The first semi-final of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest took place last night, with impressive shows from artists such as Bambie Thug from Ireland, Olly Alexander from the United Kingdom and Marcus & Martinus from Sweden. metro.co.uk.
Eric Saade, the former representative of Sweden in Eurovision, performed the song “Popular”, with which he took third place in 2011, during the opening of the semi-finals.
Although Eurovision is billed as a “non-political event”, the musician was spotted wearing a kufi, an Arab headscarf, around his wrists that is usually used to show support for the Palestinians amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
A spokesperson for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) noted in a press release: The Eurovision Song Contest is televised live. All artists are made aware of the rules of the competition and we regret that Eric Saade has chosen to disregard the non-political nature of this event.”
At the Malmo Arena, all participants went through a “strict security check” before the event began, and were told not to carry any Palestinian flags, symbols or bags.
After his performance, Saade wrote on his Instagram stories: “Reminder: it’s only love. It is united by music.”
Ahead of this year’s Eurovision contest, there were calls for a boycott of the event, as Israeli singer Eden Golan was included in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
True, E. Saade was not the only one who tried to express support for Palestine during the song contest. Bambie Thug, who represented Ireland in the contest, tried to do the same, but Eurovision organizers prevented her from expressing her support.
However, the Irish artist had a hidden message on her body – her drawings showed a pattern used by the ancient Celts and Picts.
The phrases “Free Palestine”, “Cease fire” and “Crown the witch” were painted on the performer’s body with this writing, according to foreign media.
Delphi recalls, at the press conference held after the first semi-final, Silvester Belt thanked everyone who voted for him. When asked about the bullying he experienced as a child, the artist said that he wants to support all people who experience it.
“I love you all with all my heart. And to my little inner child, I would say, ‘Little boy, you’ve been through so much adversity, never stop and never give up,'” said Silvester Belt.
When asked what was the biggest challenge in his Eurovision tour, the artist representing Lithuania did not say much, stating that it was sleep.
Silvester Belt’s performance in the first semi-final:
A Latvian journalist noticed that there is a lot of discussion in the neighboring country about which language song should be sent to the song contest. When asked about the arguments in Lithuania, Silvester Belt said that here too people say that you should send a piece performed in a foreign language, because otherwise no one will understand it.
“However, to be honest, the only people who think so are Lithuanians. The whole world, all people, regardless of Lithuanians, are convinced that our language is very beautiful, don’t stop doing it. I don’t regret it, besides, the Lithuanian language adds mystique,” said Silvester Belt.
Delphi reminds that the 68th Eurovision Song Contest is being held in the Swedish city of Malmö. Artists from 37 countries are competing for the name of the winner.
In the first semi-final, they won tickets to the final Serbia, Portugal, Slovenia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Finland, Cyprus, Croatia, Ireland, Luxembourg.
See Ž. Gedvila’s first semi-final moments in the gallery:
The novelty of this year’s competition is that the semi-finals also include the performances of the countries that automatically appear in the finals: Sweden, the host of the competition, and the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Italy, which support the preparation of the competition with the largest sums. Although their performances will be included among the semi-finalists, they will not be able to be voted on.
Silvester Belt after the press conference:
Lithuanian viewers could cast their vote in the first semi-final, in which our country’s representative appeared – they could vote during the allotted time via short SMS message, the Internet or a special “Eurovision” voting app.
This year’s song contest is hosted by Hollywood star and legendary Eurovision veteran Malin Akerman and Petra Mede.
The first semi-final of Eurovision started with the three favorites of the song contest, Eleni Foureira, who won 2nd place in 2018, Swedish artist Eric Saade, who appeared in 2011 with the song “Popular”, and Spain’s Chanel, who took 3rd place a year ago, performed their song .
Tags: Eurovision scandal performance Swedish artist organizers regretful
