The Dutch Eurovision candidate was excluded by the competition organization during rehearsals for the final. An “incident” is mentioned without further details…
The 68th edition of Eurovision will be held at the Malmö Arena, Sweden this Saturday evening. But just 24 hours before the grand final of the competition, an incident involving Joost Klein, the representative of the Netherlands, drew attention to an event already disrupted by controversy for several weeks. The Dutch candidate, however, announced himself as a perfect entertainer before the competition, with a look and scenography that came out of nowhere. A deliberately zany and colorful artist, as only Eurovision shows us every year. Joost Klein entered the competition with “Europapa”, a completely crazy techno track, accompanied by lyrics singing the unity of Europe. Enough to leave an unforgettable memory for the jurors.
But Joost Klein will undoubtedly be remembered for other reasons, which go beyond his musical performances. The singer, aged 26, has been at the center of controversy since Eurovision organizers announced on Friday that he would no longer make an appearance “until further notice” due to an “incident ” the nature of which they did not specify. The facts allegedly occurred Friday afternoon, just after the parade of flags, a key moment before the opening of rehearsals for the final.
According to a source close to the production, Joost Klein was involved in an altercation which took place with a photographer or a camerawoman during this event. Swedish public television SVT also reported a physical confrontation between Joost Klein and a photographer on Friday afternoon. This incident led the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organizer of the competition, to exclude the singer from the final rehearsals, initially scheduled for 9 p.m.
Several European media also recall that the artist has publicly expressed his disagreement regarding Israel’s participation in the competition in recent weeks, due to the war in Gaza. When placed next to Eden Golan, the Israeli representative, during a press conference following the Eurovision semi-final on Thursday, he notably expressed his displeasure by covering his face with the flag Dutch. A gesture which did not fail to provoke reactions.
During the same conference, a tense exchange took place between Eden Golan and a Polish journalist regarding the security of the competition, exacerbated by protests and calls for boycott linked to the conflict in Gaza. When the organizers indicated that the artist did not have to answer these questions, Joost Klein, visibly agitated, then removed the flag from his face to challenge the room with a “Why not?”, prompting Eden Golan to respond .
The investigation into the incident has not yet clarified whether this behavior and verbal altercation are part of the reasons for Joost Klein’s temporary exclusion. However, in response to these events, the latter took drastic measures on social networks, ceasing to follow the Eurovision Instagram account and deleting all images of its semi-final, which had taken place the day before .
Until Friday evening, the EBU remained cautious in its statements, only confirming that an investigation was underway and promising updates in due course. The situation therefore remains unclear, with Joost Klein absent from key rehearsals, and a Eurovision community awaiting answers.