Eurovision organisers have said they regret that some delegations “didn’t respect the spirit of the rules”.
Acts including Ireland’s Bambie Thug and Italy’s Angelina Mango complained about a “tense” atmosphere backstage at this year’s song contest.
The Irish act also complained about their experience being placed behind Israel in the show’s final, the Daily Mail reports.
This year’s contest has been one of the most controversial in Eurovision history. The decision to allow Israel to compete led to pro-Palestine demonstrations outside the arena, and the disqualification of Netherlands act Joost Klein hours before he was due to perform.
In a statement, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which runs Eurovision, have addressed that some contestants lodged complaints.
It read: “We regret that some delegations at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö didn’t respect the spirit of the rules and the competition both onsite and during their broadcasts. We spoke to a number of delegations during the event regarding various issues that were brought to our attention.”
It continued: “The EBU’s governing bodies will, together with the heads of delegations, review the events surrounding the ESC in Malmö to move forward in a positive way and to ensure the values of the event are respected by everyone.
“Individual cases will be discussed by the event’s governing body, the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group made up of representatives from participating broadcasters, at its next meeting.”
Following the grand final Bambie, who has publicly shared their pro-Palestinian views, accused Israel’s national broadcaster KAN of “inciting violence” against them during its coverage.
Pro-Palestine protesters gathered in Malmo to protest during the weeklong event, with some calling for Israel to be disqualified from the contest.
The event was also hit by controversy when the Dutch participant was disqualified.
Joost Klein was dramatically expelled from the competition hours before the grand finale, and is likely to be charged with making illegal threats, Swedish police said.
The Dutch performer had failed to perform at two dress rehearsals on Friday and the European Broadcasting Union said that police were investigating a complaint by "a female member of the production crew" at the competition in the Swedish city of Malmo.
The EBU said in a statement regarding the Kan commentary: 'We've spoken to KAN, the Israeli broadcaster, about this matter and reiterated the importance of all commentators respecting all the artists taking part in the competition and abiding by the rules and regulations of the event.'
