[2025] Nieuwtjes en geruchten voor ESF in Bazel #1

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NETANYAHU INFLUENCED ESC – THE WAR CRIMINAL THREATENED WITHDRAWING SPONSORSHIP MONEY

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have personally intervened in the battle surrounding Israel's participation in Eurovision. Netanyahu threatened to withdraw support from one of the event's major sponsors, the Israeli company Moroccanoil, if the country was excluded.

According to information to Prolet�ren, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must have personally called leading figures in the Eurovision organizer EBU (European Broadcasting Union) to ensure that the country was not excluded from the competition.

The EBU is an association of national television and radio companies, including SVT. The organization has its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the organization's president is Delphine Ernotte from France.

Eurovision sponsor has strong ties to Israel
Netanyahu, named a war criminal by the International Court of Justice (ICC) in The Hague, threatened the EBU to withdraw sponsorship money from Israeli hair and skin care company Moroccanoil if Israel was excluded. The company is one of the competition's major sponsors and has recently signed an agreement also for the 2025 competition.

The proletarian has emailed the EBU and asked for a comment on the information. The EBU has not responded.

Three points about Eurovision
Several participating countries and a strong public opinion demanded that Israel be thrown out of the event in Malm�. Tens of thousands of people protested against the Israeli genocide, over 1,000 Swedish artists demanded that Israel be excluded and large parts of the audience in the Mello arena, as well as several of the participating artists, showed their disgust at the indiscriminate Israeli killing in Gaza.

But EBU and SVT had Israel's back. Already in February, SVT explained in an email to Prolet�ren that the company had nothing to do with the international sponsors, such as Moroccanoil, but that the decisions in those matters were entirely on the EBU's table.

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The European Broadcasting Union confirms that it has opened an investigation regarding the events during Eurovision 2024, including cases related to the Israeli delegation. At the same time, Europe is expected to take steps to allow countries to participate in the competition "without polarization, politics and security concerns".

Almost a month has passed since Eurovision 2024, but even these days developments related to Israel's participation in the competition continue to flow. In the last few hours, an unsigned statement sent by members of delegations and artists who participated in Eurovision 2024 and dealing with Israel has been circulating online. The details are revealed on Twitter by Gabe Milne , a British journalist who writes on the Eurovision website ESC United, which boycotted Israel during the Eurovision. The published statement claims that it was signed by members of delegations and artists who participated in this year's competition, but as of now, the names of the signatories have not been revealed and have asked to remain anonymous. The statement includes details about conduct behind the scenes at Eurovision 2024, including complaints of inappropriate behavior attributed to the Israeli delegation.

"In the last ten days, we have seen several inaccurate reports about what happened behind the scenes during the Eurovision 2024 contest, the alleged behavior of artists towards the Israeli delegation and the events surrounding the EBU's decision to move the Israeli delegation to other locations," the statement read. According to them, they have contacted the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and expect that the complaints will be handled properly, in accordance with the commitments of the EBU representatives. "As long as the process continues, it would not be appropriate to comment publicly on specific events, but we will do so when the time comes," the statement said.

On the Greek Eurovision website EurovisionFun , they admit that according to information they have, the television networks in Greece (ERT) and Cyprus (CyBC) did not sign the statement.

The EBU confirms: an investigation is underway!

At the same time, the EBU confirmed last night to the Dutch television network RTL that they had ordered an independent investigation regarding the events in Malm� during Eurovision 2024. The investigation was designed to check a number of events that occurred during and at the end of the competition, and to understand how this huge event can be improved for the future.

The EBU strives to improve competition and promote a safer working environment for all participants. "We strive to continuously improve our services and events. To this end, we asked an independent expert to examine Eurovision 2024 in Malm�, and share insights with the EBU's governing bodies to support the continuous improvement of this global event," the organization's statement said.

The EBU claims that the independent investigation is being carried out following complaints about unsafe working conditions and other disturbing incidents that happened during the competition. The Dutch AVROTROS said it was considering its response to the independent investigation, but as of now, Norway has already shared its experiences with the experts. According to the head of the Norwegian delegation, Stig Karlsen : "Norway is interested in participating in Eurovision 2025, but this depends on the steps taken by the EBU to improve the conditions of the competition, so that we do not have to deal with polarization, politics and security concerns."

