Eurovision fans ‘don’t have the words’ after Israel’s enormous percentage of votes is leaked-Asyia Iftikhar-Entertainment – Metro

Israeli singer Eden Golan received astonishing vote share from Italian public (Picture: EPA)

Italian broadcaster RAI has left fans shocked after they appeared to accidentally reveal the public voting figures that showed Israel’s entry miles ahead.

Eurovision 2024 comes to a controversial close this Saturday with the Grand Final taking place in Malmo, Sweden, where Olly Alexander is representing the UK with track Dizzy.

This year’s singing competition has faced huge protest due to its inclusion of Israel competitor Eden Golan, with the song Hurricane (renamed from the politically charged title October Rain).

Eurovision has been under major pressure to exclude Israel from the competition due to the country’s ongoing assault against Hamas in Gaza since October which has led to 35,000 deaths and counting.

As calls to boycott the competition in solidarity with Palestine increase, a televoting leak in Italy has indicated that Eden still has major support.

The viral moment from last night’s RAI broadcast showed what appear to be the televoting percentage shares from the Italian public, with Israel coming in first place at an astounding 39.31%. The country will progress to the coveted final.

The vote share (Picture: Rai)

The next highest voting share was The Netherlands with a much more modest 7.32%.

This is the first time the Italian broadcaster has ever revealed semi-final televoting percentages before the Grand Final has concluded.

Fans shared their shock and disbelief at the figures, and the fact they could be leaked.

‘How do you do that accidentally? If that is real, things might be even more grim than you think,’ X user Elianovision wrote.

‘I don’t even have the words,’ another user aama25_em said.

Some viewers have pointed out Italy’s semi-final voting percentage for Ukraine (who had just been invaded by Russia) in 2022 which came in at 24.28%. Even within a political context, Israel’s voting percentage would be large.

Eden performs Hurricane (Picture: AFP)

‘I’ve never said anything about Israel till now, but a so big margin is definitely NOT normal,’ pechemelba113 wrote.

‘Absolutely disgusting… 40%???’ WayPastIt added.

Some fans are using this information to encourage boycotters to organise and vote during the Grand Final.

‘This should ring the alarms of team boycott. NOW, we need to band together and do something called voting. Eurovision is in deep trouble,’ acdominguez posted.

‘Instead of boycotting voting, everyone should actually vote in this,’ FionaSmall echoed.

Israel, Austria, Armenia, The Netherlands, Latvia, Norway, Greece, Georgia and Estonia will join the Grand Final line up taking place on Saturday May 11.

Although Israel has supposedly received huge support from the Italian public, it has found a more hostile reception within the Malmo venue.

Pro-Palestine protests took place during the Eurovision semi finals (Picture:AFP/Getty/Andreas Hillergren)

The 20-year-old singer’s Jury show performance was booed and filled with chants of Free Palestine from the audience. One X user called the atmosphere ‘horrible’ and tension filled.

Meanwhile, presenter Rylan missed his iconic elevator interview with Eden, with some speculating it was done on purpose due to the backlash against Israel. Rylan has not addressed the theories.

Metro.co.uk has reached out to EBU for comment.

The Grand Final airs on Saturday, May 11, at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

Entertainment – MetroRead More