The climax of Slimane’s Eurovision performance comes when he steps back from the mic and sings “Mon Amour” a cappella. But during today’s dress rehearsal, he decided to fill the silence with another message: one calling for peace.
Rather than singing his romantic ballad, he spoke the following words.
“Everybody! I just need to say something. Sorry I don’t speak English very well but when I was a child I dreamed about music, I dreamed about this dream, to be a singer and to sing peace here. Every artist here want to sing about love and sing about peace. We need to be united by music YES but with LOVE for peace. United by music yes but with love for peace. Thank you so much, thank you Europe.”
At the time of writing, the EBU has not released a statement saying whether France will be sanctioned under its rules barring political messages.
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On Friday he had a voice crack, that lost him jury points.
Anyone wanting the EBU to cancel all future Eurovision Song Contest editions will not get their way, even if Israel wins tonight, which I highly doubt because of the excess booing. To be frank, the EBU should put a ban on booing particular entrants, especially Eden.
How can you ban booing?
My votes goes for Slimane, the most beautiful song and sincere artist. Good luck Slimane <3
Thank you Slimane for your amazing words! He stood for basic human values, that some people seem to have forgotten about. It’s not about being on someone’s side – it’s not a football match! It’s about supporitng human rights. What kind of people we are if we pretend not to see suffering of the others? And living in the conflict-free world is one of the most important human rights!
If Russia was banned, why didn’t EBU do the same to Israel and Azerbaijan? It was obvious at the outset that these countries are exploiting Eurovision.
Banning Israel would be the same as banning Ukraine. Do some people have a brain ?
I’m pretty sure is not Israel the one being invaded.
After Eurovision, Slimane, take some time to visit some French colonies (for instance in the American continent – yes, France still possesses colonies in the 21st century), try to observe people’s working conditions, and maybe you’ll get the inspiration for something more original than “I love you / I don’t know why (…) Do you remember our first meeting?” (even the old days’ ding dongs were deeper) and for even better speeches.
France has no colonies anymore. There are overseas territories, like Hawaï for the US, Saint Martin for The Netherlands, or Gibraltar for UK. Oh, and what are Canary Islands for Spain? learn your lessons, honey.
Canary Island Is a region from Spain like is Cataluña ,Basque región, etc,you must learn you lessons ,darling
So are French overseas territories, dear. Don’t talk without knowing. That’s not with hating other countries that your one will be better.
France has no longer had a colonial empire since the beginning of the 20th century. The territories concerned, when they wished to remain linked to France, became overseas departments (same status as mainland departments) or overseas territories (adapted status, when they wished to remain independent on certain points). The overseas territories are regularly the pride of France: the launch base of the Ariane rocket is located in Guyana, New Caledonia hosted the Pacific Games in 2011, the surfing events of the 2024 Olympic Games will take place in Polynesia. And over the years we have had a number of our… Read more »
Israel (not Jews), you are not the good guys here. Have not been for a while. Stop pretending. Stop playing the victims. Your state and the politics of oppression towards Arab Palestinians for many decades were the cause of October 7th. Enough playing dumb and spreading your rhetoric everywhere.
Your right wing government is used to leverage propagandistic tools to fool its population. And the want Eurovision to amplify that.
Europeans and Eurofans must act to stop this. Eurovision was created to fight what manipulation brings to nations. Division and death.
So for you barbarie is justifyed . Shame. Plus Thats not the facts . Go look the facts
Tonight Eurovision will break its record of audience for good or bad reasons, mark my words!
People are always trying to controversy
Including the EBU with their decision about Joost today!
Its now pointless if the EBU tries anything…the situation became out of control of them
P.s: there were rumours that other countries are withdrawing
P.s2: martin osterdahl, please, resign -;-
“At the time of writing, the EBU has not released a statement saying whether France will be sanctioned under its rules barring political messages. ”
@ William: You are just trying to create controversy here. There is nothing political about Slimane’s message. You obviously missed its point.
Typical @William Adams and wiwi which are significant part of all the mess that is happening now
Omg this mess is becoming out of control!
Slimane I stand with you!
You know something’s wrong down there at Gaz4 when some singer call for peace and Israel receives that message as a personal attack.
That being said, I don’t know if he’d repeat this at GF, cause that’s the best part of his song. Anyway, great action Slimane.
