THE ORGANISERS OF the Eurovision Song Contest has said the host broadcaster of this year’s competition did not “censor sound from the arena audience”.
It comes amid claims that boos and jeers were edited out during the performance of Israel’s Edan Golan last night, or that fake crowd noise was played to drown out any negative reaction.
While loud boos could be heard within the arena, only loud cheers and applause could be heard on the TV broadcast.
Some audible booing in the arena during the Israeli performance. Some sections of the audience muted, other groups cheering in apparent attempts to drown out boos. Very divided crowd, odd atmosphere. pic.twitter.com/eZ4ePKMryK
— Daragh Brophy (@DaraghBroph) May 9, 2024
Golan made it through to the grand final, which will be held on Saturday night in Malmö, Sweden.
The Eurovision Song Contest is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
The EBU is essentially an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area.
Although Middle Eastern and North African countries who are part of the European Broadcasting Area have always been entitled to take part in the Eurovision, Israel were the first ones to do so.
This year’s contest is being held in Sweden and as a result, it is being produced by Sweden’s public broadcaster, SVT.
In a statement to The Journal, an EBU spokesperson said: “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 spokesperson said this is done “solely to achieve as balanced a sound mix as possible for the audience”.
They added: “SVT do not censor sound from the arena audience.
“The same principle applies to all competing performances and opening and interval acts.”
“The EBU and SVT encourage all audiences to attend in the spirit of the Contest, embracing its values of inclusivity, celebrating diversity and being United By Music.”
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