Joost Klein, the Eurovision 2024 entrant for the Netherlands, was barred from performing in the second dress rehearsal for the grand final as an investigation into an unspecified “incident” continues.
It was announced on the eve of the final that organisers were investigating an “incident” involving Joost, who is representing the Netherlands with his song “Europapa”.
Instead of performing during dress rehearsal two of the competition, which is voted on by juries in the 37 participating countries, Joost’s performance from the second semi-final will be used instead.
The news comes after Joost was heard pushing for Israel’s contestant Eden Golan to answer a question about her participation, amid her country’s conflict with Hamas, during a press conference after the second semi-final on Thursday.
Further protests are expected to take place after Israel qualified as one of the 26 countries competing in this year’s final.
Ahead of the second semi-final on 9 May, thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators took to the streets in Malmö, Sweden, where this year’s contest is being held, to protest against Israel’s participation.
Follow live updates below:
Eurovision 2024 favourites: Our Top 10, from Croatia’s Baby Lasagna to Ireland’s Bambie Thug
From zany novelty songs to club bangers and heartfelt ballads, the competition at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest is fierce. We take a look at our favourites
Roisin O’Connor11 May 2024 08:45
Eurovision 2024 final running order and which countries are competing
Delegates from 10 countries including Austria, Israel, Estonia, Georgia, Switzerland and the Netherlands managed to qualify in the second semi-final, joining the 10 who made it through on Tuesday 7 May.
They will join the “big five” who are guaranteed a place in the final, including the UK’s Olly Alexander who will perform his song “Dizzy”.
Cork-born, London-based singer Bambie Thug, one of the favourites to win, will sing their electro-metal song “Doomsday Blue”. Ukraine’s duo Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil are considered strong competition with their moving anthem “Teresa & Maria”.
Elsewhere, current favourite Baby Lasagna will perform his outlandish “Rim Tim Tagi Dim” on behalf of Croatia, whle Finnish entrant Windows95Man will sing his outlandish tune “No Rules!”.
See the full runninng order here:
Roisin O’Connor11 May 2024 08:39
Eurovision 2024 final set to take place amid chaos and uncertainty over Netherland’s Joost
Good morning, welcome to The Independent’s Eurovision liveblog.
We’re just hours away from the Eurovision 2024 final, but this is undoubtedly a very different Eurovision than we’re used to.
Further protests are set to take place around the Malmo Arena in Sweden today over Israel’s participation amid its war on Gaza, after singer Eden Golan was voted through to the final.
Meanwhile, we still don’t know what’s happening with the Netherlands’ contestant Joost, one of the favourites to win this year’s contest. Yesterday, organisers released a statement announcing that he would not perform in the final dress rehearsal while they investigated an “incident” that took place on Thursday.
While nothing has been confirmed, it seems possible that this is to do with tensions between Joost and the Israel delegation, after he pressed Golan to answer a journalist’s question about whether she was making other contestants feel “unsafe”.
During the conference, Joost was pictured with his country’s flag over his head, at some points completely concealing him from view. It is understood that he did not want to be pictured with Golan.
The final will kick off tonight at 8pm GMT and be broadcast from BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Roisin O’Connor11 May 2024 08:34
