[ad_1]
Eldad Koblenz, CEO of Kan, Israel's public broadcaster, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who repeatedly threatened to shut down the company, met for the first time last week, mainly because Koblenz was chosen for the first time. lead. Jon Ola Sand, Executive Supervisor of the European Broadcasting Union, who heads the Eurovision Song Contest, chaired the tense meeting, to which the two interlocutors spoke little.
As confirmed by the Israeli singer Netta Barzilai during her last victory in Lisbon, Eurovision has a power much higher than one could imagine. Indeed, Netanyahu gave up its plan to separate Kan's press company from the rest of society once it understood that such a move would jeopardize Israel's chances of organizing the 64th annual event, scheduled from May 14 to 18. In addition, he suggested that the Minister of Culture, Miri Regev, come back on his statements about the fact that the contest was held only in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu and his ministers were also unhappy that Sand's UER demanded a written statement that Israel would not refuse entry to any tourist arriving for the competition for political reasons. The Israelis insisted they would not sign any such document, but the Prime Minister did exactly that. In May, he will smile until the Song Festival at the Expo Tel Aviv Convention Center.
Sand, a 56-year-old Norwegian, is aware of Netanyahu's opposition to the Koblenz company and understands that he is in a minefield, but managed to maintain as professional and friendly a atmosphere as possible at their meeting . After all, his job is to serve as an envoy to a competition dedicated to the systematic abstention from everything related to politics.
"There was a lot of noise during the first weeks [after this year’s competition, in May] and all kinds of people have tried to intervene, but that's quite natural, "he told Haaretz," It's not new for politicians to make all kinds of statements. said it would be in Tel Aviv, everyone accepted it. "
People remained silent because you threatened that if they continued to intervene, they would prevent the detention of Eurovision in Israel.
Sand: "We can not allow the contest to be politicized, we've been very clear about it, it seems everyone now understands that Tel Aviv was a good choice, and Jerusalem has already organized the two-party event. times and in Tel Aviv, which has proven various cultural events, it will be much easier to deal with the issue of Shabbat.
"Even politicians understand that if they try to politicize Eurovision, it will not look good, the best way to introduce Israel to the world will be to do it without political intervention and without manipulation. when it will happen. "
Can you make sure that there will be no political speech in Eurovision?
"Definitely yes."
Sand noted that all the countries hosting Eurovision in recent years have had to sign similar documents regarding the admission of guests from abroad.
"It's the same letter. He goes to Sweden. It's going to Denmark. He goes to Germany, Portugal, Ukraine. We have it every year. And the reason is that if we do not do it every year, it will be like, "Why are you doing it? [only] this year? It's just as important to us that it's in place wherever we are because it's the framework of the Eurovision Song Contest, "he said.
"The letter does not only deal with this, but it also provides the security guarantees we need, which also means that the competition can travel to Europe and we need to be able to move it to any territory. and that's why we have to have a framework set up. "
Soldiers of love
Last month, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the authorities to admit the American student Lara Alqasem to the country, after the state held her for more than two weeks at the law school. Ben Gurion International Airport, claiming that she was a boycott, divestment and sanctions activist. Sand is aware that a BDS fan of Eurovision may want to see the competition in Tel Aviv, but says it is too early to determine the policy.
"I'm not ready for this discussion now because it's a subject we need to address," he says. "It's not about me, what I would think. It is more about the dialogue we will have from now on and with the government. It's also about seeing the overall security situation and how that could be managed. "
Asked that his union would oppose the participation of BDS activists in Eurovision, he said: "We do not want the Eurovision Song Contest to be used politically . So, if you are an activist and you come because you use Eurovision to promote your value or your point of view, we do not see it as positive. So we would like everyone to come here to focus on the event itself. "
A few days after Netta's victory in the contest, an article was published in The Guardian. Even though Eurovision is still trying not to be political, the fact that Eurovision is hosted in Israel makes it politic from the beginning. How are you going to cope? Because we have already seen protests in Ireland and Iceland.
"I can not do anything about perception – what people think about the Eurovision Song Contest in Israel – it's a fact that we'll be in Israel." And it's a fact that the three TV series and everything we do around TV shows here will be non-political, that's what we can back up. "
"I can not tell the Irish what they should think, but as an organization, we promised the participating broadcasters to keep the broadcasts free of any politics, and I do not see any boycott movement at the moment, [among any] of our members, and we must remember that there are no participating countries: there are broadcasters, and none of these broadcasters have told us anything about the boycott. Nobody."
In Ireland, a broadcaster told his employees that if anyone did not want to go to Israel to benefit from Eurovision, he would allow it.
