After consideration, Finnish broadcaster Ale has confirmed that Windows95Man will represent Finland at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest.
The artist won the Finnish national final UMK with the song “No Rules!” but had not yet confirmed whether he would participate in the contest.
Two performers, Windows95Man’s own Teemu Keisteri and featured vocalist Henri Piispanen, said they were considering whether to participate in Eurovision due to Israel’s continued involvement. Thiem and Henri said they were opposed to Israel participating in this year’s Eurovision.
However, in a statement released today, Artists and Ale said: “We do not believe that staying home can have an impact on this issue.” Thiem and Henry also said they would put pressure on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) over Israel’s participation.
The full statement reads as follows:
“We believe that the only correct decision for the EBU is to exclude Israel from the competition. However, we do not believe that withdrawing ourselves will have an impact. Instead, we will collectively We have begun discussions with other delegates on how to leverage our influence and use our position to put pressure on EBU decision-makers. Decisions are difficult. But now the decision has been made. Thank you to everyone for your support. We will now focus on the music and building the show.”
After the UMK victory, Teemu Keisteri said this in an interview with a Finnish newspaper. Helsingin Sanomat He wasn’t entirely sure whether he would go to Eurovision or not. As a result, broadcaster Ale gave both Thiem and Henry a few days to think about their decision.
Israel’s participation in the next Eurovision Song Contest remains controversial due to the ongoing conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. More than 1,500 Finnish musicians have signed a petition calling on Eire to pressure the EBU to exclude Israel from the competition.
The broadcaster said it respected the EBU’s ability to evaluate other TV companies taking part in the competition. Ville Vilén, head of creative content and media at Yle, said:
“Eire has decided to respect the EBU’s judgment on the television companies participating in the competition. We understand that there are different legitimate points of view on this issue.” We have informed the EBU about the discussions and the Finnish representative’s views on the situation. We hope that the situation in the Middle East will be resolved as soon as possible.”
With this confirmation, Windows95Man will represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden. He will appear in the second half of the first semi-final match.
The act will strive to be even better than Karliyah’s performance for Liverpool last year. Despite winning the public vote, Kaliya came in second place with her song “Cha Cha Cha.”
Image source: Miikka Varila / Yle | Source: Yle
Finland first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961, debuting alongside Spain and Yugoslavia. Finland finished last in this contest 10 times and received “invalid points” three times. Finland won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006. Rhodey represented his country in Athens, scoring a then-record total of 292 points with the song “Hard Rock Hallelujah.” Most recently, Käärijä took her second place with the song “Cha Cha Cha”.
