This day next week, the 69th Eurovision song contest final will take place in Basel, Switzerland, one year after their winner Nemo stole the hearts of the viewing and voting public at last year's competition in Malmö, Sweden.
However, this festival of pop, glitz and glamour on stage is once again in the middle of political tensions off stage, as concerns from some European Broadcasting Union members are growing louder about the participation of Israel in the world’s largest live music event.
While this year’s Irish entry, EMMY, is deep in rehearsals with her song Laika Party ahead of her Thursday night semi-final, the debates swirling around Israel’s entry continues.
This year’s Israeli Eurovision entry 'A New Day Has Risen' comes from 24-year-old Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the 7 October 2023 attack on the Nova music festival.
Her selection was made by the Israeli public service broadcaster, and EBU member, Kan. Ms Raphael is also due to perform on Thursday night along with the Irish entry.
Israel has been part of the Eurovision since 1973 when it became the first participant not to be geographically located in Europe.
Tension over Israel’s participation have been growing since last year, when there were vocal protests across the streets of Malmö. The EBU has continuously said that Israel was allowed to compete because the country was represented by Kan and not its government.
One year later, and the tensions are bubbling again.
The Eurovision song contest is organised by the EBU, with 37 broadcasters sending songs and performers to compete for the coveted trophy, under this year’s banner of "Unity Shapes Love"- a theme that belies the simmering tensions behind the scenes as several broadcasters, including RTÉ, Spain’s RTVE and Slovenia’s RTV are asking for a debate on Israel’s involvement in the festival.
The EBU’s position has always been that it is an association of broadcasters, not governments, and as such Kan have a right to take part.
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Outside of RTÉ, calls are growing louder too as the broadcaster was picketed by pro-Palestinian protestors last night, with messages demanding that RTÉ boycott this year’s song contest.
This issue first made it back on to Irish headlines on Tuesday when the RTÉ sub-branch of the NUJ wrote to the Director General of RTÉ, Kevin Bakhurst, urging the broadcaster to oppose Israel’s participation on moral and humanitarian grounds in Gaza.
On Wednesday, Mr Bakhurst responded with a statement confirming that RTÉ had asked the EBU for discussions on Israel’s participation.
The RTÉ NUJ branch said it "welcomed the DG’s statement".
Mr Bakhurst’s statement said that he was "appalled by the ongoing events in the Middle East and by the horrific impact on civilians in Gaza, and the fate of Israeli hostages."
He confirmed that "RTÉ has nonetheless asked the EBU for a discussion on Israel’s inclusion in the contest."
By asking for a discussion over Israel’s inclusion in Eurovision, he said that he was "mindful of RTÉ’s obligations" and of "the need to maintain RTÉ’s objectivity in covering the war in Gaza. "
The DG also noted the situation regarding his fellow EBU member, adding that RTÉ also very mindful of "the severe political pressure on Israel’s public service broadcaster, Kan, from the Israeli government".
Then on Thursday, as Mr Bakhurst made his way into the Dáil to meet with incoming chair of the Oireachtas Media Committee Alan Kelly, he confirmed to reporters that Ireland "was not going to pull out" of the Eurovision.
He described the situation as "very complicated" and again reiterated his stance that "I don’t want to undermine the Israeli public service broadcaster, Kan".
The director of the Eurovision song contest, Martin Green, meanwhile responded to the comments from the broadcasters, saying the EBU is "not immune to global events" but that their role was to "ensure the contest remains, at its heart, a universal event that promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music".
Critics disagree however, arguing that Kan cannot meaningfully be separated from Israeli government policy, particularly given recent events in Gaza.
Yesterday afternoon, there was confirmation that Mr Bakhurst, joined by his colleague RTÉ’s Director of Video Steve Carson, held discussions with senior members of the EBU where he raised RTÉ’s concerns.
RTÉ released a statement after the online meeting saying that "there is a commitment from the EBU to have a wider discussion amongst members in due course".
Yesterday evening, a group of more than 60 protestors gathered on the bridge outside RTÉ's campus at Donnybrook calling for RTÉ to boycott this year's competition.
Beyond the broadcasters, there are growing calls too from the music community as more than 70 former Eurovision artists internationally, including 1994 winner Charlie McGettigan and past participant Brian Kennedy, have signed a joint letter urging the EBU to exclude Israel from this year’s event.
This is not the first political controversy to befall the song contest.
Simmering rivalries between Ukraine and Russia in the contest began after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, and Russia was banned from the 2022 contest following their invasion of Ukraine earlier that year.
There have been questions raised about the EBU’s stance on Russia, with some pointing to it as a precedent, but the EBU says "it’s not our role to make comparisons between conflicts".
Ukraine won the 2022 contest, with the 2023 competition being held in the United Kingdom due to the ongoing war there.
The EBU continues to consistently argue that the song contest is apolitical, and has this year once again tightened rules on flags and political statements, allowing only the flags of EBU delegate countries to be waved at the song contest.
The organisers have also put an end to post-performance press conferences, which last year led to some acts criticising Israel and the EBU.
What will happen if any act breaks these rules has not been defined by the EBU, other than "there will be consequences".
In 2024, Dutch act Joost Klein became the first act ever to be disqualified from performing in the final due to an altercation with a female production worker, though this was said not to be related to his position on Israel.
Ireland’s entry Bambi Thug was asked by the EBU to remove Ogham script from their face and legs which spelt out the words "ceasefire" and "freedom for Palestine".
It seems unlikely at this point that the EBU will reconsider Israel’s involvement in Eurovision 2025, given the logistical and legal challenges of any change at such a late stage.
This means that EMMY will share the stage with Israel’s Yuval Raphael on Thursday, with both acts hoping to get enough votes to make it to Saturday’s grand final.
Between now and then, EMMY and the other 36 acts are finalising preparations at the St Jakobshalle Arena in Basel for the two semifinals on Tuesday and Thursday, from which ten acts each (plus the six pre-qualified countries who pay for the majority of the song contest) will face each other in the final this day week.
As the countdown to next Saturday begins, the debate over Israel’s participation continues to overshadow what is typically a major global event celebrating music and diversity in front of one of the largest TV audiences of the year.
RTÉ’s decision to engage with the EBU on the issue marks a significant shift and adds to the voices of unease from fellow EBU broadcasting colleagues.
Whether this turns into a broader reassessment of the contest or becomes a footnote in the Eurovision’s long and colourful history may depend on what happens this week.
With protests, politics and pop music mixing again in this song contest unlike any other, will Eurovision 2025 become one of the most contested in recent memory?
