It would have been close if Norwegian band Gåte had not performed during the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest. In an interview with “Aftenposten”, guitarist Magnus Bormark said that he and his band members were on the verge of canceling their shows, but after a crisis meeting with the EBU decided to continue.
“We thought about stopping the Eurovision Song Contest until the last minute,” he says. “We eventually had a constructive conversation with the EBU and things were good enough to move forward with everything.”
According to Magnus, the artists were forced to take on a political role in which they signaled Israel’s participation. “Without wanting it, we were given the responsibility of carrying out a very complex conflict. You should not try something like that. As an artist, you should not have a crisis meeting with the EBU.” The band also received a lot of criticism from the “Palestinian side.”
Magnus felt like they were being used in a propaganda machine. “It appears that the rules that apply to Israel are different from those that apply to us.” Finally, he is dissatisfied with the enormous amount of security that Israel provides behind the scenes. “This doesn’t look peaceful at all.”
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Norway decided at the last minute to continue, but unfortunately Jost Klein didn’t have that option.
