August M
Eurovision organisers have issued a formal warning to Israel’s delegation after the country’s contestant encouraged viewers to cast the maximum number of votes for his performance.
TV2 News reported that Israeli singer Noam Bettan shared videos urging fans to vote ten times for his Eurovision entry “Michelle”.
Rules breached
According to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the appeal violated Eurovision promotion rules designed to prevent unfair voting influence.
“However, it is neither in accordance with our rules nor the spirit of the competition to use a direct invitation to vote ten times for one artist or song,” the EBU said in a statement cited by TV2 News.
The organisation added that the rules are mainly intended to stop large-scale paid campaigns by outside groups.
Videos removed quickly
The EBU said the videos had circulated online for roughly 20 minutes before organisers intervened.
According to TV2 News, the Israeli broadcaster KAN was contacted immediately and the promotional clips were removed from all platforms shortly afterward.
The organisers also confirmed that KAN had received an official warning over the incident.
Norway also warned
TV2 News reported that Norway’s Eurovision delegation has also received a warning this year.
Norwegian representative Jonas Lovv said concerns were raised because his stage performance for the song “Ya ya ya” was considered “too sexy”.
The EBU stated it would continue monitoring promotional activity and take further action if necessary.
Contest approaches
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest will be held next week at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle arena in Austria.
Israel is set to compete in Tuesday’s first semi-final alongside 14 other countries seeking one of ten spots in Saturday’s final.
TV2 News also noted that Spain has withdrawn from this year’s competition amid controversy surrounding Israel’s participation and the ongoing war in Gaza following the Hamas attacks in October 2023.
Sources: TV2 News, European Broadcasting Union.
