{"id":330588,"date":"2025-12-04T19:35:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T19:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/330588\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T19:35:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T19:35:08","slug":"israel-to-remain-in-eurovision-after-ebu-calls-off-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/330588\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel to Remain in Eurovision After EBU Calls Off Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIsrael is set to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest<\/a> after the European Broadcasting Union general assembly called off a vote over its participation.<\/p>\n

\n\tNext year\u2019s contest, which will be the 70th Eurovision, is due to take place in Austria from May 12-16. The EBU own and organize the competition each year in collaboration with the member broadcaster in the country that is hosting.<\/p>\n

\n\tGolan Yochpaz, CEO of Israeli broadcaster and EBU member KAN, told the gathered assembly: \u201cThe attempt to remove KAN from the contest can only be understood as a cultural boycott. A boycott may begin today \u2013 with Israel \u2013 but no one knows where it will end or who else it may harm. Are public broadcasters and independent journalistic institutions prepared to sign their names to a cultural boycott? Are EBU members willing to be part of a step that harms freedom of creation and freedom of expression? And is this what we truly want this contest to be remembered for on its 70th anniversary?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIreland, Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands have all said they intend to boycott next year\u2019s competition if Israel participates, citing the war in Gaza. At this year\u2019s contest the Netherlands came in 12th place while Spain finished in the bottom three. Slovenia and Ireland failed to qualify.<\/p>\n

\n\tIsrael came second place in the 2025 competition after a survivor of the Oct. 7 massacre, Yuval Raphel, performed ballad \u201cA New Day Will Rise.\u201d Austria\u2019s act JJ came in first place with \u201cWasted Love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEurovision\u2019s winners are crowned via a combination of audience votes and music industry-led jury panels selected by each country.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile EBU members agreed there was \u201cno need for a further vote on participation,\u201d they did vote on \u201cnew measures and safeguards\u201d for the upcoming contest, which include a different make-up of jury panels as well as fewer audience votes.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe result of this vote demonstrates our members\u2019 shared commitment to protecting transparency and trust in the Eurovision Song Contest, the world\u2019s largest live music event,\u201d said EBU president Delphine Ernotte Cunci.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI would like to thank all members for their thoughtful, respectful and constructive contributions during today\u2019s session and throughout the extensive consultation process undertaken this year. These discussions have led to meaningful changes to the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest, ensuring it remains a place for unity and cultural exchange.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDespite the name, participation in the Eurovision Song Contest is based on membership of the EBU rather than geographical locale. Israel first participated in 1973 and has gone on to win the competition four times. It is not the only non-European member to join: Australia was first invited to join in 2015 after the competition amassed a huge fanbase in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel is set to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest after the European Broadcasting Union general assembly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[88,97869,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-330588","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-eurovision-song-contest","10":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}