The Chairperson of the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group, Bakel Walden, promised new conditions for artists in the upcoming competition during a recent interview, learning from incidents at Eurovision 2024.
For Eurovision 2025 in Basel, organizers plan to provide participating artists with a “safe space”. According to Chairperson of the ESC Reference group, Bakel Walden, in an interview to “Sonntagsblick,” artists will be given a private area where they won’t be filmed, aiming to ensure their mental and physical well-being during preparations and rehearsals. “We have a duty of care”, Walden emphasized, promising increased attention to artists’ welfare in the future.
Addressing Past Challenges
Walden also addressed events that occurred at the last Eurovision in Malmö, which took place in the shadow of the Israel-Hamas war and the Middle East conflict. He acknowledged there were mistakes in communication and crisis management during the competition. “In the future, we will ensure more effective crisis management, strengthen communication, and work closely with the SRG-SSR (Swiss Broadcasting Corporation) and project teams”, he stated. Walden added that contest organizers are working towards significant improvements in artist welfare for the upcoming competition.
Striving for Neutrality
Walden noted that the contest organizers aim to ensure Eurovision remains as neutral as possible, understanding that wars and conflicts cannot be resolved through the competition. According to Walden, it’s crucial that Eurovision remains a cultural and artistic platform free from political contexts as much as possible, for the benefit of all participants and viewers.
What Prompted This Decision?
About a week ago, the Eurovision 2024 winner, Nemo from Switzerland, shared their feelings about the lack of support contestants experienced from organizers during the competition. They hoped the European Broadcasting Union would make changes next year and offered harsh criticism of the union. “There are situations still being investigated by the European Broadcasting Union. It’s a shame that it’s taking the EBU so long, in my opinion”. The exact situations are unknown, but it’s likely related to the “shouting” incident, where Irish singer Bambie Thug yelled at Israeli delegation members for being filmed backstage with other artists. According to the reports, at the time many delegations were taking pictures of each other but Thug used the opportunity to clash with the Israeli delegation.
Criticism and Controversy
Nemo’s criticism of the European Broadcasting Union seems quite ridiculous. Despite Eurovision’s aim to be apolitical, various contestants, including representatives from Ireland, Portugal, and others, including Nemo, continued to express their political views. Some repeatedly called for boycotting Israel, expressed solidarity with Palestinians, opposed Israel’s participation in the competition, called for an “immediate and sustained ceasefire” on various occasions, wore the red pin of the Artists4Ceasefire organization during Eurovision pre-parties, and signed a public statement addressing the fighting between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas, calling for a ceasefire.
It’s absurd that someone actively involved in political issues, contrary to the essence of the competition, complains about feeling lonely during the contest days and not receiving production support. It’s ridiculous that after winning, Nemo tried to portray themselves as a victim who suffered during their stay in Malmö, while dozens of Israelis couldn’t walk the city streets peacefully and Israel’s representative faced loud booing from the audience and even death threats. Despite Nemo still not drawing the right conclusions, they continue to complain during the interview about having to deal with questions about political controversies instead of questions about their first single since winning Eurovision.
Conclusion
Although the European Broadcasting Union’s decision may stem from the experiences of these artists, a safe space for the next Eurovision artists could certainly help reduce conflicts and drama in the competition itself and give the artist representing us a few moments of peace.
Source: Watson.
Eurovision 2025: The 69th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Basel, Switzerland, on May 13, 15, and 17, 2025. The St. Jakobshalle arena, which will host the competition, is expected to accommodate about 12,000 spectators for each show. The contest will take place in Switzerland following the country’s third historical win with the song “The Code”, performed by singer Nemo. This will be the third time the competition has been hosted in Switzerland, after the contest was held there in 1956 and 1989.
