“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.
A first candidate killed at the front
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 rendered succinctly 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.”.
Attacks mentioned in the song
Transparent allusions to the conflict, according to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) which organizes the competition. Until then, the EBU had staunchly supported Israel, assuring in December in the Flemish daily HLN that the country “met all the conditions to participate”. Until the words are validated, which is usually a formality. Even the Israeli title of 2007, Push The Button, which openly targeted the nuclear policy of the Iranian president at the time, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had passed like a letter in the mail. Not October Rain.
At the end of February, the organizers asked Israel to review its copy. “I don’t think this first version was political, this refusal shocked mereacts Eden Golan to the Times of Israel. The song is about a girl going through some problems, but nothing to do with October 7th.” Same story for Miki Zohar, Israeli Minister of Sports and Culture, quoted by Euronews: “This decision is scandalous! I call on the EBU to continue to act professionally, neutrally, and not to be influenced by politicians.”
A second version, Dance Forever, is failed again. This time, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is not pretending that there is no connection with the tragic attack which cost the lives of 1,200 people a few months earlier. “We have the right to sing about what we’ve been through”plagues Israel Katz, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, interviewed by the site YNetNews.com. The Jewish state then threatens to withdraw from the competition. Not long. Because it was at this moment that Israeli President Isaac Herzog slams your fist on the table and demands “make the necessary adjustments”.
“Israel must make its voice heard, its head held high, by waving its flag at every world forum.”
Isaac Herzog, President of Israelquoted by AFP
The third copy will be the correct one with Hurricanewhich offers several reading levels, but remains sufficiently allusive for reviewers of the EBU. “Anyone can find resonance in their personal life with the song”defends Eden Golan, who intones at one point: “Promise me you’ll hold me again / I’m still broken from this hurricane.” “Our people find a deeper resonance in it, because of the tragedy we have suffered.”, continues the singer, quoted by Euronews. An uprooted olive tree (symbol of peace and also of Israel) still appears in the clip (at 1’26” in the video below).
Musically, nothing to disappoint the old hands of Eurovision, accustomed to more audacity. “It’s reminiscent of the winning singles in X-Factor. The end result is dated and predictablecomments Wiwiblog, the reference site for “eurofans”. It’s never a good sign when you uncover the tricks to this extent.” Technically, it is impeccable, defend other exegetes. “It would be easier to hate as a whole if it was a bad song”concedes host Sandeep Singh in the show “Adresse Malmö” on Norwegian TV NRK. “It’s a well-crafted melody, this song is one of the contenders, even if the text is quite generic.”
Finally, the most skeptical are to be found… in Israel, where the chronicler of Jerusalem Post talk about a song “boring and uninspired”. Notably because it only has two sentences in Hebrew, and “in this period when the existence of Israel is in danger, a song entirely in our language would have carried a completely different message”.
Funny atmosphere in the Malmö Arena
It’s difficult to predict the reaction of the public, who vote from the semi-finals onwards, even if the singer is given quite a high rating among the bookmakers. Palestinian flags will be banned in the hall – like every year and the rule applies to all countries not taking part in the competition. Israeli flags will be authorized: “IWe will be allowed to wave Israeli flags and we will be the first to do so in the ‘green room’ [la salle où les candidats qui sont déjà passés répondent aux questions du diffuseur]“assures director Yoav Tzafir to channel N12.
Nothing says that the atmosphere will be rosier in this famous “green room”. No fewer than nine competitors – representatives of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Switzerland, Denmark, Lithuania and Finland – signed a statement calling for a ceasefire, the return of the hostages and unity against all forms of hatred, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. In addition to the controversy surrounding the presence of Eden Golan, his compatriot Tali, who defends the colors of Luxembourg, is the victim of harassment on social networks.
Among the signatories of this text, the British Olly Alexander also spoke out against the presence of Israel in the competition and signed a column last November accusing the Jewish state of apartheid and genocide. “I signed because I am in favor of a ceasefire”he explained in 20 minutes. Non-binary Irish artist Bambie Thug has called for a boycott of Israel on the GCN.ie website. The Society of Icelandic Artists and Composers on Facebook, the cream of the Swedish and Finnish music scene, not to mention several Belgian ministers on the social networkhad preceded him.
In response, a petition from artists, from actress Helen Mirren to singer Boy George, came to the defense of Eden Golan and Israel’s right to participate.
Not sure the parody Jews Pua broadcast in the satirical program “Eretz Nehederet” (“A wonderful country” in VF, pillar of the Israeli channel Channel 2), criticizing the three successive versions of the Israeli song, likely to calm the spirits.
On stage, singer Eden Golan will appear in a dress made partly of bandages, an obvious allusion to the victims. Enough to leave a very different visual impression from Ilanit, the first Israeli candidate in 1973, who had slipped a bulletproof vest under his outfit, for fear of an attack, a few months after the Munich Games. However, a former Shin Bet agent, the Israeli secret service, follows Eden Golan like her shadow wherever she goes in Malmö, flanked by a team which secures the surroundings of her hotel and the room, describes YNetNews.com. The municipal police, for their part, ensure Times of Israel having banned all pro-Palestinian gatherings around the Malmö Arena.