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By James Bickerton
News Reporter
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Joost Klein, a singer who was due to represent the Netherlands in Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest final has been removed from the competition by its organizers.
In a statement, the European Broadcast Union (EBU), which organizes Eurovision, said the decision was made following "a complaint made by a female member of the production crew," which means it "would not be appropriate" for Klein to participate. The incident, which reportedly took place on Thursday, is currently being investigated by the Swedish police.
Context
The 68th Eurovision Song Contest takes place on Saturday in the Swedish city of Malmo after an artist from Sweden won the 2023 Eurovision final, which took place in Liverpool, United Kingdom.
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Some 26 countries had been due to compete in the final, though this falls to 25 after Klein was expelled. To reach the final, a country has to either pass through one of the semi-finals, which took place on Tuesday or Thursday, or be one of the five countries that qualify automatically due to their financial support for the competition (Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain).
The 2024 Eurovision final has already attracted controversy due to the participation of Israel, which qualified during the second semi-final on Thursday, in the context of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. One Finnish singer issued an apology after dancing with Israeli entrant Eden Golan, who is now the favorite to win, according to some bookies.
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What We Know
In its statement on Saturday, the EBU wrote: "The Dutch artist Joost Klein will not be competing in the Grand Final of this year's Eurovision Song Contest.
"Swedish police have investigated a complaint made by a female member of the production crew after an incident following his performance in Thursday night's Semi Final. While the legal process takes its course, it would not be appropriate for him to continue in the Contest."
The EBU added that the incident "did not involve any other performer or delegation member."
The EBU continued in its statement: "We maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behaviour at our event and are committed to providing a safe and secure working environment for all staff at the Contest. In light of this, Joost Klein's behaviour towards a team member is deemed in breach of Contest rules."
Newsweek contacted Klein and Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS, which managed the country's entry to Eurovision, for comment by email.
Views
In a statement posted to Instagram AVROTROS wrote on Saturday: "We have taken note of the disqualification by the EBU. AVROTROS finds the disqualification disproportionate and is shocked by the decision. We deeply regret this and will come back to this later."
The decision to remove Klein from the competition sparked an intense reaction on X, formerly Twitter.
Dutch television presenter user Cornald Maas wrote: "Joost Klein disqualified. Disproportionate and disgraceful decision EBU. Long live the future of Eurovision - not. With this EBU anything can happen in future."
Berlin-based journalist Nicholas Potter wrote: "Joost Klein is disqualified after a female production staff member made a complaint being investigated by police, involving "inappropriate behaviour". everyone is still somehow blaming Israel. and defending Joost without even knowing what exactly he did. #eurovision2024 in a nutshell."
What's Next?
The Eurovision Song Contest final gets underway at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday. It will be broadcast by Peacock in the United States.
The winner is decided by a mixture of public voting and professional juries from countries affiliated with the EBU. The U.S. is not an EBU affiliate so its residents can't vote in the competition.
Update, 9:21 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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