Eurovision organizers validated the song presented by Israel after a modification of the lyrics intended to erase anything that could be perceived as political, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) said on Thursday.
“The EBU, the European Broadcasting Union, today informed the Israeli Broadcasting Company KAN that the song “Hurricane”, performed by Eden Golan, has been approved and that Israel will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest song as planned
,” KAN said in a statement.
“The decision was taken by the Eurovision Song Contest Supervisory Committee, after discussing the lyrics of the song (...) and after listening to its performance
,” added the public group which will present the song during the a special broadcast on Sunday.
After initially threatening to withdraw if its song was not accepted as is, the public group said on Sunday that it was going to have
the lyricists
“readapt the texts” .
October Rain
, the song initially chosen by Israel, did not explicitly mention the bloody attack carried out by Hamas on October 7 in southern Israel.
But according to Israeli media and observers, his words left no room for doubt.
“Dancing in the storm/We've got nothing to hide/Take me home/And leave the world behind/And I promise it'll never happen again/I'm still wet from this October rain/ October rain
,” said a verse of this song.
A new song
The new song
Hurricane
, whose lyrics have not been released, covers music from
October Rain
, according to KAN.
The 20-year-old Israeli-Russian singer, Eden Golan, will represent Israel at Eurovision which will take place this year in May in Malmö, Sweden.
Several countries had called for Israel to be banned from Eurovision to protest against the heavy toll of the war in Gaza, triggered after the Hamas attack which led to the death of at least 1,160 people, according to an AFP count carried out based on official Israeli data.
Israeli military operations carried out in retaliation in the Palestinian territory have left 30,800 dead so far, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
Israel was the first non-European country to be allowed to participate in the Eurovision song contest in 1973, and has won four times, including with transgender singer Dana International in 1998.