“After long discussions with the organizers Eurovision Party Londontogether we decided not to broadcast this year’s final Eurovision Song Contest, as long as Israel participates in the competition. Eurovision Party London has been a beloved partner over the years The Rio Cinema, and we will continue to cooperate with them in the future. We strongly believe that Eurovision has the power to connect people from all over the world. When its core values of inclusivity, equality and universality are upheld, it can be a true force for good. We hope that soon we will be again, to quote our slogan, United Through Music. We will continue to organize fundraisers for the charities we support, including Doctors Without Borders and Medical Aid for Palestine,” we read on the cinema’s official profile on the X social media platform.
Rio Cinema’s statement is supported by the organizers of Eurovision Party London. Their opinion on this subject was also published on the X website.
“After a difficult discussion with representatives of Rio Cinema and its board of trustees, with a heavy heart we have decided not to organize our joint event this year,” we read in the entry, the second part of which repeats almost exactly the same words as in the statement cinemas.
This year’s Eurovision will take place in Malmo, Sweden. The semi-finals will be held on May 9 and 11 (in the first one, among others, representing Poland will compete for advancement Glow with a song “The Tower” – check!), and the final on May 13. The controversy surrounding Israel’s participation concerns the song prepared by that country for this year’s competition. His title, “October Rain” (“October Rain” – check!), referred to the Hamas attack on Israel, which took place on October 7 last year. The lyrics of the song also contain references to this tragedy. Thus, the song broke the Eurovision rules as it was too political. After changing the words and title to “Hurricane” (“Hurricane” – check!), song performed by Eden Golan was admitted to the competition.
This case sparked a discussion among famous people, both from the world of politics and entertainment. Last week, two Belgian ministers argued that Israel should be excluded from the competition. A British participant in the competition also spoke out against Israel, Olly Alexander.
On the other side of the barricade are celebrities supporting Israel who signed an open letter demanding that Israel be admitted to the competition. These included, among others: actors Helen Mirren and Liev Schreiber, Gene Simmons from the team Kiss, Boy George, Julianna Margulies, Sharon Osbourne and Debra Messing.
“The Eurovision Song Contest is a competition for public broadcasters from across Europe and the Middle East. It is a competition for broadcasters – not for governments – and the Israeli public broadcaster has been participating in the competition for fifty years,” she said. European Broadcasting Union (EBU)the organizer of the event, to the Belgian magazine “HLN”.