Entertainment
12 of the biggest controversies in Eurovision Song Contest history
Picture: Getty – Eurovision
Love it or hate it, the Eurovision Song Contest is still the most watched TV programme of the year, with around 182m viewers tuning in annually to see which of the competing countries will be crowned winners.
The 2021 contest will see 39 acts – including the UK’s James Newman – taking to the stage in Rotterdam in their bid to succeed Duncan Laurence, who won the last contest in 2019 for the Netherlands, before the Covid pandemic forced last year’s show to be cancelled.
But while things almost always go smoothly in the night, the contest hasn’t been without the odd controversy in its 65-year history – with everything from political statements to temperamental acts ruffling the feathers of the organisers, and raising the eyebrows of the viewers.
Let’s remind ourselves of some of the most controversial moments of all time….
Hatari’s Palestinian banners (2019)
Icelandic act Hatari had already created a bit of a splash at Eurovision 2019 in Tel Aviv with their song Hatrid Mun Sigra, aka Hate Will Prevail – a shouty industrial anthem about as far removed from the contest’s big ballads and colourful dance bangers as it was possible to get.
However they really caused a stir when, after their points from the public were awarded, the cameras turned to them in the green room holding up banners in support of Palestine.
While the band later admitted it was their ‘main reason’ for taking part in the contest, it was less popular with the European Broadcasting Union, who fined Iceland’s broadcasters €5,000 (£4,200) for breaking the contest’s no politics rule.
Portugal incites revolution (1974)
Portugal’s entry at the 1974 contest, the ballad E Depois do Adeus by Paulo de Carvalho, might not have made much impact in the actual contest – but nonetheless, it still achieved notoriety, after it was revealed as one of two signals to start the country’s Carnation Revolution, against Marcelo Caetano’s authoritarian Estado Novo regime – a coup which later led to the country becoming a democracy.
To date, it remains the only Eurovision entry ever to start a revolution – that we know of, at least.
Finland’s same-sex kiss (2013)
The 2013 contest in Malmo, Sweden, introduced us to Finland’s Krista Siegfrieds and her song Marry Me – with its ‘ding-dong’ heavy lyrics and Krista taking to the stage in a wedding dress.
Given the contest’s reputation for stage gimmicks and OTT outfits, this was textbook Eurovision – except Krista decided to shake things up thoroughly by kissing one of her female backing dancers during the performance – as a protest against same-sex marriage not being legal in Finland at that time.
Cue ruffled feathers from the likes of Turkey, who scrapped plans to screen the semi-final and final (in spite of not taking part in the contest that year), and China, who censored the moment in question.
Not that any of the fuss made much difference to Finland’s final score – with Krista finishing a lowly 24th in the final with just 13 points.
Silvia Night upsets everyone (2006)
The 2006 contest in Athens might have hit the headlines on account of Finland’s Lordi – to this date the only act ever to win Eurovision with a rock song – but Iceland also grabbed their share of attention thanks to their act, the infamous Silvia Night.
Silvia – actually a character created by actress Agusta Eva Erlandsdottir – was aiming to nab the nation their first-ever contest win with her song Congratulations, a catchy little tune all about how she was bound to win because she was better than all the other contestants.
Unfortunately for all concerned, Erlandsdottir remained in character throughout her time in Athens – and proceeded to upset a whole lot of people, from journalists covering the contest whom she referred to as ‘f*****g amateurs’ – even having her ‘bodyguard’ carry one of them out of her press conference – through to spreading scandalous rumours about Sweden’s contestant Carola. All of which led to her being booed as she took to the stage in the semi-final.
But she didn’t stop there, lashing out at Carola, Lordi and the Netherlands’ act Treble after her OTT performance failed to win her a place in the final – and took her frustrations out on the press, telling one journalist: ‘I will sue you, and I will sue the competition, and you will all go to jail!’. Oh dear.
Ukraine withdraws (2019)
Ukraine’s national final in 2019 brought with it a serious contender in the shape of Maruv’s Siren Song – all sultry vocals and big parpy trumpets, accompanied by a seriously sexy dance routine.
Unsurprisingly Maruv was hot favourite for the ticket to Tel Aviv, and won their national final – only to be dropped by the local broadcaster after she refused to sign a contract temporarily barring her from playing in Russia.
Undeterred, broadcaster UA:PBC approached the runners-up to offer them the chance to represent Ukraine, but they refused too. When the second runners-up also said no, they were left with no choice but to pull out of the contest completely – leaving us all wondering what might have been if Maruv had had her moment on the Eurovision stage. The song, meanwhile, lives on as a favourite at Eurovision parties.
