Eurovision 2025 viewers have accused the TV broadcast of “censoring” audience boos during Israel’s semi-final performance.
Singer Yuval Raphael performed her song New Day Will Rise” during Thursday night’s (15 May) semi-final, which aired in the UK on BBC One.
While a small number of boos could be heard in the broadcast, footage shared on social media – seemingly captured by attendees of the live event – suggests that there was loud booing throughout the performance that did not make it to broadcast. Some viewers have claimed that the boos were minimised or artificially drowned out during the TV broadcast.
“Eurovision adding crowd noise over Israel’s performance so viewers can’t hear the booing,” one viewer claimed on X/Twitter.
“Of course they filter out the booing , so typical,” wrote another, while someone else claimed: “The boos at Eurovision were so loud for that performance that they weren’t able to filter them all.”
The live feed for the BBC’s footage came via Eurovision organiser the EBU and its Swiss broadcaster, with the audio unchanged by the BBC besides the addition of live commentary.
The Independent has contacted the EBU for comment.
Israel’s involvement in the music competition has been a point of significant controversy this year, amid the ongoing violence in Palestine.
Palestinian health authorities state that more than 52,800 people, a large proportion of whom are women and children, have been killed in the Israel-Gaza conflict, which many human rights organisations have described as a genocide. Israel’s military offensive was launched after an attack by Hamas on 7 October 2023, which killed around 1,200 people at the Nova festival.
Raphael, a survivor of the October 7 attacks, told the BBC in advance of the performance that she was “expecting” to be booed. “But we are here to sing and I’m going to sing my heart out for everyone,” she added.
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Amid wider criticism of Israel, there had been calls to bar the country from competing at this year’s Eurovision, with over 70 former contestants signing an open letter calling for Israel, and Israel’s national broadcaster KAN, to be banned.
Earlier in the day, Raphael’s rehearsal performance had been disrupted by protestors.
In a statement, Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR confirmed that protesters had been ejected from the St Jakobshalle arena.
“During the dress rehearsal for the second semi-final of the ESC this afternoon, the performance of Israeli singer Yuval Raphael was disrupted”, a spokeswoman for SRG SSR said.
“Six people, including a family, disrupted the rehearsal with oversized flags and whistles. Security personnel were able to quickly identify those involved and escort them out of the hall.”
The Eurovision Grand Final will take place on Saturday 17 May, and will be shown on BBC One from 8pm.
