Dutch Eurovision contestant excluded from final after incident with crew member

hours before At the Eurovision Song Contest final, the Dutch singer was eliminated from the competition due to an incident backstage with a crew member.

The Netherlands’ Joost Klein had qualified for Saturday’s final after his performance of the song “Europapa” in Thursday’s semifinals, but was absent from Friday’s rehearsal, leading to speculation that he had been eliminated from the competition.

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On Saturday, Eurovision producer European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed that Klein had been banned from the competition after a female member of the production team reported to Swedish police that Klein had allegedly made “unlawful threats” after the semi-final at the Malmö Arena .

“Swedish police have investigated a complaint made by a female member of the production team following an incident following his (Klein’s) performance in the semi-finals on Thursday evening,” Eurovision Song Contest organizers said in a statement.

“While the legal process takes its course, it would not be appropriate for him to continue to compete. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate behavior at our event and are committed to maintaining a safe environment.”

A Swedish police spokesman told the BBC: “The police have taken all necessary investigative measures and interviewed the suspect, the complainant and the witnesses. The investigation has been completed by the police… and the case will now be referred to the public prosecutor’s office within a few weeks.”

Klein’s disqualification marks the first time in Eurovision Song Contest history that a contestant has been eliminated from the song contest during the week-long competition.

Dutch broadcaster Avrotros condemned Klein’s dismissal on social media, calling it a “disproportionate” response to the incident. “We have noted the disqualification by the EBU,” Avrotros wrote. “Avrotros finds the disqualification disproportionate and is shocked by the decision. We deeply regret this and will return to this later.”

Before Eurovision producers revealed the circumstances of Klein’s disqualification, there was speculation that his controversial press conference interaction with Eden Golan, the singer representing Israel at the competition, was to blame; Klein was among the more vocal competitors to question Israel’s divisive presence at the Eurovision Song Contest amid the Gaza conflict.

“We would like to clarify that, contrary to some media reports and speculation on social media, no other artist or delegation member was involved in this incident,” the EBU statement continued.

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