Behind pink metal barriers at Malmö’s Folkets park, with signs of spring emerging from the flower beds, pictures of Abba’s Agnetha and Anni-Frid watch over proceedings as the area is transformed into “Eurovision village”. Somewhat fortuitously, after Loreen’s win in Liverpool last year, the southern Swedish city is preparing to host the contest in the 50th anniversary year of Abba’s breakthrough 1974 Eurovision-winning performance in Brighton of Waterloo.
When proceedings for “Eurovision week” kick off on 4 May before the grand final at the Malmö Arena seven days later, Sweden will be hoping to present a vision of peace and joy to a bitterly fractured world from its third largest and fastest growing city.
SVT, the Swedish broadcaster responsible for this year’s final, has not ruled out an appearance by Abba. And the city is putting on a busy schedule of events for its estimated 100,000 visitors, featuring musical performances, club nights and drag shows across multiple venues.
But amid worldwide controversy over Israel’s inclusion in the competition after its invasion of Gaza, heightened terror alerts across Europe, the war in Ukraine and the increased threat from Russia after Sweden’s recent membership of Nato, Abba’s jubilee pales into insignificance. In fact, observers predict, this could well be the most politically contentious Eurovision song contest ever.
“This Eurovision will be the most politically charged ever due to the Israeli war in Gaza and the humanitarian situation there,” says Magnus Ranstorp, a terror expert at the Swedish Defence University in Stockholm.
This, he adds, is compounded by the fact that it is taking place in Malmö, an international city with a young and diverse population (around a third of which was born outside Sweden) and a strong Palestinian community – many of whom have been attending regular protests against the invasion and are deeply saddened by the decision to welcome Israel to their home city while friends and family in Gaza are being killed.
“For activists and extremists, it will be a golden opportunity to disrupt the event,” he says. “The threat spectrum is all the way from activism to terrorism – though activism is probably the most likely scenario.”
The Swedish police are preparing for multiple protests in the city during Eurovision week. Meanwhile, inside the auditorium there is a potential for stage invasions and noise during Israel’s televised performances, says Ranstorp, adding that security will have to be tight. He predicts there will be riot police on standby, dogs on patrol to detect guns and ammunition, and police stops of vehicles on the bridge between Sweden and Denmark.
There have even been calls to boycott the event if Israel is not excluded, with thousands of artists from Iceland, Finland and Sweden – including Robyn and First Aid Kit – signing open letters urging Israel to be excluded. Last month, hundreds of queer artists and organisations in the UK called on Olly Alexander, the UK’s entrant, to pull out of the contest. Alexander, along with several other contestants, rejected the call and said they would “use our platform to come together and call for peace”.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) last month confirmed that Israel’s official submission had been considered eligible after it previously put forward a song for the contest that was barred on the grounds of breaking political neutrality.
Appearing to reference the Hamas attacks of 7 October, leaked lyrics to the proposed entry, called October Rain, sung by Israel representative Eden Golan, included the lines “There’s no air left to breathe”, and “They were all good children, each one of them”.
In the end, the country submitted a modified version under the name Hurricane, also sung by Golan.
Martin Österdahl, the EBU’s executive supervisor for Eurovision, which is broadcast to around 400 million people globally across TV and digital platforms, insists that Israel’s entry was not given special treatment.
“Me and my team go through every single track, and in many cases members reach out to us in advance pre-consultation if they’re unsure,” he says. “During that pre-consultation, the Israeli member contacted us when they had two final songs. We looked at them and said, ‘Sorry, we don’t think these will pass so you’ll have to remedy either by modification or resubmission.’ ” In the end, he says, they officially submitted the “modified” song Hurricane.
Eurovision always reflects the times, says Österdahl, who has been involved in the annual broadcast in different capacities since 2007 and executive produced Sweden’s last two stints hosting the contest, in 2013 in Malmö and 2016 in Stockholm.
“I’ve been involved long enough to remember a lot of situations in Europe, geopolitical conflicts, that have affected us in different ways,” he says, naming police violence at a gay pride rally in Moscow in 2009, the 2020 cancellation because of Covid-19 and the 2021 disqualification of Belarus as examples.
“Unfortunately, we live in a time of conflict and we have several conflicts within our membership.” But throughout its 68-year history, Eurovision’s priority has been to remain a “non-political event,” he says, by ensuring political messages are kept away from the stage.
Österdahl refuses to be drawn on what the organisers will do if the crowd boos Israel live on air or an artist makes an ad-hoc statement on stage, saying they will appeal to participants to “focus on what unites us, not what divides us”.
Eurovision is not the platform for solving global conflicts, he says. “We understand that people are concerned, but ultimately this is a music show, this is a family entertainment show, and we should focus on that. We are not the arena to solve a Middle East conflict.”
Asked why Russia was banned from the contest after its invasion of Ukraine yet Israel was not banned, he says the two situations are “completely different”. “The Eurovision song contest is not a contest between governments, it’s a contest between public service media organisations in Europe.” Ultimately, he adds, “the EBU’s purpose is to support public service media”.
But at Möllevångstorget, a short walk away from Malmö’s planned Eurovision village, Yomn Kadoura, who is Palestinian, strongly disagrees. The square is at the heart of the diverse neighbourhood of Möllevången, where in February an estimated 10,000 people marched to protest at the war in Gaza. “It’s unacceptable,” says the 53-year-old, who moved to Malmö from Syria 10 years ago and is association secretary for Vänsterpartiet (the Left party) in the city. “Israel is not welcome in Malmö because of its war crimes against Palestine. Eurovision excluded Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. In the same way, Eurovision must exclude Israel because of the genocide of Palestinians.”
Accusing Eurovision organisers of “double standards”, she says her organisation, Stoppa Israel – För fred och ett fritt Palestina (Stop Israel – For peace and a free Palestine), plans to hold two big protests during Eurovision week. “We will not accept complicity with genocide in our city.”
Karin Karlsson, the city of Malmö’s managing director of Eurovision, says she welcomes peaceful protest against Israel’s participation and insists the city is “looking forward” to hosting the event amid happy memories of hosting 11 years ago.
Malmö police, who have been preparing a special operation for Eurovision for around six months, say they are expecting multiple protests during Eurovision week. “We know that things that happen around the world tend to have effects on Malmö,” says Nils Norling, spokesperson for the Eurovision police operation. “This is an international city with people from all over the world, so conflicts in other countries tend to lead to manifestations and protests here in Malmö.”
Sweden’s Psychological Defence Agency is also on alert, saying the event could be a target for disinformation. “The war between Israel and Hamas has made foreign Islamist groups, both violent and non-violent extremists, more aggressive and polarised,” says Dr Magnus Hjort, the agency’s director general.
“It’s reasonable to be prepared that some groups may try to spread rumours or propaganda connected to the Eurovision song contest.”
When it comes to what Eurovision fans can expect to see on their screens on the night of the final, the competition may not be interested in global geopolitics, but it is happy to focus on its own international rivalries. Ebba Adielsson, SVT’s Eurovision executive producer, says viewers will get “three fantastic shows” celebrating Sweden’s Eurovision dominance. “Sweden is a big Eurovision nation.”
The broadcasts, she says, will pay tribute to Abba’s jubilee, Loreen’s double win (as well as last year, she won in Baku in 2012) and Sweden’s total of seven Eurovision titles – rivalled only by Ireland, which also has seven.
But Adielsson is also convinced of the competition’s power to unite. “We have ticket buyers from more than 80 nations from around the world coming to Malmö for this event, so it really brings people together.”