Norway's complaint that they had to deal with polarization and illusory politics in light of the work that the Norwegian band, G�te , made political statements on January 28 , even before the band was selected to compete in Eurovision. The lead singer of the band, Gunnhild Sundli , said in an interview : "The extreme and unbearable situation in Gaza must end as soon as possible. All of us in the band agree that Israel's participation is a bit problematic with this whole situation . " In January, the Euromix system contacted the head of the Norwegian delegation asking why they do not prohibit the contestants from voicing political opinions against another country competing in the competition, but no response was received. Assuming they are doing this in the name of freedom of expression, why should the Norwegian artists be allowed freedom of expression while the Israelis should be denied freedom of expression on the grounds that they create a security concern?

On behalf of the Israel Broadcasting Corporation it was reported: A conversation was held between the management of the Israel Broadcasting Corporation and an external examiner on behalf of the EBU. The conversation was conducted in a very good spirit and the corporate team expressed and presented to the examiner fully and transparently their experiences and feelings from the Eurovision 24 contest in Malm�. In the conversation, the Israeli team referred, among other things, to the behavior of some members of the delegations towards the Israeli delegation.

Threats and outbursts - behind the scenes of Eurovision

During Eurovision 2024, several incidents occurred that caused questions and complaints to be raised by the participants and the various delegations. One of the notable incidents was the disqualification of the representative of the Netherlands , Joost Klein, following an incident that occurred on May 9. Klein was fired after a confrontation with one of the photographers of the Eurovision production behind the scenes. The incident caused widespread controversy, and the Dutch station AVROTROS objected to the disqualification and expressed its protest against the technology to prevent booing that was used during the competition.

Complaints from other countries

Not only the Netherlands complained about the working conditions at Eurovision. Ireland's representative, Bambi Thug , reported on an incident that occurred on May 11 and caused her to miss the general rehearsal. According to him, the incident occurred as a result of the fact that a member of the Israeli delegation, Itai Bezaleli , photographed the members of the delegations behind the scenes in a sensitive situation . Another complaint was filed by Ireland regarding the comments made by the Israeli commentators, Akiva Novick and Assaf Lieberman , during the first semi-final broadcast on Khan 11, before the appearance of Bambi Thug.

The Spanish RTVE also filed a complaint about the restriction of press freedom during the event. Other delegations, including those from Switzerland and Portugal, raised issues regarding the unsafe environment in which the event took place this year. In addition, there were reports that several countries considered withdrawing from the competition before the finals , although these reports were rejected by Switzerland, Greece and Portugal.

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Op woensdag 5 juni 2024 10:53 schreef Fred_B het volgende:
Hier een vertaling van het hele artikel. Het lijkt me wel de Zweedse Joop.nl, dus ik zou dit niet automatisch serieus nemen, tenzij het elders bevestigd wordt.
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Op vrijdag 7 juni 2024 20:39 schreef Dave het volgende:
Daar op aansluitend, the EBU is good to go for another crisisoverleg

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Op vrijdag 7 juni 2024 21:04 schreef Fred_B het volgende:

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Heeft Aran hier eigenlijk een bron van? Ik geloof niet dat hij het crisisoverleg uit zijn duim zuigt, maar hij is volgens mij de enige die het meldt.

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Op vrijdag 7 juni 2024 21:37 schreef Dave het volgende:

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In 1 van de reacties:
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Op maandag 10 juni 2024 08:32 schreef Cee het volgende:
Vandaag is die meeting bij de EBU toch? Met de Reference Group onder andere. Benieuwd wat en wanneer we er iets over horen. Vanuit de EBU zelf zal het weinig zijn denk ik.

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Op maandag 10 juni 2024 11:18 schreef summer52 het volgende:
Inge van de Weerd uitvoerend producent van de NOS zit ook in de Reference Group?

https://eurovision.tv/about/organisers/reference-group

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Inge van de Weerd (Eurovision 2020 Executive Producer/NOS) will be replaced by Ms. Astrid Dutrenit (Eurovision 2021 Executive Producer/NOS).

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Op maandag 10 juni 2024 13:12 schreef Em31 het volgende:

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Dat is oud
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En Astrid Dutrenit is na vorig jaar gestopt.

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Op maandag 10 juni 2024 13:37 schreef summer52 het volgende:

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Oh wat vreemd, bovenaan in het artikel staat Malm� 2024.

Maar nu is er dus geen Nederlandse vertegenwoordiger meer?

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Op maandag 10 juni 2024 13:39 schreef Em31 het volgende:

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Helaas niet, misschien hadden ze Joost er dan wat minder snel uitgegooid.