Eurovision cancels Olly Alexander's press conference after Dutch star banned from rehearsal
A press conference featuring the UK's Olly Alexander and other competing Eurovision Song Contest acts has been cancelled this evening, the European Broadcasting Union has confirmed.
Olly and the other acts, who were automatic qualifiers for Saturday’s live show, were due to speak to the media ahead of the Grand Final on Saturday, but following a last minute decision by the EBU, will no longer be doing so.
An email from the organisers read: “Please note that the big five and Sweden media conference originally scheduled for 18.30 (5.30pm BST) has been cancelled because all artists want to focus on rehearsals.” Italy, Spain, Germany and France are also in the big five.
It comes after the Netherlands' entry, Joost Klein, was told he was not allowed to rehearse as an investigation was launched into an ‘incident’ that is said to have taken place.
The performer, who qualified for the grand final earlier this week with his song Europapa, was “pulled” from rehearsing for tomorrow’s show “until further notice.”
In a statement to the PA news agency, the European Broadcasting Union who televise the show said: "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."
Although the incident in question has not been revealed, it is widely believed to be connected to a tense exchange during a press conference on Thursday, in which a journalist from Polish radio outlet Newsletter asked Israel’s entry Eden Golan: “Have you ever thought that by being here you bring risk and danger for other participants and public?”
Interjecting, Swedish presenter Jovan Radomir who was moderating the conference said that she did not have to answer the question, at which point Klein chimed in, saying: “Why not?”
In response to the query, Eden replied: “I think we’re all here for one reason, and one reason only, and the EBU is taking all safety precautions to make this a safe and united place for everyone, and so I think it’s safe for everyone and we wouldn’t be here (if not).”
Earlier in the conference, when Klein was asked if his song can unite people by music, the Dutch singer responded: "I think that’s a good question for the EBU.”
In addition, local media in Sweden also reported that he faced censure following another issue on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Olly Alexander himself has also faced a far from incident free week following an unfortunate malfunction during his semi-final performance on Tuesday. During his performance on stage, Olly sadly dropped his mic pack, which led to him struggling for the rest of the song to regain his composure.
This led to plenty of intense critiques from fans online, with many slamming everything from the staging to Olly’s own voice. Undeterred however, Olly has since hit back at his critics who had slammed his performance in a new social media post.
Olly explained: "Eurovision updates. Semi-final one was last night. I performed - it was ... it was good. I had a slight ... well, my mic pack fell out halfway through the performance so I had to catch it and ... just ... it kind of threw me off.
"There were elements of the routine I couldn't really do as well as I'd have liked. I was quite stressed that my pack was gonna fall off entirely and my in-eyes were gonna ... anyway, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. That is the thrill of live music, live television - anything can happen," he continued.
The star then added: "But the show was amazing. So many amazing contestants and they all did so well and it's so heartbreaking that anyone had to go home cause they worked so hard like ... the preparation, the months of rehearsal and everything that goes into it. So it was sad that anybody had to go but they did so well. Everyone was so good.”
They finally concluded: "I'm just quite tired, really. Tired in a deep emotional, and spiritual level. And today I'm just doing bits of press."
