MALMO, Sweden –
Eden Golan is in Sweden for the Eurovision Song Contest, but she doesn’t see much of the country.
The 20-year-old Israeli singer is surrounded by security as she travels between the hotel and the contest venue in the city of Malmo. According to Israel’s public broadcaster, she practiced singing while being booed to prepare for her performance at the pan-continental song contest.
The Golan has become a hotbed of protests by pro-Palestinian demonstrators who want Israel expelled from Eurovision over the war with Hamas, which has killed nearly 35,000 people in Gaza. The war began with Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israel in October, in which the militant group killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 250 hostage.
A crowd estimated by police at more than 10,000 marched through the southern Swedish city Thursday chanting “Free Palestine” and “Israel is a terrorist state.” The posters accused Eurovision of being complicit in genocide and called for a boycott of the competition.
Another protest march is planned for Saturday, hours before Golan competes in the live Eurovision final against artists from 25 other countries.
Israel is allowed to compete in Eurovision, even though it is not in Europe, because its national broadcaster belongs to the European Broadcasting Union, whose membership extends beyond the continent.
Golan has remained largely out of sight in Malmo, apart from rehearsals and performances at the Malmo Arena. While other artists took to the stage for fans at a Eurovision park in the city, Golan did not.
She was one of 10 artists who made it through to Thursday’s semi-final, which was decided by votes from Eurovision viewers around the world. Golan has been greeted with some boos, as well as applause, from the spectators in the arena. Bookmakers say she is likely to finish in the top half of the final competition, decided by a combination of public votes and national music industry juries.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Golan for his performance despite “facing an ugly wave of anti-Semitism.”
“So be blessed and know that when they boo you, we will cheer you on,” he said.
Golan’s song is a power ballad titled “Hurricane,” but that was not its original name. The song was initially called “October Rain”, an apparent reference to the October 7 Hamas attack. That violated contest rules that prohibited “political” content.
The retitled song contains less specific lyrics about going through a difficult time and states that “love will never die.”
Born in Israel to parents from the former Soviet Union, Golan spent much of her childhood in Russia and performed on televised talent shows there before returning to Israel. She cites Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Whitney Houston and Justin Timberlake among her inspirations.
He has avoided direct political statements, but said it was “a great honor to represent my country, especially in these times.”
Speaking after the semi-final, Golan said she was “overwhelmed with emotions”.
“I’m so excited to get on stage once again and share a little bit of my love with everyone,” she said.