Eurovision contestants excluded from final due to police investigation

Joost Klein – who represents the Netherlands in this year’s edition of the competition – will not take part in the final because Swedish police are investigating a claim from a female member of the production team, the Eurovision team announced in a statement on Saturday.

While the European Broadcasting Union won’t say exactly what the allegations entail, it does mention that it occurred after Thursday night’s semi-final performance – and adds that it would be inappropriate for Klein to continue while the investigation is ongoing.

The news comes less than 24 hours after the EBU excluded Joost from the trial… a shock that sent social media into a frenzy.

There has been speculation online that the alleged incident may have involved Joost and another artist… but the EBU says that is simply not the case.

Klein was one of 26 artists who qualified for the finale, which took place in just a few hours… but the show continues with just 25 songs.

By the way… Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS released its own version of events, saying Klein’s repeated requests not to be filmed backstage were ignored, which allegedly led to a threatening move by Joost in front of the camera and the subsequent ban .