The finalists for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest have been confirmed.
Israel, Georgia and Switzerland are among those joining the list of nations competing at the grand final in Malmo, Sweden on May 11 following the conclusion of the second semi-final on Thursday (09.05.24).
Israel’s entry ‘Hurricane’ by Eden Golan was previously titled ‘October Rain’ but it was re-written in order to gain qualification after being accused of promoting a political message on the Israel–Hamas war.
Georgia is competing with former American Idol singer Nutsa Buzaladze singing ‘Firefighter’ while Switzerland’s entry Nero’s is hotly tipped for success with ‘The Code’.
The trio were added to the list along with Armenia, Austria, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Netherlands and Norway. They join 10 previous entries qualifying from the first semi-final – Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine – as well as six pre-qualified entries from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and host country Sweden.
It brings the total finalists to 26 who will all compete in Malmo on Saturday night.
Ahead of the glitzy event, bookmakers have predicted success for Croatia with ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim’ which is being performed by Baby Lasagna along with the Swiss entry and Ukraine’s Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil who are in the mix with their track ‘Teresa and Maria’.
The 2024 competition has already been marred by controversy over the inclusion of Israel amid the ongoing bombardment of Gaza with protests being staged across the city of Malmo and Eden Golan reportedly being booed during rehearsals.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – the body behind Eurovision – previously dismissed calls for a boycott over Israel’s entry, saying in a statement: “The Eurovision Song Contest is a competition for public service broadcasters from across Europe and the Middle East.
“It is a competition for broadcasters – not governments – and the Israeli public broadcaster has participated in the contest for 50 years.
“The Eurovision Song Contest remains a non-political event that unites audiences worldwide through music.”