ESC in the headlines Debate about Israel's first place in the public vote
A music show becomes a state affair: in Spain, the waves are running high after the ESC final. Among other things, it's about the controversial public voting. But questions are also coming from another country.
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- In Spain, Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel is being discussed.
- The state TV station RTVE announced that it would request a review of the public vote that catapulted Yuval Raphael to second place on Saturday with the song "New Day Will Rise".
- Alluding to the treatment of Russia, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said: "We must not allow double standards in culture."
A debate has flared up in Spain about Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest and the country's good performance with the public. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for Israel to be excluded from the competition.
Meanwhile, the state TV station RTVE announced that it would request a review of the public vote that catapulted Israel's participant (Yuval Raphael with the song "New Day Will Rise") into second place on Saturday.
Sánchez cited Israel's military action in the Gaza Strip as the reason for his demand. The offensive had even continued on the night of the ESC final with further bombardments, he emphasized.
Alluding to the dealings with Russia, the socialist politician said: "We must not allow double standards in culture." Nobody was outraged when Russia was excluded from the ESC because of the invasion of Ukraine. "The same should apply to Israel," said Sánchez.
Cultural character of the ESC is in danger
Meanwhile, RTVE said it planned to submit its request for a review of the televoting to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on Monday.
"Several countries will also submit the same request as they believe that the televoting has been influenced by the current military conflicts and that this could jeopardize the cultural character of the event," the broadcaster announced.
There had already been tensions between RTVE and the EBU in the run-up to ESC 2025. The Spanish broadcaster explained that it had been warned by the EBU under threat of heavy fines not to broadcast political messages during the live broadcasts.
This was triggered by a reference to the victims of the Gaza conflict, which RTVE had shown in the second semi-final. Despite the warning, the channel again showed a message immediately before the start of the final: "In the face of human rights, silence is not an option. Peace and justice for Palestine."
Belgian broadcaster questions ESC participation
Meanwhile, the Belgian public broadcaster VRT is questioning its future participation in the ESC due to - in the broadcaster's view - unanswered questions about the ESC audience voting.
It needs serious answers to concerns about the Eurovision Song Contest, the broadcaster announced. According to VRT, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which is responsible for broadcasting the ESC, wants to hold talks with the broadcasters involved.
According to VRT, there are no indications that the votes were not counted correctly. However, it added: "We demand full transparency from the EBU. The main question is whether the current voting system guarantees a fair reflection of the opinions of viewers and listeners."
The ESC is increasingly at odds with the original norms and values of the event and the norms and values of public service broadcasting. The VRT website also states that it supports the call for a debate on Israel's participation in the ESC.
Israel tops the public vote
Israel was clearly ahead in the public vote. The country had sent singer Yuval Raphael to Basel. The 24-year-old is a survivor of the massacre by the Islamist Hamas and other terrorist groups on October 7, 2023. There were repeated protests against her participation in Basel due to the Gaza war.
Israel also received high scores in the audience vote from countries where the actions of Israel's government are viewed rather critically, such as Spain, Belgium and Ireland. In total, Raphael received almost 300 points from viewers from the 37 participating countries - more than anyone else.
Protest last year too
Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest semi-final was accompanied by a protest action on the VRT channel last year. At the beginning and end of the broadcast of the show, a black and white text panel was shown on which trade unions expressed their displeasure at Israel's policies.
In the overlay, the state of Israel was accused of violating human rights and destroying press freedom in connection with the Gaza war, among other things.
The Gaza conflict reached a new level of escalation in October 2023 with a terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel. Around 1,200 people were killed and around 250 kidnapped. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 53,300 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip in the war so far. The figure does not distinguish between fighters and civilians and is almost impossible to verify independently.
Calls between advertisements
On the official EBU channel for the ESC, Israeli singer Yuval Raphael repeatedly called on viewers to vote for her song in an advertising window before the final.
These calls ran, for example, in the recordings of the semi-final broadcasts between advertisements for burgers and internet services. Since the final, Yuval Raphael can no longer be seen in advertising windows in the semi-final broadcasts that are still online.
In response to an inquiry, the EBU said in a statement: "The ESC rules do not prohibit participating broadcasters or third parties such as record labels or others from advertising their entries online and elsewhere. Advertising must not instrumentalize the competition or violate its editorial guidelines.
"Many delegations use paid advertising campaigns to support the song, profile and future career of their artists." For the semi-final broadcasts, no other performer was featured in an advertising window with a call to vote.
