KAN, the Israeli broadcaster of the Eurovision Song Contest, has been accused of “breaking the rules of conduct” by Irish contestant Bambie Thug. The singer had filed a complaint against the comments made by KAN’s commentator, including telling viewers to “prepare your curses” and that Bambie’s performance was the “most scary” of the night. Thug alleges that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) “confirmed” that KAN had breached the rules, contradicting a statement made by EBU Director General Noel Curran.
Curran had said in an interview with SVT News that KAN had not breached any of the EBU’s rules regarding the competition and stood by the decision made by the governing member bodies. Thug had expressed frustration with this stance, stating that other contestants had also breached the rules but were still allowed to compete. “There’s definitely a war drum sounding in my heart to push the performance even more than I have done before”, said the Irish contestant in an interview with RTÉ.
Bambie Thug made headlines before the competition for being one of the first non-binary contestants on Eurovision. They spoke to NME about the importance of representation, and praised the fellow LGBTQ+ artists in the competition. A deleted TikTok also revealed that Thug had been forced to remove a pro-Palestinian message.
The controversy surrounding KAN’s commentary is the latest incident to mar this year’s Eurovision competition. The show had already faced backlash for taking place in Israel, with protesters calling for a boycott over the country’s treatment of Palestinians. Other contestants, including Iceland’s Daði og Gagnamagnið, had also faced criticism for alleged rule breaches
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