Broadcaster AvroTros said on Tuesday it is not planning to take further action about the disqualification of the Dutch entry during this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, even though the Swedish prosecutor has dropped charges against Joost Klein.
“We can’t reverse what has already happened,” a spokesman said, adding that legal action would not be helpful or be responsible.
“Today I have closed the investigation because I cannot prove that the act was capable of causing serious fear or that the man had any such intention”, says senior prosecutor Fredrik Jönsson.
The Grand Final of the #Eurovision Song Contest 2025 will officially take place in Basel on Saturday 17 May, with Semi-Finals on Tues 13 May and Thurs 15 May
The EBU handled the Joost situation really badly but on the flipside if he had competed and won and then subsequently been charged and then found guilty they’d have probably had a much bigger problem to deal with.
The Eurovision Song Contest returns to SBS in 2025! The world’s largest live music event is a serious cultural force and a whole lot of fun, celebrating music and artistry from across the globe. This year’s event reached over 163 million viewers across the globe live from Malmö, Sweden, after Loreen’s historic 2023 win in Liverpool, UK. In 2024, Switzerland’s Nemo took out the title with their song The Code.
Australia has participated in the contest since 2015, creating a legacy of sending truly unique artists to share their talents on the biggest platform in the world. Who will represent Australia in Basel, Switzerland 2025?
I guess - we will probably keep appearing if SBS keep coughing up money to participate (IIRC at one point Sony also helped fund Australia’s participation, though I’m not sure if that deal is still a thing).
Not necessarily. Last year we were one of the last countries confirmed to participate. We initially joined the competition with a guarantee until 2023, so last year there were a lot of questions around whether we would continue or not. They probably struck a deal for another 2-3 years.
I can only hope that SBS put more effort into their selection this year and don’t just stick to the small pool of artists that didn’t qualify on Australia Decides (like they have the last couple of years).
Considering the amount of countries that are boycotting and dropping out. I don’t think the EBU will be in a place to not invite Australia any time soon.
Which countries are boycotting? I literally can’t think of a single one. The only countries not participating are Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Romania for financial reasons and Hungary and Turkey who haven’t been at Eurovision for a while now due to political reasons.
I would say Russia being banned would have been the biggest blow to the EBUs finances, so in that respect I get them wanting to keep us around.
2016 runner-up Dami Im, and Cyprus’ 2024 representative (and youngest 2024 entrant at 17 years old), Sydney’s Silia Kapsis, are joining the tour this month.
