Dutch Eurovision star Joost Klein is being investigated by police over the incident

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The fate of the Dutch Eurovision entrant hangs in the balance after the Dutch representative failed to perform in the jury final on Friday evening.

Eurovoix News reports that artist Joost Klein is under investigation for an incident that occurred off stage, during which he was prevented from performing on Friday. Klein was not disqualified and a video of his performance from Thursday night’s semifinal was used instead.

The European Broadcasting Union released a statement saying:

“The investigation into the incident involving the Dutch artist at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest is ongoing. Discussions are also taking place between the EBU and AVROTROS, the Dutch participating broadcaster.

“While the investigation is ongoing, the EBU has decided that Joost Klein will not appear at dress rehearsal 2 of the competition, which will be voted on by juries in the 37 participating countries.

“Instead, his performance from Semi-Final 2 will be used.”

Eurovoix News reports that Klein’s absence on Friday came at the last minute, as the stage team was already preparing the production for dress rehearsal ahead of the jury finale, until they were told to move on to the next act instead.

Klein, whose song “Europapa” has become one of the surprise hits of the competition, is being investigated after a physical altercation between him and a photographer, Swedish broadcaster SVT announced. The police are currently investigating the matter. The EBU hopes this will be completed quickly so that a decision can be made regarding Klein’s participation in today’s Grand Final.

This is an additional challenge for a competition already mired in controversy over Israel’s participation. While Israeli entrant Eden Golan made it through Thursday’s semi-finals and is now the second favorite to win the competition, protests outside the venue reportedly attracted 12,000 people demonstrating against Israel’s participation in the multinational event.