Pop music and protests
Competition in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest kicked off Tuesday in Sweden, with the war in Gaza casting a shadow over the sequin-spangled pop extravaganza.
Performers representing countries across Europe and beyond performed in the first of two semifinals in the Swedish city of Malmo. It and a second semifinal on Thursday will winnow a field of 37 nations to the 26 that will compete in Saturday's final.
Viewers voted 10 of the 15 acts performing Tuesday through to the final. They include Croatian singer-songwriter Baby Lasagna, whose electro number Rim Tim Tagi Dim is the current favourite to win, and Ukrainian duo alyona alyona and Jerry Heil, flying the flag for their war-battered nation with the anthemic Teresa & Maria.
Also making the cut were goth-style Irish singer Bambie Thug, 1990s-loving Finnish prankster Windows95man and Portuguese crooner Iolanda. Iceland, Azerbaijan, Poland, Moldova and Australia were eliminated.
Other bookmakers' favourites who will perform Thursday include nonbinary Swiss singer Nemo, Italian Tiktok star Angelina Mango and the Netherlands' Joost Klein with his playful poprap song Europapa.
Security is tight in the Swedish city, which expects an influx of some 100,000 Eurovision fans, along with tens of thousands of pro-palestinian protesters. Israel is a Eurovision participant, and demonstrations are planned on Thursday and Saturday against the Israel-hamas war, which has left almost 35,000 Palestinians dead.
Organizers told Israel to change the lyrics of its entry, originally titled October Rain in apparent reference to Hamas' cross-border Oct. 7 attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis and triggered the war. The song was renamed Hurricane and Israeli singer Eden Golan was allowed to remain in the contest.
Police from across Sweden have been drafted in for Eurovision week, along with reinforcements from neighbouring Denmark and Norway. Eurovision's motto is “United by Music,” but national rifts and political divisions often cloud the contest despite organizers' efforts to keep politics out. Flags and signs are banned, apart from participants' national flags and the rainbow pride flag. That means Palestinian flags will be barred inside the Malmo Arena contest venue.
Some musicians seem determined to make a point. Eric Saade, a former Swedish Eurovision contestant who performed as part of Tuesday's show, had a keffiyeh, a head scarf associated with the Palestinian cause, tied around his wrist as he sang. Afterward, organizers said in a statement that “we regret that Eric Saade chose to compromise the non-political nature of the event.”
Performers are feeling political pressure, with some saying they have been inundated with messages on social media urging them to boycott the event.
“I am being accused, if I don't boycott Eurovision, of being an accomplice to genocide in Gaza,” Germany's contestant, Isaak, said in an interview published by broadcaster ZDF. He said he did not agree.
“We are meeting up to make music, and when we start shutting people out categorically, there will be fewer and fewer of us,” he said. “At some point there won't be an event anymore.”
One person who knows how Eurovision unity collides with reality is singer Manizha Sangin, who represented Russia at the contest in 2021. The country was expelled the following year over its invasion of Ukraine.
Manizha, who performs under her first name, spoke out against the war. As a result, her performances were cancelled in Russia and her music banned from public spaces. She remains in Russia but it's nearly impossible to find work.
“People are afraid to work with me here because they're afraid to have consequences after, problems after that,” she said. Still, Manizha was to release the single Candlelight on Wednesday as “a message of hope.”
“Music cannot stop war,” she said. But “what music can do is inspire people.”