Israel's Eurovision star booed but struggles through to final despite abuse

Israel's singer Eden Golan has made it through to the Eurovision Song Contest finals.

There has been controversy surrounding Israel's inclusion in the singing competition and on Thursday, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Malmo in a bid to remove Golan from the semi-finals.

During last night's semi-final, Eden found herself through to the competition's final. However, there seemingly was the sound of boos from the audience as she made it through, alongside nine other countries. Armenia, Austria, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland all made it through whilst Albania, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Malta and San Marino all missed out on a final place, with the finalists now revealed after the first semi-final earlier this week.

READ MORE - Belgian TV broadcaster interrupts Eurovision semi-final coverage with pro-Palestine message

Meanwhile, Eurovision fans believe Rylan Clark 'snubbed' Israel's Eden. Whilst he interviewed a number of contestants while posing as a bell boy in the hotel lift, Eden reportedly did not have that opportunity. In the footage of Eden's interview, a voice can be heard asking the singer questions as she stepped into the elevator alone.

Eden Golan performing Hurricane for Israel
(Image: JESSICA GOW/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Giving their theories, one fan wrote: "Not @Rylan refusing to do Eden Golan’s elevator interview. We Stan this." Rylan has defended the Contest amid the protests. He told Good Morning Britain: "Malmö is doing an amazing job of hosting. It’s a song contest, it’s all about the music and that’s what we’re here for," whilst co-host Scott Mills added: "It does feel a little different, but it’s about the music and the joy that we have every single year at Eurovision."

Greta Thunberg was at the Contest yesterday, where she joined pro-Palestine protests against Israel's Eurovision entry. At the demonstrations in Malmo, Rory Flynn, 27, from Kildare and a member of the Eurovision Irish fan club, expressed his concerns to PA news agency about Israel's participation overshadowing the event. He stated: "We feel that it's important to make our voices heard in the competition in the arena. Others are doing a full boycott and full respect to people who are doing a full boycott but we think it's important that our voices are heard in the arena and around Malmo."