The best part of his song is his entire song period.
The “settle for Croatia” campaign is weird. Telling people to vote for Croatia because it’s not Israel, whilst nobody in the Croatian delegation has opposed Israel’s participation doesn’t work for me.
They are in deep silence probably they think they need votes no matter where they come from.
Or because Marko is simply a decent person with a strong entry and doesn’t need to rely on sympathy votes from antisemites.
That’s an interesting point actually
Yes, maybe Marko is Pro Israeli, we don’t know since we did not get a comment. Shady strategy
Have you heard of the term NEUTRAL? Maybe he just doesn’t want to take sides in this fight that seems to be going on.
He can be neutral and that’s fine, but he can’t also be the anti-war candidate that the “settle for Croatia” fans are pushing for.
What should BL do? Withdraw? I believe all artists think the same about situation. They all know what’s up. Tonight will be disaster, prepare for that
Just to say his opinion he don’t need to withdraw. He can participate even if he support Israel. But voters has to know
Why would they have to know? It’s a song contest, ffs. Stop ruining it with your Palestine obsession, you’ve already done enough damage.
Well if we’re being told to vote for Croatia “because it’s not Israel” then it does matter.
Otherwise, outside of this it absolutely doesn’t matter to me.
He should compete. And he has the right to be neutral, but he should not simultaneously be presented as the Anti-Israel/anti-war candidate.
imo Croatian delegation saw most of the favorites united in a same position, so they decided to strategically shut up.
Israeli 12 pts have only one direction now.
I think this doesn’t necessarily reflect their opinion.
I find it weak and cowardly and it’s unfortunate.
Better the speech than the poor lyrics of his song. And maybe the speech brings him some more points, who knows?
Asking for curiosity, why Ukraninan entrants do not share anything about current Conflict in Palestine or express any support for Netherlands’ entrant?
Seems that they are only busy and focused on the Ukraninan Conflict :/
So smart. You are calling conflict a War… like your whataboutism. Just curious, but what is your opinion?
I too am disappointed with the lack of reciprocation from Ukraine
Why ? Israel is like Ukraine fighting against an agressor.
Croatia also is very silent that is pathetic. We need to know his position. I heard rumors he is pro-israelian
Where did you hear this?
In Croatian media some time ago
He is ultra liberal so probably not.
And he is the favourite so he stay silent to not risk things
I saw Jerry liking some tweets on X regarding the current ESC situation (something about Marina being iconic for her reaction during the press conference and some more I don’t recall)
But does half russian Israeli artist has a statement about Ukraine?
Not sure about them personally, but Ukrainians are generally very positive about Israel since they’re both going through the same struggle. But then there are Eden’s Russia connections which may swing it the other way.
Slimane has shot up my ranking as well. After what has happened to Joost, I hope everyone can see how the veneer of this competition is crumbling. The most important thing that anyone can do is to be authentic and true and I hope we see artists doing what feels right for them.
I think that was one of the points (let’s be kind) he was aiming at. He didn’t make any statement of this kind before. He didn’t Say anything yesterday evening, but he DID f-up the performance that mattered most (jury points were going to be the bulk of his result).
Now, he might country on eurofans support points.
A “love love peace peace” doesn’t cost much.
I love his song and I’m French, but it unfortunately feels a bit easy and calculated (Why now and not before, since it’s not about Joost but the other ongoing issue).
“count on”
Gåte and Norway has just cancelled their schedule press conference! So proud of your stance, Slimane!
It’s time to cancel tonight. This has now gone too far.
Totally agree! Our party was cancelled earlier today!
Nope. The season 68 finale just started a couple hours ago, and the EBU will rule out cancelling future editions.
So far all the leading entrants have made a stand, except for one who is hiding.
What a surprise……
I’m so looking forward to him doing the exact same thing tonight. A perfect middle finger to the organisation.
And of course not a single word to the israeli hosta ges.
Yawn
These artists need to get off their high horses. I don’t even care what “side” you support or advocate for but they are there to show some professionalism and represent their countries with respect through music. if you want to speak about things do that in your own time on your own platforms, including a hidden message or stopping during your song is actually *not* going to help the situation, all it’s going to do is add shock value so I guess they’re only actually doing it to get more attention.