Oh, and while we’re at it, let’s not forget that rather awkward moment in the same final when former Eurovision winner Jamala promptly asked Maruv: ‘I have very uncomfortable question to you – Crimea is Ukraine?’
Russia pulls out of Ukraine (2017)
Speaking of Ukraine and Jamala, it was her song – 1944 – which brought the contest to Kiev in 2017, leaving everybody wondering whether Russia would take part, given the ongoing conflict between the two countries.
Sure enough, they decided they would, unexpectedly unveiling former Russian X Factor contestant Julia Samoylova as their entrant, with the song Flame Is Burning.
All appeared good, until it transpired that Julia had previously performed in Crimea – a big no-no as far as Ukraine was concerned, leading to her being banned from actually entering the country. All of which led to Russia ultimately pulling out of the contest altogether that year.
It wasn’t all bad news for Julia, who got her moment on the Eurovision stage when she represented Russia in Lisbon in 2018. Sadly, her song I Won’t Break failed to qualify from the semi-final, making her the only Russian participant to date to miss out on a final place.
We Don’t Wanna Put In (Georgia, 2009)
Speaking of political controversies, Georgia found themselves embroiled in one in 2009 with their attempt to send a disco number by band Stefane and 3G, in the aftermath of the Russo-Georgian war.
The song, entitled We Don’t Wanna Put In, was hauled up by the EBU for its clearly political lyrics – taking a pop at Russian president Vladimir Putin (read the title again if you want to see what we mean).
Georgia was given the chance to field an alternative song but chose to withdraw from the contest altogether that year, once again leaving us wondering what might have been if they’d taken part. The song, however, is still widely available on YouTube for those who want to see what the fuss is all about.
Terry Wogan announces the wrong winner (2007)
This one wasn’t actually from the contest itself – but came as the United Kingdom was choosing its entrant for the 2007 contest in Helsinki.
Having been whittled down to the final two – Scooch’s saucy airline anthem Flying The Flag (For You), and balladeer Cyndi’s I’ll Leave My Heart, the late great Terry Wogan had the job of announcing which act had won the ticket to Finland. Cue a moment of extreme awkwardness in which he announced Cyndi had won, with Scooch already congratulating her before co-host Fearne Cotton announced that Wogan had got it wrong and that they were in fact the winners.
Of course, given that Scooch ended up scoring just 19 points in the 2007 final, we have been left to wonder to this day whether Cyndi might have done any better.
Israel’s first – and third – wins (1978/1998)
Israel has notched up four Eurovision victories since it began taking part – but those haven’t come without controversy of their own.
Back in 1978, when it became apparent that Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta were on course to take the title with A-Ba-Ni-Bi, Jordanian television promptly pulled the broadcast, instead showing viewers footage of a bunch of daffodils before later announcing that second-placed Belgium had actually won the contest.
Fast forward 20 years later to the contest in Birmingham and Dana International, Israel’s 1998 participant – and Eurovision’s first ever transgender winner – caused such controversy among more conservative religious groups back in Israel that she needed to have police escorts and security on hand during her time in the UK at the contest.
Belgium’s winner (1986)
Despite being one of the longest-ever participants in Eurovision, Belgium has only ever won the contest once, with Sandra Kim’s J’Aime La Vie back in 1986 – but caused a minor stir after it was revealed she was in fact merely 13 years old, not 16 as had been reported at the time.
Switzerland, who had finished second, subsequently petitioned to have the song disqualified – unsuccessfully – and to this date, Sandra remains the youngest ever contest winner. She will likely remain so given that the minimum age for taking part has since been raised to 16.
Belarus breaks the rules (2021)
While Eurovision 2021 has no shortage of participants, with 39 lining up to take part, one country you won’t be seeing on the Rotterdam stage is Belarus.
They had planned to take part, revealing their song, Ya Nauchu Tebya, by Galasy ZMesta, in early March. However, they fell foul of the EBU after it transpired the song breached the rules banning lyrics of a political nature – with lines such as ‘I’ll teach you to toe the line’, believed to be mocking the country’s protests against President Alexander Lukashenko.
The band were given the chance to modify the lyrics or submit an alternative song – but when they did the latter that was also deemed to be unsuitable, leading to them being disqualified from the contest, and depriving us of the chance to see whether they could have landed Belarus their first ever Eurovision victory.
The Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals are on Tuesday May 18 and Thursday May 20 from 8pm on BBC Four. The grand final is on BBC One on Saturday May 22 from 8pm.
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