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Eurovision Song Contest: Calls to ban Israel grow - piling pressure on European broadcasters (news.sky.com)

submitted 9 months ago by roastedDeflator@kbin.social to c/Europe@kbin.social

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The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) says the Eurovision Song Contest isn't political, and argues that Russia's ban in 2022 was "fundamentally different".

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[–] JochCool@kbin.social 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

It's the second time politics has dominated Eurovision,

Okay, this author has not been following Eurovision for very long then. Here are some that come to mind:

1964: Stage invader protested against Spain's and Portugal's dictatorships
1969: Organised by Spain
1973: Israel debuts
1977: BBC cameramen stike right before the contest
1978: Israel wins
1990s: Yugoslav Wars and dissolution of Soviet Union, with some countries participating while at war
1998: Israel wins, with a trans performer
2003: Invasion of Iraq, UK was allowed to participate but got last place
2009: Azerbaijani government interrogates people who voted for Armenia, Georgian entry is anti-Putin
2012: Organised by Azerbaijan
2014: Start of Russo-Ukrainian war
2016: Ukraine wins over televote favourite Russia
2019: Organised by Israel
2021: Belarusian entry being government propaganda
2022: Russian invasion of Ukraine

Eurovision has always been political.