I think displaying basic humanity and calling for an end to violence is quite professional actually.
Shame you don’t agree with a less violent world. What a pity.
Iwas thinking always that to wish love and place was exclusivity from miss universe,Slimane is not very original really if he want points tonight,
At the same time, he’s been criticized for 24 hours for not having responded to a journalist who asked him about Israel (or rather: because he looked at his head of delegation, who told him not to respond and he obeyed). I think it must have hurt him, but Slimane is for peace. He is Muslim, and he wrote “Mon amour'” with two Jews, Yaacov and Meir Salah. He has friends of all faiths, he knows what’s going on but he knows how to differentiate between innocent people and those who are not innocent and run countries.
You can feel something is up for tonight… what will it be?
Will it be now that EBu excludes Israel for saftety reasons, or just to be able to go on with the show?
50 years ago Abba won the contest with a song about a war. This year the contest itself turned into a warzone. It will be so akward to see perelli carola perform the Abba war-somg tonight. Slimane did a good thing callimg for peace. To call for peace is not an action againdt Israel, it takes two to create this peace.
He didn’t even mention them… He just said peace and love
Vey true.
Wow, I hope France will do the same to *those* African countries ??
The dude is of north African descent – he’s talking to France as well don’t you worry
France, Ireland, Switzerland and Greece have my televote. Action takes guts. Those that are silent and hoping to come away unscathed don’t deserve to win.
Agreed
Agreed
Why Greece? What did the Greek entrant do?
Greece also didn’t rehearse, along with Switzerland and Ireland…That’s what I’ve heard. I’m happy to be corrected.
No, they just didn’t took part of the flag parade.
The Greek contestant pretended to fall asleep and acted bored during the press conference when Eden was sleeping- not sure why this person considers bullying a fellow singer a heroic thing.
agreed too.
Croatia has been very silent about it. But it doesn’t matter at this point since Israel is gonna win at this point with their power in everything.
Bla bla bla just go to p country then next year pls ban israel and ukraine. They destroyed whole contest with politics
Ukraine has done nothing aside from being attacked – should we punish them for this? I’ve never heard instances of Ukrainian journalists being disrespectful to other countries’ artists, plus they have never been the agressor nor deliberately killed Russian civilians. Your comment is super unsensitive.
It has nothing to do with punishment. Ukraine shouldn’t be sending out political songs every year. It was clear that they would win 2022 (they deserved it) but even this year “vote for us, we will donate the award to for the school, the power of Ukrainian women”. I won’t even get into how they idolize Mother Terasa in their songs. It’s all EBU’s fault, they shouldn’t tolerate any country sending political songs, Israel did the same this year and it will get a higher score than it deserves from the public.
Ukraine’s Political win in 2022?
France, Ireland, Switzerland, Greece are all taking a stand today. Others like Finland have also been vocal. Other entrants choose to stay quiet on the matter – for fear of losing? Or perhaps they are in agreement.
While I applaud those who take a stance 100% and I have also made my stance pretty clear here, I never expect that in advance from anyone. Let’s not forget that these artists have signed contracts and maybe they are afraid to speak out because of what their broadcaster can do to them.
Nevertheless once again kudos to everyone who has been vocal about the issue.
Fear is not an excuse – sorry
Saw also some reaction from Italian delegation; saw it on video from Instagram
Yes. Only Marko is keeping quiet. It’s left me feeling meh
Maybe they are there for the music. Some people/artists are very strange…
I hope he does this in the final. What a statement that would be.
That is an agression again Israel,France must be disqualificate
Sure, disqualify everyone, take Martin with you to israel and don’t come back
He makes no mention of Israel
He broke the rules. He must be DQ. Why would you get silent if not for a political reason.
Omg for real
You must be very fragile… And paranoid.
To call for peace is an action against Israel? You mean Israel is calling for war? I don’t get you point, honestly.
Are you dumb, stupid or dumb?
He said the word peace… do you know this word? How did he aggresed you?
Yes, it´s all agression against you. We´re really sorry. I think we can all agree that it would be best if you simply don´t participate anymore at Eurovison. Good riddance
LOL,,agression?
I am living for this! EBU, if these aren’t the consequences of your actions!!!
Bravo Slimane for speaking out!
There were also problems with Ireland’s, Greece’s and Switzerland’s dress rehearsals. Tonight’s gonna be interesting.
