The Eurovision Song Contest is a glittery and eccentric spectacle that rivals the Super Bowl for its attraction to audiences. It showcases the best music that the wider European continent has to offer. Past winners include ABBA and Celine Dion. But this year’s contest, won by Switzerland in the coastal Swedish city of Malmö, became the center of deep political divisions over Israel’s inclusion, amid its government’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
This year, the EBU instructed Israel to alter the lyrics to Golan’s song “Hurricane,” originally titled “October Rain,” thought to be a thinly veiled reference to Hamas’ October 7 assault on Israel. In February, Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, publicly intervened to stress the importance of agreeing to the lyric change so that Israel could compete this year. Such a high-level political intervention suggests that Eurovision is in fact very political.