the candidates via the program “HaKokhav HaBa”, a local version of “La Nouvelle Star”. The telecrochet begins at the end of October, three weeks after the start of the conflict. One of the candidates, retained under the flag, records his clip in fatigues during a day of leave.
A militarization of the competition which does not escape the “eurofans” sites (that’s what Eurovision addicts call themselves), who reduce their coverage of the Israeli selections and very often close the comments under their accounts made succinct as on Eurovision-Quotidien.com. The aforementioned candidate, Shaul Greenglick, ended up dropping out of the competition because of his military obligations. He was killed on December 26.
At the end of February, the young singer Eden Golan, who almost represented Russia at Junior Eurovision 2015 (she has dual nationality), was finally selected. We add a group of lyricists to deliver a hit as catchy as Unicornthe Israeli song which finished on the podium in Liverpool in May 2023. This is the genesis ofOctober Rain, which refers to the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival, which was targeted near Gaza. In the text, written in English, we can hear: “There is no more air to breathe” Or “They were good kids, every single one of them.”.
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