Allez Slimane!!
Well done sir! Massive respect.
Agree with below. Hurricane is only my 2nd favourite, but since the loony left are so determined to politicise it and take it to the extreme maybe we do need to counter and vote Israel just to stand up to the bullies and hate filled ham a s supporters in the community
Israel is a cancer
Do you feel bullied? He said lets be united in peace beside music… did you call his act a bullying act?
Oui!! Un grand OUI and un grand merci, Slimane!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKCMblacRa8
Well done Slimane
On the Thursday night I was afraid of Israel winning. I voted for the song myself, but the Italian result got me a bit worried – while I want Eden to do well, it’s not a winning material and I wouldn’t want her to win on sympathy votes. Ideally I wanted to see somewhere between 3rd and 5th place. But you know what, I’m changing my mind. This is getting too much. We need to stand up against bullies, antisemites and victim blaiming. And since we’re at Eurovision, we should also stand up against people who keep bringing politics into… Read more »
Who is gonna go to your cesspool of a so called country? Maybe 5 countries tops. The contest would be cancelled in a heartbeat.
Keep dreaming. Yes, I expect two or three countries leave if Israel wins, but most would still participate. Especially if Israel wins thanks to the televote, which would be a clear sign there is a public support.
Your embassies all over Europe are trying to recruit voters as we speak.
It won’t be public support. IF there is any.
You can start doing that by yourself by not voting as a protest but fova song you actually like. I voted for Israel in the semi because I liked the song but because of all the drama I came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t vote for them again. But now I read your comment I realise how wrong that is. We should vote for the songs we like, not because of tactics or politics or the like.
I’m voting for a song I like. As I said, I already voted for her in the semifinal. I’m just more supportive of the idea of Eden winning as I want a normal Eurovision back without all this drama. And besides, standing up against bullying is simply the right thing to do.
I have the opposite opinion. I hoped Israel made it to the final and I also hope she gets a great result in the final, because the song is good. However, I do not want Israel to win tonight, as I want the competition to be here next year as well. If she wins tonight it will only be for political reasons and I don’t want this contest to be overtly political. I have nothing against Eden. I think her song is great, but we can’t let Israel win tonight. And no, I don’t want Israel to be excluded from… Read more »
Respectfully, I think what we’re seeing this year is Eurovision being ruined. If nothing happens, the same thing is gonna happen over and over again. Having Israel win would be a great way to change that. Show these people that their political statements are not welcome at Eurovision – and perhaps give the overly agitated ones a reason to just walk away altogether.
I get your point, but tbh I think it will make it worse if Israel will be the host next year. We should wait some years and then it’s not a “trend” anymore to hate and buh at Israel in Eurovision. Last year everyone loved them even tho the conflict has been going on for years
What a man! What integrity!
Love love peace peace is literally the official song from the last time Sweeden host. If Slimane is punished for saying it so should be Petra
You cannot change the lyrics during the performance. That’s not fair to the other contestants.
Then everyone could change their songs, but only by including peace in them. This is a challenge for your country too!
The climax hasn’t been reached yet?
I said it 4 years ago and I’ll say it again – martin österdahl will be end of eurovision
What substances are you taking
He will take Xanax after this evening
Tonight is going to be a hell! Shame on EBU
Israel will win and he can’t do anything about it. I hope Nemo could still make it, but I highly doubt it. Israel will landslide televote.
Don’t be ridiculous. If such a thing happens, it will be the end of Eurovision. There is absolutely no justification for their win. The song is very average and the sentiment in Europe towards Israel is not great right now.
The sentiment in the East and West is not the same.
Well, actually the sentiment is pretty okay – and as Nadiia said, it varies by regions. I was unsure until the semifinal but when I saw the reaction in the arena (I was at the live show, I’ve heard it was worse at rehearsals), it was clear that most people are tired of politics being dragged into Eurovision and support Eden. I feel like general public is like that too – you have few loud people screaming nonsense about g-cide, and then a majority that either doesn’t care, or outright stands with Israel. If you want to claim “the end… Read more »
How many entries will be left tonight, if Slimane is disqualifued, I imagine a bunch will follow him.
Are love and peace political words now?
No but there’s also context. This line of an argument is on the level of a four years old child.