Despite the criticism, the candidate does not give up. Eden Golan, a 20-year-old Israeli singer, will represent her country in Sweden for the next edition of Eurovision, and eyes are turning to her as calls to exclude Israel from the competition multiply.
His presence at this European telehook is controversial, in the midst of a deadly Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. The organizers of Eurovision had not validated his first song “October Rain”, widely perceived as a reference to the victims of the attack carried out by Palestinian Hamas in Israel on October 7, finding it too politically charged.
In Malmö in Sweden, where the competition will begin on May 7, demonstrations are already planned in preparation for Eden Golan’s arrival, but the young girl is not moved. She will present a new version of her song, “Ouragan”. “I’m really looking forward to it,” she said, adding that it was an honor for her to represent Israel.
Sitting on a sofa at home, in the presence of a member of her communications team, Eden Golan easily spoke about rehearsals, rewriting the song, and how to channel the country’s pain after October 7. But when AFP asked a question about the war in Gaza – which was not included in those sent in advance at the request of the communications team – Eden Golan did not respond.
Interpretation
His song has met with some success in Israel and the music video for the song is playing repeatedly on local channels. “I received a lot of support and I didn’t really see any negative comments about the song,” she told AFP. “That’s the magic and beauty of music. She speaks her own language and that’s what we’re really here for. It’s the unity of music.”
The Russian-Israeli singer said she was surprised when Eurovision organizers rejected her song “October Rain”. “I was a little shocked when the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the telecrochet), did not validate the song (…), I do not think that the first version was political”. “The song is about a young girl who is going through her own problems, her own emotions,” she explains, “it has nothing to do with October 7.”
For commentators, words like “there’s no more air to breathe” and “they were all good children, every single one of them” evoked the victims of the Hamas attack. Some have pointed out what they believe are clear allusions to October 7 in the music video for the new song, while lyrics such as “I’m still broken by this hurricane” have done little to dispel speculation.
But for Eden Golan, “Huragan” has several levels of reading and remains open to interpretation. “Every person who listens to it can relate to the song on their own level. Our people, our country relates to it on a very different, deeper emotional level, because of the tragedy we have experienced.”
Controversy
The unprecedented attack by Hamas in Israel on October 7 resulted in the death of 1,170 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data. Some 250 people were also kidnapped.
According to Israel, 129 of them are still being held in the Gaza Strip, including 34 considered dead. The vast military operation carried out in retaliation in the Gaza Strip by Israel, which promised to annihilate Hamas, left more than 34,500 dead, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas Health Ministry in Gaza.
The UN has warned of an imminent risk of famine and fears are mounting over a oft-announced Israeli offensive on the town of Rafah, on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, which has become a huge refugee camp housing nearly one and a half million Palestinians in catastrophic health conditions.
In Sweden, eyes will be focused on Eden Golan’s song and what his country will decide for Gaza. Thousands of musicians around the world have called for Israel to be excluded from the competition. Eurovision often takes a political turn, with each country voting according to its political affinities. Does Eden Golan hope to win? “I believe anything can happen,” she replies.