Olly Alexander and other entries have had their Eurovision interview cancelled so they can have extra rehearsal time.
Alexander, 33, and other acts were scheduled to speak to media on Friday afternoon, but they pulled out of the chat.
The Dizzy singer is in Malmo, Sweden, awaiting tomorrow’s Eurovision 2024 final.
The latest developments comes amid a flurry of chaos in this year’s competition, with Netherlands entry Joost Klein banned from rehearsals earlier today.
It’s unknown whether to 26-year-old has lost his place in tomorrow’s final after the EBU said in a statement: “We are currently investigating an incident that was reported to us involving the Dutch artist. He will not be rehearsing until further notice.
“We have no further comment at this time and will update in due course.”
The Eurovision interview was cancelled
BBC
The Swedish city has also been flooded with pro-Palestine protesters, including Greta Thunberg.
According to the Daily Mail, an email from organisers on the show read: “Please note that the big five and Sweden media conference originally scheduled for 18.30 (local time) has been cancelled because all artists want to focus on rehearsals.”
The rest of the big five include Italy, Germany, France and Spain who, along with the UK, go straight to the Eurovision final each year as they contribute the most financially to the competition.
This year’s event seems to have been hit with chaos, with Israel’s involvement sparking demonstrations, acts being pulled from rehearsals and interviews cancelled.
UK entry Olly is gearing up for tomorrow’s Eurovision final
Eurovision
Ahead of Thursday’s semi-final show, Israel’s entrant Eden Golan was advised to stay in her hotel room as thousands of protesters descended on Malmo.
During the show, many viewers expressed their outrage on social media, with some tuning out while Golan sang.
Some admitted they “switched off” for the performance and others have since said they’d be boycotting the main show because Golan was voted through to the final.
One furious fan added: “Boycott. Eurovision. I hope I don’t see a single retweet of anything about the coverage over the next few days unless it’s to condemn them for ‘politically’ throwing Palestine to the curb.”
Netherlands act Joost Klein was pulled from rehearsals on Friday
Eurovision
Netherlands act Klein also sparked some outrage because his song Europapa has been slammed for being “political”.
The song portrays in Dutch a message about moving freely throughout the continent and states the world has no borders.
This has caused some to argue the act breaches Eurovision’s rules.
