Israel could face disqualification from the Eurovision Song Contest after two proposed songs were reportedly rejected due to their “political nature”.
Songs titled ‘October Rain’ and its runner-up ‘Dance Forever’ are rumored to have been rejected by the competition, giving the country until March 11 to submit a song that complies with the rules.
Last week, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the body in charge of the race, hinted that they could reject Israel’s candidate, Euronews reports.
His proposed contender was Russian-Israeli singer Eden Golan, 20, who hoped to sing ‘October Rain’.
However, the “political” nature of the song may have led to its dismissal from the famous contest for violating impartiality rules.
His proposed contender was Russian-Israeli singer Eden Golan (above), 20, who hoped to sing ‘October Rain’.
The song was supposedly referring to the victims of the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7.
Some of the lyrics say: ‘There’s no air left to breathe / There’s no place for me / They were all good kids, every one of them.’
‘Dancing in the storm / We have nothing to hide / Take me home and leave the world behind / And I promise you this will never happen again / I’m still wet from this October rain / October rain,’ Golan sings.
The song also makes references to “flowers”, which are sometimes used as military code for deaths in war.
As a non-political event, Eurovision can disqualify contestants deemed to have violated its strict impartiality rules.
The EBU checks all submitted songs before the competition to ensure they comply with the rules.
Senior Israeli officials and public figures, however, have said that any attempt to criminalize the ballad would be “scandalous.” Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar took to social media to complain about reports of increased scrutiny over Israel’s presentation.
“The song of Israel, which will be performed by Eden Golan, is a moving song, which expresses the feelings of the people and the country these days, and is not political,” he wrote.
Israel could face disqualification from the Eurovision Song Contest after two proposed songs were allegedly rejected due to their “political nature”.
‘Dance Forever’ came in second place behind ‘October Rain’ in the special jury vote, making it Golan’s alternative song.
“The EBU’s intention to disqualify the Israeli song for Eurovision is scandalous.” Israeli-British illusionist Uri Geller also commented: “For God’s sake, Ukraine’s winning entry (Kalush Orchestra) in 2022 was all about the resilience of the Ukrainian people, so what’s the problem? “It is clearly a different rule because it is Israel.”
An EBU spokesperson said it was “scrutinizing the letters”, adding: “All broadcasters have until March 11 to formally submit their nominations. If a song is deemed unacceptable, broadcasters have the opportunity to submit a new song. or a new letter.’ The final will be on May 11.
When it comes to ‘Dance Forever’, the second song submitted by Israel, its acceptance is also supposedly up in the air for similar reasons.
Israeli news website YNET reported that the EBU had rejected the song, citing an anonymous source within the Foreign Ministry.
The source reportedly said: “The alternative option has also been ruled out.”
It comes after ‘Dance Forever’ finished second behind ‘October Rain’ in the special jury vote, making it Golan’s alternative song.
YNET published the song’s lyrics, but did not verify why it was supposedly disqualified.
Euronews reports that one possible reason could be that the ballad refers to the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival on October 7, where 364 people were killed.