THE EUROPEAN BROADCASTING UNION (EBU) has said that four audience members were removed from the arena at the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna. 

It comes after chants of ‘stop the genocide’ could be heard as Israel’s contestant, Noam Bettan, took to the stage. 

Bettan performed at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle amid heightened security and controversy as five nations, including Ireland, boycott the event over Israel’s participation.

They were among the ten countries to qualify for the grand final of the song contest last night. 

Before the semi-finals began, Austrian host broadcaster ORF confirmed it would not ban use of the Palestinian flag within the venue or censor booing from the crowd.

It followed criticism from fans that both booing and cheering were muted in the audio mix during last year’s contest in Basel. 

In a statement to The Journal, the EBU and the ORF said an audience of 10,000 fans “greeted every artist enthusiastically” last night.

“As previously announced, ORF is broadcasting a clean audio feed live from audience microphones before and during every performer’s song,” the statement read.

“One audience member, close to a microphone, loudly expressed their views as the Israeli artist began his performance, and during the song, which was heard live on broadcast. They were later removed by security for continuing to disturb the audience.”

The broadcasters confirmed that three other people “were also removed from the arena by security for disruptive behaviour”. 

Many Israeli flags were waved by the audience during the live broadcast of Bettan’s performance. A Palestine flag was also visible.

Eurovision executive producer Michael Kroen previously said: “We will not sugarcoat anything or avoid showing what is happening, because our task is to show things as they are.” 

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The ‘stop the genocide’ chants can’t be heard in the video of Bettan’s performance that has been uploaded on the Eurovision’s YouTube channel. 

Bettan said this week that he had been preparing for Eurovision by having his team boo him during rehearsals.

A small demonstration was held in Vienna against Israel’s participation in the contest last night – one of several scheduled for the week.

Fifteen more acts will compete in the second semi-final tomorrow, with 10 going through. The grand final will be held on Saturday.