A mistake by the Italian channel Rai has turned the Eurovision Song Contest upside down. Israel turned out to be so popular that it made a giant leap with the bookmakers. Israel is now second, with a 20 percent chance of winning. Before the semi-finals, the country was still eighth with a 2 percent chance.
Eden Golan delivered on Thursday evening in the second semi-final in Malmö with her power ballad Hurricane an excellent performance, but not to such an extent that the betting shops had to be confused. That happened at the beginning of the night when the voting ratios of Italian television viewers accidentally came out. That happened during the live broadcast of the Rai. That broadcaster ran a bar showing the percentages of votes.
Israel achieved a monster victory among the public in Italy. Golan (20) won more than 39 percent of the votes. That Joost Klein with Europapa had performed well on behalf of the Netherlands, which was also evident from that list, with over 7 percent he was number 2 in Italy. Yet the lead by which Israel won was more startling. The country is now immediately the biggest challenger to Croatia, which is still at the top among bookmakers with a 42 percent chance of winning.
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The fact that Eden Golan received so many votes cannot be separated from the political situation. As with war-ravaged Ukraine in 2022, there is now a lot of moral support for the Israeli, who yesterday also heard that more than 5,000 demonstrators made their voices heard in the center of Malmö against Israeli violence in Gaza. If Italy sets the tone for the whole of Europe, Israel will probably become the winner of the public votes in the final on Saturday. That is only half of the total, since the professional juries determine the other half.
Anti-voting
TV commentator Cornald Maas explained to the ANP the striking result in Italy, which is at odds with the disapproving sounds that could also be clearly heard in the audience in Malmö: “You cannot vote anti and only vote for a song.” .” In other words: a pro-Israel voter has only 1 choice, those who want to express their disapproval have 25 other choices.
The fact that Israel is among the top favorites in Malmö gives a somewhat distorted picture of reality. For example, there was a protest action by the VRT trade union on Flemish TV. The broadcast was interrupted twice for a message calling for a ceasefire. “We condemn the violations of human rights by the State of Israel,” it said.
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The question now at the Eurovision Song Contest is to what extent the professional juries go along with the audience. The song Hurricane is certainly not bad, says Cornald Maas. “And neither is the implementation. So it may also be that the juries think: yes, this is worth a top 5. Unless they are guided by political considerations. In that sense I think it is an exciting year.”
Italy’s figures were shown unintentionally. The results of the semi-finals always remain secret until after the final and for a logical reason: the tension is kept up and the audience is not influenced.
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In the landslide at the top of the bookmakers’ rankings, Joost Klein has fallen to eighth place. He will have a lot of trouble with Israel in the final on Saturday, as Europapa is expected to have to gain many more points from the public than from the professional juries. If Israel takes away a lot of points from viewers, there is simply less left for the Netherlands.
– Read all about the Eurovision Song Contest on the Song Contest section of this site.
– Wonder when Joost Klein will be in action. Check it out in our handy schedule. And are you wondering why Australia is actually participating? Read it all in the most frequently asked questions about the Eurovision Song Contest.
Also listen to the AD Eurovision Song Contest Podcast:
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Tags: Israel favorites win Eurovision Song Contest due blunder Italian voting figures Eurovision Song Contest
