Austria’s Eurovision winner JJ says it’s “disappointing” that Israel continues to participate in the song contest.
“I would like Eurovision to be held in Vienna next year and without Israel. But the ball is in the EBU’s court. We, the artists, can only raise our voices on the matter,” the 24-year-old singer told Spanish daily El Pais.
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In the El Pais interview, JJ agreed there should be “greater transparency on the issue of televoting.”
“This year it was all very strange”, the classically trained opera singer said. He also backed comments made by last year’s winner, Switzerland’s Nemo, who has repeatedly called for Israel’s expulsion.
“Especially, [Eurovision] needs to make changes in terms of the voting system and who participates in the festival,” JJ told El Pais.
I appreciate this response! I will definitely pay attention to the next one in whatever way I can. Unfortunately I was born american so I only found out about eurovision in the last few years. It sounded really cool as an idea but I’ve not had an opportunity to watch it so I just occasionally read the posts that pop up in the top feeds when it seems interesting. I’ll do some digging on YouTube and try to get a better feel for it!
I hope they get the situation figured out. It has noticeably dampened the attitudes around the event in the last two years in ways even I could notice as a passive observer. Id hate for the event to become coopted as a propaganda tool for belligerents. It seems like a beautiful showcase of art that doesn’t exist anywhere else. It deserves to continue to be about the artists, not the countries they represent.
Thanks again for the insights and providing some good places to start :) My journey to become a eurovision artist starts today!