"It's good too, if there are people who do not want to go to a certain country. [When the 2005 contest was held] in Ukraine, there were people and broadcasters who were afraid to go because of the war situation. Of course, you do not force your staff to go. So, it's OK. It's totally different from the boycott. "
"I do not understand the pink-wash. You can think of it as a gay TV program, but that's not the case, "he insists. "We have a few thousand gay followers, but about 200 million viewers. This scope is so wide. It affects many young viewers and old viewers. We do not focus specifically on a gay audience. Our population is so large, so widespread [out]. "
Love shines a light
"Some countries, like the Nordic countries, have a very high royalty, so they are financed only by royalty, without commercial revenue or advertising. [It’s] not at all allowed to receive government support for programs. It's forbidden, "he says, adding that host cities often donate funds, but they can not be used for the broadcast itself, but only for the venue and certain events surrounding the contest.
While the climate in Europe tends nowadays to more nationalism and extremism, from Brexit to Hungary, Sand states that he fears no threat to the concept of Eurovision, which considers Europe as a continent whose countries work together.
"I do not think so [that trend is] a threat to Eurovision, "he says. "I think Eurovision is more important than ever … I do not feel that the song contest will not stay strong in all this. Again, I see no sign that this puts pressure on Eurovision. I do not see it now and I think that Eurovision may be more necessary than ever to show what we can do together and for the unity of Europe. "
We note that Turkey, which withdrew from the competition in 2013, no longer demonstrates unity and is no longer united. Sand does not see this country, which won Eurovision in 2003 and is coming back soon: "I see no sign of that. We are all sorry that the Turkish broadcaster is no longer involved. They brought a huge audience, they brought a flavor to the song contest. They have always been well prepared, always good deeds, very strong artists. "
Some participating countries like Belarus are actually dictatorships. Do not you care about the internal democratic processes of countries participating in Eurovision?
"The Eurovision Song Contest is [held] among the member broadcasters – not the states of Europe. It is the broadcaster in Belarus that participates. We know this broadcaster and we cooperate with it. As a general rule, if you are a member of the EBU, you must meet certain standards as a broadcaster. We also think that it is really good that in some countries the broadcaster may be under pressure and being a member of the EBU can help it.
"We have excellent relations with the broadcaster in Belarus, and I see how important this event is to the broadcaster, and as such, I think we support the public service sector in Belarus."
You know that the Israeli prime minister said that he would close Kan.
"We followed that very closely. This is what we do. We help our member broadcasters stay strong. "
My impossible dream
One of the problems encountered when it comes to accommodation in Tel Aviv is the lack of hotel rooms and other accommodations. Prices are already skyrocketing. Sand says her radio and television syndicate is working to ensure the hosting of participating delegations and journalists participating in the contest. The problem, he admits, is that the problem could cause Tel Aviv to look bad.
"What we can do is secure enough hotel rooms for delegations, as well as unforeseen events. [involving] the press, and for some VIPs. We have managed to do it, so we will have no problem, but the price structure is a real problem. And we could even see that delegations will have to live elsewhere than outside Tel Aviv.
"It will be a problem of reputation for Tel Aviv, because everyone will talk to his broadcaster who will tell the news at night.It will be a problem of reputation.I hope Tel-Aviv can see it, but I do not know if it can fix it.
The competition will take place at the Exhibition Center, with a capacity of less than 10,000 places. Some observers expect many arrivals to be outside the lobby. So what will tourists do if there are too many fans?
"First of all, we sell nine shows because you can see the general rehearsals. There will be three shows each day. "
About Netta, do you think that the message of his song, "Toy", was really important for his victory or was it more of a performance issue?
"I always said that you have to have everything. The public must understand the message one way or another, because if they do not feel it, [if it doesn’t] touch them, they make fun of it. It can only be spectacular. He must also convey a message, and I think Netta had a very good message, but she had a fantastic performance and she created a fantastic "wow". And you need that moment, where viewers and judges say "wow".
Do you think the # MeToo movement was important?
"I do not think people are [so] badytic about it when they vote. They do not say, "Oh, it's a #MeToo song." But the underlying message was there, and I think that's what was captured. It's really something that has touched them. "
Last question: if you could choose to dine with one of the winners of Eurovision, who would it be?
"Well, since I dined with Björn Ulvaeus (from ABBA) and I met Johnny Logan several times, I met Alexander Ryback several times. Mans Zelmerlow, I know it very well. I regret not having had the chance to have dinner with Lys Assia, the first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest. She attended all the song competitions. She won in 1956. She died last year. It was a great lady, a real lady. By winning the first song contest, she became an icon. I regret that I never had the chance to do so because it could have been really interesting. "
[ad_2]
Source link
