In the seven-decade history of Eurovision, itâs unlikely that a three-word slogan has been repeated so readily by the song contestâs extravagant contestants, tireless organizers or cagey media managers: The world, they insist, can be âUnited by Music.â
But Malmo, the Swedish city this year, is increasingly divided by Eurovision.
Saturdayâs Eurovision final will be watched by more than 150 million people around the world on TV and around 15,000 fans gathered inside the Malmo Arena. But the concert may be only the second-best attended event in the city that evening; a pro-Palestinian protest, calling for Israelâs removal from the contest, is expecting at least 20,000 attendees, and possibly far more.
The competition â which tries desperately to retain its âapoliticalâ tag â has become the largest cultural event so far to be rocked by the repercussions of Israelâs war in Gaza. Israelâs military assault has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza since it was launched in response to Hamasâ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage. Those protesting or boycotting the song contest claim it is âartwashingâ the conflict; others defend Israelâs inclusion, insisting the contest should not be dragged into geopolitics.
âPolitics does influence the event from time to time,â Paul Jordan, a fan and researcher of the contest who worked in its communications team from 2015 to 2018, told CNN. But this year, âthe presence of Israel has become such a big issue (that) I think itâs going to overshadow the event,â he said.
Weeks of simmering tension over the question are coming to the fore in Malmo this week, ahead of the contestâs semi-finals on Tuesday and Thursday. And they are leading to perhaps the tensest three minutes in the contestâs history, when Israelâs competitor, Eden Golan, performs live.
âWe could well see protests in the arena, we could see booing,â Jordan said. âI would imagine the scale of it in Malmo would be bigger than anything weâve ever seen before.â
An increasingly political song contest
It is difficult to pierce the celebratory bubble that surrounds the competition each year. But even among Eurovisionâs media-managed contestants, there are some rumblings of discontent this time.
âIt is frustrating. I donât agree with it at all. It doesnât make sense,â Bambie Thug, Irelandâs participant, told CNN of extensive rules restricting any form of pro-Palestinian statement during the event.
The singer previously released a statement resisting calls to boycott the event, saying they intended instead to provide a âpro-Palestinian voiceâ in Malmo. They told CNN that Israelâs involvement in the competition was the âwrong decision.â
Founded by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in 1956 as a unity-fostering project between national broadcasters, Eurovision has been rocked and buffeted for decades by the continentâs geopolitical currents. It offers an unrivaled soft power-building platform to member states with poor human rights records, like Azerbaijan and, , Russia.
But this year is the most difficult yet for the EBU, which decided against excluding Israel over the countryâs war in Gaza, whereas after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago â contrasting stances that led to calls of double standards.
âThe two are not comparative at all,â the EBUâs director general, Noel Curran, told CNN, insisting that Israelâs national broadcaster KAN did not breach the contestâs rules as Russiaâs did, which is the ultimate test of eligibility for the contest.
âIf we start across the board just deciding that weâre going to exclude people, on the basis of geopolitical situations or terrible things that might be happening in the world, then every year weâre just going to have groups of people calling for someone to be excluded â be it Azerbaijan, be it somebody else,â Curran said.
âWe want to try and keep the contest as non-political as we can,â he added. âAnd thatâs hard.â
He may be understating matters. Publicists representing a swathe of Europeâs most eccentric musical artists in Malmo have been especially cautious with their talent, seeking to protect them from questions relating to the protests taking place just a few yards from their hotels.
CNN asked to interview Golan, Israelâs performer, for this story, but was told it would only be arranged if CNN provided the questions beforehand, which goes against standard journalistic practices.
The EBU was already forced to intervene when Golanâs initial song submission, âOctober Rain,â was deemed to too closely reference Hamasâs Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
And the EBU has worked hard to keep dissent from seeping into Malmo Arena. Long-standing rules preventing flags of non-competing countries and territories mean that Palestinian flags are banned from the crowd, which Bambie Thug told CNN they "100 per cent" disagreed with.
Artists are not allowed to make statements either, though some may risk the punishment â a fine for their broadcaster â to do so, as Icelandâs act did in 2019, when they during the contest, which was held in Israel.
âWe wouldnât want them to do that, quite obviously,â Curran said. âThat is not something that we want artists to do, and itâs in the rules that they shouldnât do that, and canât do that.â
When asked by CNN, the EBU did not rule out adjusting sound levels on the broadcast to obscure booing, if it occurs during the Israeli performance.
But, for all their efforts, Eurovision bosses will hold their breaths while Golan sings in Saturdayâs grand final if, as expected, she progresses from Thursdayâs semi-final.
âThe real worry would be any threat of violence, particularly towards the singers,â Jordan said. âThe worst nightmare could be a stage invasion.â The latter occurred during the United Kingdomâs performance in 2018, when a man and screamed a message before being removed.
âIt has divided the cityâ
As Malmo sought to stage a weekâs worth of events and performances to celebrate Eurovision, it encountered a problem: artists kept dropping out, following pressure from pro-Palestinian groups urging a boycott of the contest.
âIt has divided the city, in a way,â admitted Karin Karlsson, who is in charge of staging the events in Malmo. âI donât think we will solve any questions when it comes to the war in Gaza by boycotting,â she said.
In total, she said 20 artists had dropped out of performing in the city. But Karlsson is undeterred. âI sleep well,â she said. âI want to show everybody a vibrant, super diverse city, where we can live side by side but still think differently.â
She hopes that Malmo is on track to fulfilling that goal. âBut you never know. Itâs uncertain at the moment.â
Her efforts may have been complicated by the choice of host. â(Malmo) has this history of resistance and solidarity, and itâs a working class city, but at the same time the municipality has tried to rebrand Malmo as a more global city,â Elina Pahnke, a Malmo-based journalist covering culture for the Aftonbladet newspaper, told CNN.
That has caused tensions with some residents, she said, who want resources and time spent on public services, rather than international spectacles.
The city is also home to large Muslim and Palestinian populations. Weekly pro-Palestinian protests have been held since Israelâs war in Gaza began in October, and the protest during Saturdayâs live final could be the biggest since those early weeks.
âWe hope to show the EBU that the people of Malmo reject their attempt at artwashing,â said Mohammad Ghannam, who has led the movement to boycott Eurovision as part of Swedenâs Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) group.
A massive security operation is in place; a Swedish police spokesperson told CNN it was one of the largest Malmo has ever seen, and involves officers from Denmark and Norway as well as Sweden.
And last week, Israelâs National Security Council raised its travel warning to Malmo, urging Israelis planning to attend Eurovision to reconsider whether they need to do so. It cited âtangible concern that terrorists will exploit the protest and the anti-Israel atmosphere to carry out an attack on Israelis,â and described Malmo as a hub for âanti-Israel protests.â
Lara Yosef, a 30-year-old Syrian migrant to Malmo who will be attending Saturdayâs demonstration, said that when she walks past Eurovision advertising in her city, âI see blood.â
âIâm hoping that some artists will surprise us and (make) some statements on stage,â Yosef said.
Amid those tensions, some artists have complained of online harassment and abuse, while others have praised the pro-Palestinian demonstrators. âPower to them for protesting,â Bambie Thug said, before their media manager quickly asked CNN to return to questions centred on their music.
But many more are working to block out what is becoming a near-deafening distraction, joining Eurovisionâs organizers in offering delicate comments. â(Our) sympathy is (with) all people who say that war is s--t,â said Ukrainian contestant Alyona Alyona. âBecause who, if not we, can say what is war, and how s--t it is?â