First Fairplay Pledge at Eurovision Song Contest 2025
At the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, participants, like athletes at the Olympic Oath, are to commit to fair behaviour, Bakel Walden, the chairman of the Eurovision Song Contest Supervisory Board, told dpa. The final of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest will be held on May 17 at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel.
Eurovision Song Contest to Continue with Fair Play Pledge
Negative behaviour will not be tolerated, with warnings or access restrictions for violations. "There are areas where freedom of speech has limits, especially when it affects other people," says Walden, drawing another comparison to the Olympic Games: The ESC is neutral. If participants displayed their convictions, "some on one side, others on the other side, then the ESC will simply not work in three to five years," he said.
Party Atmosphere at Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö Dampened
The mood at the ESC in Malmö was marred by demonstrations against Israel's participation. There were also hostilities and jibes from the circle of participants against the Israeli interpreter. Walden cites too much politicisation as a mistake. "There were a lot of statements on stage or symbols and signs. This somewhat fuelled the situation." In Basel, in addition to the commitment to fair play, there will be a code of conduct that the organiser, the European Broadcasting Union EBU, has now published in Geneva. Everyone who wants to participate must agree to this, including artists, delegation members and journalists. There will also be retreat zones for singers where filming is not allowed, and there will be fewer public rehearsals, said Walden.
Eurovision Song Contest: Private Channels on Social Media in Focus
Another innovation is a booklet with due diligence obligations for the delegations, for example with regard to the social media appearances of the artists. "Have a look at what the person has done in the past? Maybe some tweets from five or ten years ago have not aged well." This should be discussed beforehand in order to have answers in case of queries. As for the warnings: There is no "ESC police" sitting in front of surveillance cameras, as Walden says. "We don't claim to be able to control everything to the last detail. Of course, we don't turn a blind eye. If there are things, and we become aware of them, then we react to them."
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.