Aden Golan at the final of "The Next Eurovision Star" in Keshet 12, performs a cover version of the song "I don't want to miss a thing" by Aerosmith, February 6, 2024/ Keshet 12
Like a precise Swiss watch, the season has arrived again when the headlines scream "Eurovision is in danger".
Of course, this is an exaggeration and it is clear to everyone that the Eurovision is not under any danger, only the Israeli participation in it, but if we put aside the exaggeration, this time it seems that these headlines that shake the hearts of all Eurovision fans in Israel, may come true.
The choice of October Rain as the name of the song is not accidental.
No one thought that in 2024 Israel would send a song of "Clap your hands up", but it is clear that already in the title there is an attempt to kick the soft belly of anti-Semitic Europe.
Unlike previous years when I wrote "anti-Semitic Europe" sarcastically towards those who are frightened by the low place Israel might reach, this time I really mean it - Europe is infected with anti-Semitism.
You don't need a Eurovision reporter to tell you that the events of October 7 served as an opportunity for all those who considered themselves enlightened, inclusive, liberal, pluralistic, progressive Europeans.
Tens of thousands of posts have already been written that end with "unless you're a Jew".
Even the framing on the amateur website Wiwibloggs is tainted with anti-Israelism with a title for an article dated February 19, three days ago, "Will Israel be allowed to send a politically charged song to Eurovision?", just based on its name.
Eden Golan/Regev Zarka
This morning some of the lyrics of the song were published, and quite a few Israelis do not understand what is wrong with them.
So let's stick to the facts for a moment, that is, the things we know for sure: the first, the song is called October Rain.
Second, every song that Israel sends from now on and forever that contains the word "October" will be considered political.
And thirdly, the corporation is in dialogue with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) regarding the lyrics.
Everything else, i.e. "Israel is on its way out of Eurovision", is interpretation.
But sometimes even a mere interpretation is enough for the EBU to disqualify songs, as happened to Belarus in Eurovision 2021. Before the competition, it was announced that the band Glacy Zemsta will represent their country with their song "I'll Teach You", which was disqualified by the EBU after determining that it was a song A politician who violates the competition laws.
The band did not content itself with changing the words, but introduced a completely new song which, in a free translation, is called "Song about Rabbits".
This time, too, the EBU found a political subtext in it, rejected it as well, and since then no trace of Belarus has been seen on the Eurovision stage.
Another example of disqualification of a song because of political content is Georgia's We Don't Want to Put In from 2009, I certainly don't need to explain to you why the song was disqualified.
Georgia also refused to change the words and withdrew from the competition.
From the beginning of the 2024 Eurovision season, the EBU is under heavy pressure from several European countries and thousands of fans to remove Israel from this year's competition.
Throughout this time, the Israel Broadcasting Corporation, not Israel as a country, has been supported by the union and rightly so.
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Eden Golan/screenshot, Keshet 12
I would like to offer here a different approach to the theory of "the EBU is anti-Semitic", and precisely to say that here is a lifeline and an escape route for the corporation and Aden Golan.
Nobody wants Israel in this year's Eurovision, it's always a headache but this time it's a migraine, not only from the European side but also from here.
Every Israeli delegation to the Eurovision Song Contest is accompanied by overt and undercover security guards in varying numbers according to the number of threats, and it seems that this year their number will be higher than usual.
Malmö, a city with a large Muslim community, will be very hostile towards Israel, as it was in 2009 during the Davis Cup tennis match between Sweden and Israel.
In the same year Molotov cocktails were thrown at a Jewish funeral home, and in 2012 an explosion occurred at a Jewish community center.
There is no Eurovision fan who does not remember the tears of Aden Elena when she was informed of the cancellation of the Eurovision in 2020 due to the corona virus, but in this case Aden Golan can only benefit from the expulsion of Israel from the competition.
As soon as the song is published, everyone will come in to listen to it, in Israel it will be played non-stop, she will become a kind of national hero, without risking a humiliating result on the biggest music stage in the world.
This is a good time to mention that, similar to last year, only the audience at home decides who advances to the finals with 100% televoting, with no judges at all.
But even if Israel advances to the finals, does anyone imagine judges giving Israel points?
At the end of the final, the score is published with the names of the five judges of each country, would any of them want their name to be associated with Israel and as a result receive hundreds of hateful messages on all platforms?
Here too and Keshet can be hired in the event of a relegation.
The corporation, for its part, presents a firm stance against the evil EBU, not agreeing to change even a comma in the song, but breathing a sigh of relief that they don't have to deal with such a hostile Eurovision.
In the meantime, if you go to see what the Israeli fans think about the drama, you find that the criticism in general comes on a different subject - the level of the text.
But in this matter, the interpretation is already given to you.
More on the same topic:
Eurovision 2024
Eden Golan