Eurovision muted boos, ‘Free Palestine’ chants: The Intercept
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A recent audio analysis has raised concerns over censorship and double standards amid Gaza war protests.
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Pro-Palestine demonstrators gather for a protest against the participation of Israeli contestant Eden Golan ahead of the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, Saturday, May 11, 2024 (AP)
A detailed audio analysis conducted by The Intercept has confirmed that booing and shouts of “Free Palestine” were muted from the live Eurovision broadcast during Israeli singer Eden Golan’s performance on May 9, 2024. Despite repeated denials from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the evidence shows that key audience reactions were deliberately scrubbed from the version aired to viewers across the globe.
During Golan’s semifinal performance, which came amid intense global criticism over “Israel’s” ongoing genocide in Gaza, many watching live in the arena booed loudly and chanted in protest. However, viewers of the official Eurovision broadcast heard only applause and cheering.
Israeli contestant Eden Golan was booed during her Eurovision performance. pic.twitter.com/4JbUC1Uy59
— Sprinter Observer (@SprinterObserve) May 9, 2024
The Intercept’s analysis of isolated audience audio channels revealed “scattered boos well up on the audience feed,” while in the stereo broadcast mix, “there is no audience sound.” At one moment, an audience member loudly shouted “Free Palestine!”, a phrase absent from the televised version.
The EBU claims that no sound censorship occurred. “Just like in all major TV productions with an audience, SVT work on the broadcast sound to even out the levels for TV viewers,” the organization stated, adding, “SVT do not censor sound from the arena audience.” Nevertheless, The Intercept found that while clapping and cheers remained audible, boos and chants were systematically removed, raising new questions about Eurovision censorship.
'Israel' Eurovision controversy, public backlash
Golan later acknowledged the uncomfortable atmosphere during her performance. When shown rehearsal footage featuring heavy booing, she responded, “Well, that happened in every single performance. There were some days that were more extreme.” She added, “I remember not hearing myself, only hearing the boos and the screaming and the yelling.”
Her original song, October Rain, interpreted as a reference to the October 7 operation, was modified and renamed Hurricane to comply with Eurovision’s alleged neutrality rules. Still, calls to bar "Israel" from the competition persisted. Over 56,000 people signed a petition urging its exclusion, while 72 former Eurovision contestants and more than 1,000 Swedish artists demanded a boycott.
The EBU continues to describe Eurovision as a “non-political music event,” with Director General Noel Curran asserting, “It is not a contest between governments.” But critics point to Eurovision's double standards. In 2022, Russia was banned over its military operation in Ukraine. Yet in 2024, despite mounting global outrage over “Israel’s” assault on Gaza, it was allowed to compete.
The broadcast was produced by Sweden’s SVT, which mixed the final stereo audio used in the satellite feed distributed to participating countries. While some broadcasters have access to raw audio channels, including separate feeds for performers, crowd reactions, and commentary, most rely on the pre-packaged version.
Free Palestine chants erased from broadcast
The censorship concerns extended into the 2025 contest, where Israeli singer Yuval Raphael anticipated more protests. “She said she trained with disruptive crowd noise in the background.” While some official reports claimed the show went “relatively without a hitch,” social media footage again suggested booing, yet no trace of it was present in the official broadcast.
These findings have renewed concerns that Eurovision, despite its public stance on neutrality, may be shaping its audio narrative to suppress politically sensitive dissent, particularly during international condemnation and ongoing protests against the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
