{"id":79420,"date":"2024-02-09T16:32:36","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T21:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=79420"},"modified":"2024-02-09T16:32:36","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T21:32:36","slug":"eden-golan-to-represent-israel-in-eurovision-2024-amid-calls-for-israels-ban-from-song-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/eden-golan-to-represent-israel-in-eurovision-2024-amid-calls-for-israels-ban-from-song-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Eden Golan to represent Israel in Eurovision 2024 amid calls for Israel\u2019s ban from song competition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By JACKIE HAJDENBERG<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014 Empty chairs representing the Israeli hostages held in Gaza lit up the stage of Israel\u2019s \u201cRising Star\u201d song competition show Tuesday night as 20-year-old Eden Golan, wearing a yellow ribbon pin, sang Aerosmith\u2019s \u201cI Don\u2019t Want to Miss a Thing\u201d \u2014 an emotional grand finale for the country\u2019s auditions to the Eurovision Song Contest, which were postponed by several months due to the war.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_79421\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Chairs.webp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-79421\" class=\"wp-image-79421 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Chairs-300x167.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Chairs-300x167.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Chairs-1024x569.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Chairs-768x427.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Chairs-1536x853.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Chairs-2048x1138.webp 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/167;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-79421\" class=\"wp-image-79421 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Chairs-300x167.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Chairs-300x167.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Chairs-1024x569.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Chairs-768x427.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Chairs-1536x853.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Chairs-2048x1138.webp 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-79421\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eden Golan performs an emotional rendition of Aerosmith&#8217;s &#8220;I Don&#8217;t Want to Miss a Thing,&#8221; surrounded by empty chairs representing the missing hostages, for her grand finale performance to represent Israel in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest. (Screenshot via Mako.co.il)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Golan beat out three other finalists to win the Israeli competition this week, guaranteeing her a slot at the international competition in Malm\u00f6, Sweden, in May.<\/p>\n<p>There, she\u2019ll compete against at least one other Israeli, Tali Golergant, who will represent Luxembourg in the tiny country\u2019s first Eurovision outing in 31 years. Golergant was born in Israel but raised in Luxembourg.<\/p>\n<p>Golan\u2019s selection comes amid mounting calls to ban Israel from the competition over its war in Gaza grow stronger.<\/p>\n<p>The first call came in December, from Iceland\u2019s Association of Composers and Lyricists. \u201cWe all have a duty to take a stand against war and murders of civilians as innocent children,\u201d it said in a statement posted to Facebook. \u201cWe always have a choice not to attach our name to such whether we are individuals or institutions of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since then, a petition in Iceland has collected around 10,000 signatures calling for Israel\u2019s disqualification from the competition. If the country is allowed to compete, the terms say, Iceland will boycott the event. Iceland will determine its participation after its own national competition in March, local newspapers report.<\/p>\n<p>Petitions calling for Israel\u2019s exclusion from Eurovision have since continued, coming from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. (Swedish singer Loreen won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023 with the song \u201cTattoo.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>There is precedent for excluding a country from competition because of current events. In past years, Russia and Belarus have been banned over their governments\u2019 human rights violations and suppression of the free press.<\/p>\n<p>The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, said in a statement that it is aligned with other international federations \u201cthat have similarly maintained their inclusive stance towards Israeli participants in major competitions at this time,\u201d including in sports.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_79422\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Valerie-Hamaty.webp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-79422\" class=\"wp-image-79422 size-large lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Valerie-Hamaty-1024x569.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Valerie-Hamaty-1024x569.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Valerie-Hamaty-300x167.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Valerie-Hamaty-768x427.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Valerie-Hamaty-1536x853.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Valerie-Hamaty-2048x1138.webp 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/569;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-79422\" class=\"wp-image-79422 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Valerie-Hamaty-1024x569.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Valerie-Hamaty-1024x569.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Valerie-Hamaty-300x167.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Valerie-Hamaty-768x427.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Valerie-Hamaty-1536x853.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-9-24-Eden-Golan-Valerie-Hamaty-2048x1138.webp 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-79422\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eden Golan (left) and Valerie Hamaty (right) perform \u201cLet it Be\u201d on Israel\u2019s \u201cRising Star\u201d in Jan. 2024. (Screenshot via Mako.co.il)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cComparisons between wars and conflicts are complex and difficult and, as a non-political media organization, not ours to make,\u201d Noel Curran, the organization\u2019s director general, said in the statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe understand the concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East,\u201d he said, but he added that Eurovision is \u201cnot a contest between governments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As countries select their contestants, the Eurovision website adds information about each one. The link to further information about Golan, which can be viewed only in Europe, includes a statement discouraging harassment that does not appear on other artists\u2019 video pages.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are #UnitedByMusic,\u201d the statement says. \u201cThe Eurovision Song Contest celebrates diversity through music. Please keep your comments respectful. We will not tolerate racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, body-shaming or any other derogatory or hostile language. Offensive users will be blocked and reported.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eden Golan was born in Israel and moved to Russia when she was 6 years old, returning to Israel with her family in 2022 at the start of the most recent Russia-Ukraine war. In 2015, she participated in the Russian selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.<\/p>\n<p>Golan\u2019s grand finale was not the only song dedicated to the hostages Tuesday night \u2014 Noa Kirel, Israel\u2019s 2023 delegate to Eurovision, who was not among this year\u2019s finalists, performed Ofra Haza\u2019s 1983 Eurovision entry \u201cChai\u201d and wore a yellow corset with the Hebrew word for \u201clife\u201d embroidered in glittery letters.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/C3BEiL8L6a_\/<\/p>\n<p>With the costly war endowing old songs with new significance, contestants Or Cohen and Mika Cohen tapped to the Israeli archives Tuesday for mournful songs about young men lost at war, such as \u201cPri Ganach,\u201d or \u201cFruit of Your Garden,\u201d a 1991 memorial song by singer-songwriter Yoni Roa about a mother who sits and waits in her garden for her soldier son who never returns from war, and \u201cNaari Shuva Eli,\u201d Maragalit Tzanani\u2019s 1986 hit \u201cReturn to Me, Boys.\u201d Contestant Dor Shimon sang the Sarit Hadad number \u201cHayiti Be\u2019gan Eden\u201d \u2014 \u201cI was in Heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in the competition, Golan sang The Beatles\u2019 \u201cLet it Be\u201d with Christian Arab-Israeli singer Valerie Hamaty, the 2021 runner-up of \u201cRising Star.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Eden%20Golan%20to%20represent%20Israel%20in%20Eurovision%202024%20amid%20calls%20for%20Israel%E2%80%99s%20ban%20from%20song%20competition\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":79421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7137],"tags":[7834,8790,8795,8788],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79420"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79423,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79420\/revisions\/79423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}