Eden Golan, who represents Israel in the Eurovision songfestival 2024, took the stage for tonight's semi-finals to loud cheers from the crowd.
This is very different from last night's jury show, which saw boos from the crowd flow through the Malmö arena and Palestinian flags flutter above heads.
Tonight, 16 countries performed in Sweden in the hope of having a chance at the final of the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday.
Malta, Albania, GreeceSwitzerland, Czech Republic, France, Austria, Denmark, Armenia, Latvia, Spain, San Marino, Georgia, Belgium, Estonia and Italy all took to the stage before controversial Israeli newcomer Golan performed her song Hurricane.
But when she took the stage, there was nothing but cheering.
This semi-final comes after last night's Eurovision Song Contest Jury Show, where the semi-finalists performed in front of a jury to determine the outcome in case the public vote failed during the final.
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It was a starkly contrasting scene on the TV screen tonight to Golan's performance yesterday, with videos on social media last night showing protests in the crowd during her performance, given Israel's continued attacks on Palestinians in Gaza.
Fans took to social media this evening to suspect that 'fake cheers' had been inserted into the stream of tonight's performance.
“Not the fake clapping at the beginning, they turned all the boos into cheers with audio tracks,” @Kamilkoala said on X.
“Real fake cheers,” @kraljeva_vuna agreed, while @Thememechild1 wrote, “You can immediately notice the fake clapping and cheering when she started, Jesus Christ man.”
Earlier in the evening Rylan – who previously defended the Eurovision Song Contest amid the backlash over Israel's involvement – missed his iconic elevator interview with Golan, while some on social media suspected this was a political statement from the TV presenter. Rylan himself has not confirmed this.
Golan was forced to do so change the lyrics of her songoriginally titled October Rain, for violating European broadcasting rules by referencing the October 7 Hamas attack.
Now the song is called Hurricane – but that did little to dampen the outrage over the fact that Israel was allowed to act despite the rising death toll in Gaza at its hands.
Days ago, news broke that a ceasefire could be possible, prompting many in Gaza to celebrate in the streets – but not long after Israel launched a major attack on Rafah, a vital gateway into Egypt for humanitarian aid and those in Gaza trying to flee war.
More than 35,000 people – most of them civilians – have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel launched military operations in response to the October 7 Hamas massacre that killed more than 1,000 people in Israel.
Meanwhile, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) issued a message “regretting” that the opening act made a political statement about the war.
Those who attended last night's jury show posted videos on social media showing the Israeli contestant being met with boos and protests as she took the stage.
One
Another user claimed that a security guard threatened to kick them out for chanting and expressing their protest during Golan's performance.
This is despite this being clearly stated on the Eurovision Song Contest website that peaceful protest is allowed during the event.
The site states: 'The EBU strongly supports freedom of expression and the right of people to express their deeply held views and opinions. We understand that people may want to make their voices heard and support the right of those who wish to demonstrate peacefully.”
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