Scandal! Organizers strictly banned this, but then flag of so-called Kosovo showed up during Switzerland song
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has announced that during Eurovision 2025, only flags of participating countries can be displayed.
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The ban on others includes symbols of the LGBTQ+ community, the Palestinian flag, and even the EU flag.
The Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS reported about this decision, as did the NL Times. Competitors and spectators are allowed to show only the flags of the countries that have their representatives in the competition.
However, a moment from the first semi-final of Eurovision last night attracted attention. It happened as Swiss representative Zoë Më performed her song, "Voyage".
While the last notes of the song were heard, TV cameras switched to the audience, where one young man was waving - the flag of so-called Kosovo.
Considering that Kosovo is not part of this year's competition, the flag should not have been allowed, and the video quickly appeared on social networks. Soon, X users started sharing it, commenting that the rules were clearly being applied selectively.
And while the EBU insists that Eurovision is not a political stage, many wonder how it is possible for one flag to "slip" past strict censorship, while others are being systematically banned.
The first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest was held last night, with Croatia failing to qualify and the bookmakers' odds changing.
Namely, now, instead of the 37 countries that were on the list, 32 are left after the elimination of 5 countries in the first semi-final.
According to them, Serbia and our representative Princ od Vranja ("Prince of Vranje") is the 26th most likely to win, which does not seem very promising.
Princ od Vranja will perform in the second semi-final, that will be held on Thursday, March 15, starting at 9 pm.
According to bookmakers, Sweden is still the favorite, followed by Austria, France, Israel, and the Netherlands.
Norway, Albania, Sweden, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland, San Marino, Estonia, Portugal, and Ukraine qualified from the first semi-final.
Those who failed to do the same are Slovenia, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Croatia, and Cyprus.
(Telegraf.rs)