Less than two months after the 2024 edition, which saw the victory of the Swiss candidate, Nemo, Eurovision has already announced, for the 2025 contest, a strengthening of its rules. The singing contest, which will therefore take place in Switzerland next year for its 70th anniversary, will thus see its apolitical side strengthened. And this will involve the establishment of new rules.
An eventful 2024 edition
The 2024 edition, held in Malmö, Sweden, last May, where France was represented by Slimane, was, to say the least, eventful. Notably because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli candidate Eden Golan, whose song lyrics had changed along the way to comply with Eurovision rules, was booed during her performance. Already, in the semi-final, a union action on Belgian television cut the signal during her performance. In addition, anti-Israel demonstrations took place in the streets of Malmö. Added to this was the exclusion of Joost Klein, the Dutch candidate, after an altercation backstage.
Thus, Jean Philip De Tender, the deputy director of the EBU, the organizer of Eurovision, declared in the columns of “Variety”: “We are proposing an apolitical event. But the event has grown to such an extent that it is clear that geopolitical tensions can have an impact (…) As a public service media, it is very important that people can express their opinions and their points of view, but the Eurovision Song Contest is apolitical and must remain so“.
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The television man adds: “We need to review the rules and find new ways to mitigate the impact of these external events” and remember : “We have a duty of care towards artists, but artists must also understand that if they participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, there are rules to follow.” He concludes his speech by taking stock of all these blunders of 2024: “What we have learned is that we need to prepare all artists better.”
