After months of preparations, dramas, upheavals and protests, the Eurovision Song Contest reached its climax Saturday night, as 25 countries took the stage one after another at the arena in Malmö, Sweden, vying for the Eurovision 2024 trophy.
The final is being broadcast live, with Israel's representative Eden Golan performing as contestant number 6 out of the 25 competing nations during the festive evening.
The 26th country, the Netherlands, was unexpectedly disqualified from the competition when its representative, Joost Klein, was investigated for an "violent incident."
At the conclusion of her performance of Hurricane, Eden Golan stepped off the stage in tears, exclaiming, "Wow. I can't believe it's over."
Eden Golan driven to tears after Eurovision final performance
The final is hosted by Petra Mede, the legendary Eurovision host, and actress and model Malin Akerman. The event kicked off with the traditional flag parade, during which Israel's Eden Golan faced jeers from the audience upon taking the stage.
"Host Country Syndrome" is a well-known phenomenon at Eurovision, where countries often neglect their entries due to the massive energy invested in producing the contest, comforted by the rule that automatically advances them to the final.
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The hope of an entire nation: fans following Eden's performance back home in Tel Aviv
(Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)
Nevertheless, as a major Eurovision powerhouse, Sweden did not completely neglect the competitive scene, sending the identical twins Marcus & Martinus (M&M) with the song Unforgettable, which takes us back several decades to the era of dance-pop and synthesizers.