THIS YEAR’S WINNER of the Eurovision song contest has said that he would like next year’s competition to go ahead in Austria “without Israel”. 

Johannes Pietsch, 24, from Austria, yesterday said in an interview with the Spanish outlet El Pais, that it is “very disappointing to see Israel still participating in the competition.” 

Pietsch, who narrowly beat out Israel’s entrant for the win, also called for “greater transparency” regarding the televoting element of the judging process, saying that this year “everything was very strange about it”, after Israel dominated the public vote. 

The Spanish Eurovision delegation has requested an audit of the televoting process, and the Belgian broadcaster VRT has threatened to pull out of the competition if the matter is not clarified by the EBU (European Broadcasting Union). 

Pietsch, who is queer, also said that he tried to “sneak” an LGBTQ+ flag onto the stage during the final for his performance of ‘Wasted Love’, but that the organisers “caught” him at the last minute. 

“We artists can only raise our voices,” Pietsch further said. 

Israel’s entry, ‘New Day Will Rise’, sung by Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the 7 October attacks, came second, but came first in audience voting. 

Ireland has joined in Spain’s call for a review of the Eurovision voting process, alongside Finland, and the Netherlands. 

There has been criticism of the fact that an audience member watching from home can cast up to 20 votes. 

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has also called for Israel to be banned from the Eurovision. 

Martin Green, the director of Eurovision, made a statement this week about the integrity of the voting system, calling it “the most advanced in the world”. 

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