The biggest scandals in Eurovision history

The festival of controversies

Since its first edition, back in 1956, the Eurovision Song Contest has been much more than a music competition. Proof of this is the many controversies that have occasionally overshadowed the contest's musical sphere.

How many can you recall?

Have a look at some of the biggest controversies here. How many do you remember?

Spoiler alert: Israel and Russia are at the center (directly or indirectly) of many of them.

The shadow of Franco over Spain's Eurovision victory

The controversy surrounding Spain's victory at Eurovision in 1968 still lingers, even giving rise to a documentary and series. The suspicion that the Franco regime intervened to ensure Massiel's victory at London's Royal Albert Hall has always been there.

Cliff had to say 'Congratulations'

Spain won with their 'La, la, la' by scoring just one more point than the United Kingdom, represented by Cliff Richard and his 'Congratulations.'

The controversy of the four-all tie in 1969

Massiel's victory at Eurovision led to the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest being held in Madrid. That year's competition also caused a stir, as a result of a tie in the voting, resulting in no fewer than four winners (Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and France).

Others refused to come back the next year

Discontent with the voting system, which had to be modified from then on, led countries such as Finland, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden to decide not to participate in 1970.

Eurovision and the Carnation Revolution

In the 1974 Eurovision final, held in the United Kingdom that year and won by ABBA with 'Waterloo', there was no controversy over the Portuguese song, 'E Depois Do Adeus', sung by Paulo de Carvalho, but there was controversy two weeks later when, apparently, the song was used by the military as a secret signal to start the Carnation Revolution.

Boycott

In 1975, Greece withdrew from the competition in protest at the Eurovision debut of Turkey, which had invaded Northern Cyprus months earlier. A year later, Turkey was the one that did not attend the contest due to Greece's presence. Pictured here is Turkey's representative, Semiha Yanki.

Pinochet and Eurovision

In 1975, the festival was organized in Sweden, and although Chile wasn't competing, it had expressed its intention to broadcast it. However, Swedish television refused to broadcast the satellite signal in protest against General Pinochet's dictatorship, which had staged a coup d'état in Chile in 1973.

Jordan, Israel, Belgium

In 1978, the winning country was Israel and its "A-Ba-Ni-Bi," but due to political tensions with Jordan, the Jordanians cut off the broadcast whenever Israel appeared. They also announced that Belgium was the winner, the runner-up.

The flags of the PingPong group

The theme of flags has also been a central theme at various points throughout the festival. In 2000, for example, the festival was held in Stockholm, Sweden, and the Israeli group PingPong ended their performance waving Syrian and Israeli flags and calling for peace between the two countries, which were at odds over the Golan Heights and Syria's support for organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah. Furthermore, the two men in the group, Arad and Assif, kissed during the performance, adding fuel to the controversy.

Lebanon's near-debut in 2005

2005 was supposed to be Lebanon's debut year at Eurovision, but it ultimately wasn't to be, as it withdrew after refusing to broadcast Israel's song. By law, content about Israel cannot be broadcast on television in Lebanon.

The youngest winner in the festival's history

In 1986, there was controversy surrounding Sandra Kim, the Belgian representative who also won that competition. The source of the dispute was her age: she was only 13, although her makeup and costumes made her look somewhat older. Why was she allowed to participate? Belgium had stated that she was 15. This led to the minimum age for participation being raised to 16 from then on.

Dana International

In 1998, Dana International, representing Israel, became the first transgender singer to win the Eurovision Song Contest. As you can imagine, the controversy arose, and the singer received numerous death threats.

Police persecution for voting for Armenia

In 2009, there was quite a stir when the BBC reported that in Azerbaijan, people who had voted for Armenia (a country with which Azerbaijan was in conflict) were being investigated and questioned by Azerbaijani state authorities. Following this, it was established that mobile phone providers could not share their users' voting information.

Dangerous wordplay

2009 was the year the Eurovision Song Contest was held in Moscow. Georgia attempted to compete with a song titled "We Don't Wanna Put In," but was ultimately rejected due to the pun reminiscent of President Putin.

The kiss between Krista Siegfrids and one of her dancers

2013 was the year in which Finnish singer Krista Siegfrids, performing her song "Marry Me," kissed one of her dancers in protest of the lack of legalization of same-sex marriage in Finland. This led Turkey to refuse to broadcast the semi-final and final, and China to censor it.

Boos for Russia

Boos have been another feature throughout Eurovision's history. In 2014, for example, Russia won all the contests due to its annexation of Crimea.

The story of '1944'

Ukrainian-Tatar singer Jamala won in 2016 with her song "1944," a song that caused a stir because, despite the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) ban on politically charged works, she was allowed to participate. "1944" deals with the deportation of Crimean Tatars in the 1940s. This time, the EBU recognized that there was no political but rather a historical one.

The debts of Romanian public television

2016 will also be remembered for the fact that Romania was unable to participate in that edition due to debts owed by the Romanian public television network (TVR).

Ukraine refused to participate in 2019 in protest against Russia's annexation of Crimea

In 2019, Ukraine withdrew from the competition after the selected artist, Maruv, refused to go on a promotional tour in Russia, which had unilaterally annexed Crimea in 2014. Following Maruv's rejection, the substitute artists also refused to go on such a tour in Russia, leaving Ukraine with no choice but to withdraw.

Iceland smuggled a flag into the Green Room

The Icelandic band Hatari got into trouble when they took a Palestinian flag out of their costumes and showed it to the world during the 2019 Song Contest. The host country was Israel, and soon enough, the members of the band were removed from the Green Room and taken to the police.

Another (slightly less) controversial gesture

More recently, in 2021, Damiano David, vocalist of the Italian group Måneskin, made headlines, beyond his victory with the song "Zitti e buoni," for an inappropriate gesture on a table that suggested the consumption of an illegal substance. The scandal was so extensive that he had to come forward and explain that it was all an optical illusion. He even underwent a blood test, which proved him right.

What happened to the 2022 elections?

In 2022, some countries, such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, San Marino, Romania, Poland, and Montenegro, complained that their voting had been altered at the edition held in Turin, Italy. Others, such as Romania, were not even allowed to vote live. The festival organizers justified the decision by allegedly irregular voting patterns on the part of some countries.

Protests against Israel's actions in Palestine

Pro-Palestinian protests were the centerpiece of the 2024 festival held in Malmö, Sweden. Thousands of people marched through the streets of the Swedish city, demanding Israel's exclusion from the Palestinian territories.