The Italian TV channel Rai accidentally announced the vote distribution of Italian viewers during the broadcast of the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest. This shows that, despite the controversy surrounding the country’s participation in war, Israel was by far the most popular.
No fewer than 39.31 percent of Italian viewers appear to have voted for the Israeli entry in the televoting. The Netherlands followed with only 7.32 percent, Belgium could only attract 1.68 of the Italians and was therefore penultimate in the country. (Read more under the X-post)
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In the semi-finals, it is normally only determined which countries could qualify for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Traditionally, Italian TV channels only announce the vote distribution in the semi-finals after the final. Rai showed the numbers on the screen this time. This is evident from images circulating on Twitter.
Protest
The Israeli participation was strongly criticized in advance because of the war in Gaza. There had been calls for a boycott and during the second semi-final, more than ten thousand people took action in Malmö, demanding a ceasefire and an end to the genocide.
If there were still boos during rehearsals, there was applause during the performance on Thursday evening. Israel became one of ten countries to get a ticket for the final, which takes place on Saturday.
Tags: Italian accidentally announces percent viewers voted Israel Eurovision Song Contest semifinal
