Eurovision Rigged? Norwegian Juror Admits Voting Against Jewish Singer over Anti-Israel Bias

A Norwegian juror for the Eurovision Song Contest has admitted to breaking the rules of the competition surrounding political bias to vote against Israel’s Eden Golan during the final round on Saturday evening, sparking questions as to whether anti-Israel motivations prevented the 20-year-old Jewish singer from winning the contest.

Daniel Owen, 24, a pop singer from Olso, Norway, who was selected as one of the Nordic nation’s music industry Eurovision jurors by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), admitted in an Instagram video post on Sunday that his opinions on the conflict in Gaza prevented him from casting a vote for Israel’s Eden Golan on Saturday, despite being told by organisers that politics should not be involved in the decision-making process.

While the Norwegian delegation allocated eight points to Israel, Owen said he was not involved in the decision and apologised on behalf of his fellow jurors after receiving a “flood of messages and comments” criticising the move.

“Each jury member votes individually without the possibility of discussing how many points to allocate to each country to avoid mutual influence and ensure fair judgment,” he explained.

Owen said that before the broadcast on Saturday, he and other jurors were given instructions, which stated that jurors “must not favour or discriminate against any participant based on nationality, gender, suitability, political views, or any other reason other than the song and performance.

“Do not let political views affect how you evaluate a song and/or an artist,” the instructions emphasised.

However, Owen admitted that his judgement was not objective and was influenced by his views on Israel, admitting that “given the current situation, it was impossible for me to overlook this,” adding: “What is happening in Palestine is heartbreaking and I cannot in any way support Israel’s actions.

“In my opinion, Israel should not have been allowed to participate in Eurovision at all,” he added.

“Although I was not involved in the allocation of points to Israel, I still want to apologize for this being shown from the Norwegian jury… My heart, all my support goes out to Palestine, Free Palestine!” Owen concluded.

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Despite backlash from fellow performers, such as Ireland’s blood magic-practicing non-binary singer Bambie Thug, and thousands of anti-Israel protesters taking to the streets of the Eurovision host city of Malmö, Sweden in opposition to Israel’s inclusion in the song contest, the voting public largely backed 20-year-old Jewish singer Eden Golan.

Golan, who was forced to attend the contest under heavy security, largely being confined to her hotel room during the proceedings, received 323 votes from the television audience, the second most of any performer, only trailing behind Croatia’s contestant, who received 337.

Golan came out on top in the popular vote in 14 of the 37 eligible countries as well as the “rest of the world” vote comprised of countries that were not eligible for this year’s contest.

Yet, the public support for the Russian-Israeli singer was not matched by the international jury vote, which only awarded the “Hurricane” singer 52 points, meaning that Golan would ultimately finish in fifth place.

The open admission of political bias against Israel from a Eurovision juror has led some to suggest that the Jewish singer could have won the contest, rather than Switzerland’s “non-binary” rapper Nemo.

In response to Owen’s admission, Eli Kowaz, a policy advisor at Israel Policy Forum, wrote: “If anyone had any doubts, the antisemitic motives that prevented Eden Golan from winning Eurovision last night are becoming more and more clear.”

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