News

Finnish music professionals call for Eurovision boycott

Some 1,500 musicians and industry professionals signed the open letter calling on the Finnish public to avoid this week's Eurovision Song Contest (ESC).

Photo shows a pro-Palestine protest in the Swedish city of Malmö.
A pro-Palestine protest was held in the Swedish city of Malmö at the weekend. Image: Berislav Jurišić / Yle
  • Yle News

More than 1,500 music industry professionals in Finland have called on the Finnish public to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), due to be held in the Swedish city of Malmö this week.

The call was made in an open letter, addressed to the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle, which was published on Monday.

As the Finnish public broadcaster, Yle is a partner of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises ESC every year.

The signatories of the letter said they were calling for people to boycott this year's event due to Israel's participation.

A similar petition in January, signed by 1,400 music professionals, demanded that Yle pressure the EBU to ban Israel from this year's song contest or to boycott the competition outright.

Windows95man, the act chosen to represent Finland at this year's contest, publicly stated their opposition to Israel's participation in the competition and considered withdrawing, but ultimately decided to perform.