SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Time for Eurovision. This year's contest takes place in Switzerland. It wraps up tonight with a grand finale in Basel. It is the world's largest song competition and includes contestants representing 37 countries in Europe and elsewhere, including Israel. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv that the war in Gaza once again figures into the music contest.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Israel's Eurovision song this year is called "New Day Will Rise."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NEW DAY WILL RISE")
YUVAL RAPHAEL: (Singing) New day will rise. Life will go on. Everyone cries. Don't cry alone. Darkness will fade.
ESTRIN: It reflects many Israelis desire for hope.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NEW DAY WILL RISE")
RAPHAEL: (Singing) But we will stay, even if you say goodbye.
ESTRIN: The singer sings from personal experience. She addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council this January.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RAPHAEL: Mr. President, my name is Yuval Raphael, and I'm a 24-year-old survivor of October 7 massacre.
ESTRIN: Raphael was at the Nova Music Festival when Hamas invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023. It was the single deadliest Hamas attack that day, killing 378 people at the festival. Raphael ran with about 50 other people into a small shelter. She survived by playing dead under bodies as gunmen kept coming back and opening fire, she told the U.N. council.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RAPHAEL: Only I and 10 others were saved from our 4-square-meter shelter, a shelter that had become the tomb for almost 40 souls seeking refuge with us. The physical injuries I sustained are healing, but the mental scars will stay with me forever.
ESTRIN: Now she's at the center of a backlash over Israel's ongoing war in Gaza. Scores of past contestants and some European public broadcasters have called for Israel to be kicked out. Raphael is still in, but the European Broadcast Union that runs the contest agreed to discuss Israel's future participation. The charity Oxfam is running this ad in Belgium. It begins Israel has a voice in the song contest. The Palestinian people do not.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: I speak up for Palestine.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I speak up for Palestine.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: I speak up for Palestine.
ESTRIN: This year, audiences are allowed to hold flags from noncompeting territories, like the Palestinian flag, but organizers are insisting on neutrality, banning those flags on stage. This isn't the first year Israel is facing a hostile environment around Eurovision. Last year's contestant was protected by Israeli intelligence agents, and she wore a blonde wig as a disguise during the week of the contest. She was booed heavily during her performance. Delegation director Yoav Tzafir says he's prepped this year's contestant, Raphael.
YOAV TZAFIR: I gave her a boo recording, and she started driving her car with singing the song and playing the boo. So she is practicing for two months - I'm not joking - to sing with booing because if she practice it, it won't bother her.
ESTRIN: This year's contest is in Switzerland, and William Lee Adams, founder of a popular Eurovision blog, says despite the tensions over the Gaza war, he thinks the atmosphere this year is calmer than last year.
WILLIAM LEE ADAMS: Switzerland is famously neutral. And on the ground, you do find that people are very willing to discuss political situations but in a civil manner. My hope is that she is not booed because not only is that uncomfortable for her, but for the other contestants, as well.
ESTRIN: Despite the controversy, her song is popular. Betting websites predicting the winner now rank Israel's contestant in the top 10.
Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
(SOUNDBITE OF PONCHO SANCHEZ AND TERENCE BLANCHARD'S "SIBONEY") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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