Eurovision suspends Joost Klein after physical altercation with photographer: Report
Dutch singer Joost Klein was prevented from taking part in the Friday afternoon rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest final. Swedish broadcaster SVT reported that Klein was involved in a physical altercation with a photographer. Sources told newspaper Aftonbladet that Klein was violent towards a woman working on the Eurovision television broadcast. It was not clear if Klein would be allowed to participate in the competition, including the Jury Show on Friday at 9 p.m., and the Grand Final on Saturday.
The Jury Show accounts for nearly half of all points in the overall result. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which runs the event, declined to update the situation prompting rumors about whether the Dutch entry in the contest was being punished by organizers. "We are currently investigating an incident that was reported to us involving the Dutch artist. He will not be rehearsing until further notice," the EBU wrote in a statement. Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS said it was waiting to hear from EBU, and declined to comment when asked by ANP.
Klein was at the location, and even took part in the opening portion of the dress rehearsal. Israeli-born Luxembourg contestant Tali Golergant performed fourth during Friday's rehearsal in Malmo, Sweden. Klein was supposed to take part after, but the EBU moved on to the next contestant, Israeli Eden Golan. As time went on, rumors began to circulate that Klein was blocked from taking part in the rehersal on Friday afternoon either because of a brief incident with Golan during the press conference after the Thursday semi-final, another momentary confrontation with her entourage on Friday, or an unrelated problem back stage.
The EBU has been criticized over Golan's participation, with protestors saying that it was an attempt to use culture to distract people from Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in extensive civilian casualties and vast destruction. A Polish journalist raised the issue during the press conference that immediately followed the semi-final, asking Golan, "Have you ever thought that by being here, you bring risk and danger for other participants and [the] public?"
The host of the media event, Swedish journalist Jovan Radomir, told Golan she did not have to answer the question. "Why not?" exclaimed Klein? He had a Dutch flag wrapped around his head at the moment, as Golan defended her participation in the competition and safety and security at the event.
But sources told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that Klein's Friday afternoon suspension was due to a different incident. Another video surfaced from Israeli television personality Dov Gil-Har, where he was accused of trying to pester Klein to provoke a response. He posted a video he shot of himself backstage, shouting, "Mr. Klein, where were you? We missed you on stage?"
Gil-Har is then blocked by someone from Klein's entourage, and was admonished by Appie Mussa, who has been working with Klein on "Europapa." Klein is never actually seen in the video, and it was not clear why.
The video was posted at 3:11 p.m., about the same time it emerged that the EBU had prevented Klein from rehearsing. Two days ago, another incident was linked to Golan's team.
Keren Peles, who co-wrote Golan's song, Hurricane, posted a video on her own social media accounts. The video zooms past a dancer's shoulder to capture a close up of Klein. At the bottom of the camera frame, the text states, "The Dutch representative does not like us, and asked that we not take his picture. I respected his wish, and took a photo of our lovely dancer."
