Eurovision 2024: Queasy Frivolity During Wartime

By Chris Revelle | TV | May 13, 2024 |

By Chris Revelle | TV | May 13, 2024 |

Eurovision is a well-oiled pop extravaganza machine where each European country (+ a handful of extra countries) sends a pop music act with an original song into a multi-night circus of wild stage shows and rounds of voting to determine who brought their best each year. Most years, the show is goofy and fun with lots of pop fever dreams to enjoy. This year was different. And upon reflection, perhaps “well-oiled” is too flattering a word because where we find Eurovision in 2024 is in a quagmire it couldn’t seem to work itself out of.

To explain why, we must rewind to 2022 when Eurovision was performed in Italy. Due to their ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Russia was barred from the proceedings. It was a big moment for an organization with strident rules against politics being present in their competition but it felt correct. It did not feel right to allow Russia to continue when they were actively bombing the cities of Ukraine, another competitor in Eurovision. In some ways, it was also an easy choice to expel Russia as they’ve typically had a sour-grapes relationship with the pop music competition. Depending on their chances of winning, Russia usually either took Eurovision super seriously as a statement of supremacy or denounced the whole affair as too queer and you know what, they didn’t want to play anyway. Intentional or not, this decision created a precedent, or at least the expectation, that the EBU would bar a country from participation in Eurovision if they were engaged in an invasion of another country.

Then we find ourselves in 2024 with another siege underway, this time in Gaza. The EBU chose to allow Israel to compete as planned, drawing immense criticism and protest. Though Eurovision attempted to enforce its “no politics” rule as a way to separate itself from the grim realities of Gaza, those realities bled through anyway. Israel’s chosen pop star, Eden Golan, initially submitted an overtly political song titled “October Rain,” and Eurovision asked that the lyrics be changed. Ten of the pop competitors issued a signed letter condemning the violence and calling for a ceasefire, but committing to remaining in the competition. Efforts to send a message on stage, including putting ceasefire slogans on their bodies and clothes were stymied and thwarted by Eurovision officials. Protests raged outside the Eurovision venue with thousands in attendance, at times growing loud enough to be heard during the semi-final acts. Amidst this furor, Eden Golan’s act qualified Israel for the finals, which set up an agitated and conflicted mood headed into the grand finale.

No matter what one’s feelings about the situation are, it’s indisputable that Eurovision walked itself into this thorny, impossible situation. In retrospect, perhaps they were more able to let go of Russia because of how comprehensively Russia lost friends and allies in Europe. Or maybe it’s about money and sponsorship. Israeli company Morrocan Oil has been the presenting partner of Eurovision for the past three years.

Eurovision 2024 was stuck in a position where references to the invasion of Gaza were ignored, and that felt absurd when the shadow of what’s happening there felt ever-present throughout the show. It was unavoidable. Whatever your perspective may be, the EBU was inconsistent with the standard they purported to hold when they barred Russia and it leaves them open to criticism, censure, and boycotts. With Israel competing and words that mention the invasion censored, it recasts Eurovision in its ugliest light: that of excess and pageantry used to ignore and shut out the very real and violent suffering we all know is happening.

So where did this leave the event? In a weird and conflicted place, frankly! You could tell that many of the performers had to choose their words extremely carefully and settled on vague calls for peace, love, or respect lest they be interpreted as being political. Whenever anything Israel-related came up, from their place in the flag parade to their performance to their point count, there was audible booing. The boos extended to Eurovision’s executive supervisor Martin Österdahl, who has been stone-faced taking criticism throughout the competition. What made it particularly weird was the recordings of cheers that the venue piped in to wash out the boos and suggest a more positive reaction. The result was an uncanny cacophony. The commentators and hosts (hi, Malin Ackerman!) did their best to keep things light, but the experience was queasy overall.

The bright spots, in my eyes anyway, were the tremendous performances of two non-binary artists. Ireland’s Bambie Thug performed the witchy “Doomsday Blue,” during which they revealed a gorgeous trans-flag bikini. Check them out:

Another non-binary artist, Switzerland’s Nemo, performed “The Code” all the way to a huge victory! They went into the televoting with a strong 133-point lead and, in a nail-biter moment, received 226 tele-votes for a crusher total of 591 points. “The Code” is a great song and I’m pretty pleased a queer person took the prize. Bambie Thug even crowned Nemo with black thorns, a pretty funny goth touch for Nemo’s otherwise rainbow sherbet look. The winner was more than worthy, I just wish Eurovision’s leadership could’ve risen to their level.