Dutch Eurovision singer eliminated from final as behind-the-scenes ‘incident’ revealed

Dutch contestant Joost Klein has been officially banned from the Eurovision singing competition as police investigate a behind-the-scenes incident involving him. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed Klein’s exclusion on Saturday, just hours before the singer was due to take the stage for the finale, saying local police were investigating a “complaint from a female member of the production team” and that Klein was suspended during the ongoing investigation Competition was excluded. The day before, Klein had missed two important dress rehearsals after being abruptly removed from the line-up in what the EBU called an “incident”, leading to speculation about what was going on behind the scenes. Dutch broadcaster Avrotros revealed that Klein had made a “threatening” movement on Thursday when he realized he was being filmed without his consent, but that he had not touched the camerawoman or the equipment. Avrotros described the disqualification as “very serious and disproportionate.” The Eurovision Song Contest has excluded countries from the competition in some cases – such as Russia in 2022, when it invaded Ukraine – but it has never excluded anyone so late in the game.