One of the many controversies of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö (Sweden) was the disqualification of the Netherlands’ Joost Klein. Today it became known that the charges against Joost have been dropped by the Swedish prosecutor’s office.
Charges dropped
The charges against Dutch singer and 2024 Eurovision representative Joost Klein have been dropped, because of lack of substantial evidence. Joost Klein apparently made a gesture to a staff worker behind the scenes. Evidence could not prove whether Klein made this gesture in a violent or hostile manner, because all witnesses experienced the incident differently. The Swedish public prosecutor’s office concluded that Klein did make a gesture and somehow came near or touched the staff worker, but it could not conclude whether this instance led anxiety and fright for the staff worker or that Klein had premeditated malicious intends.
What happened?
After one of the rehearsals of the flag parade of the Grand Final, the Netherlands’ Joost Klein did not perform his entry, “Europapa”, on stage. Rumours started spreading about the reason why; the rumour mill worked overtime, because some stories talked about gestures Klein had possibly made, and others about real physical violence. On the day of the Grand Final it was announced that the EBU had disqualified Joost Klein because of their zero tolerance policy when it comes down to violence. The Dutch public broadcaster, AVROTROS, protested, but the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) did not budge, the Netherlands was not in the 2024 Grand Final, although ranking 2nd (of 16) in Semi-Final 2.
Aftermath
The AVROTROS, the Dutch national broadcaster, is evaluating the situation, but chances are quite high that the Dutch will not be participating in the 2025 contest in Switzerland, because they feel a need for change in the rules and regulations, but also the ethics of the EBU. The definitive decision for the Netherlands to either partake or not be present in the upcoming contest will be made in September this year.