Joost Klein and the EBU, the organization behind the Eurovision Song Contest, are not friends. This became apparent again after Joost came up with the idea of having an episode of South Park based on this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
South Park x Eurovision
Last week Joost Klein posted a message on his Instagram Story. In it he asked his partner to propose a South Park episode about the Eurovision Song Contest of 2024. This message came after Joost had already spoken out several times about his disqualification during this year’s event by the European Broadcasting Union, or the EBU.
South Park is of course a show that is somewhat crude and relies mainly on satire about current topics and famous people. The fact that Joost comes up with the idea of making an episode about this year’s Eurovision Song Contest is anything but a compliment to the organization.
Joost Klein vs. the EBU
Since the disqualification of Joost Klein by the EBU, there has been tension between the artist and the organization. In August, the case against Joost was dismissed by the Swedish authorities. According to the Swedish Public Prosecution Service, it could not be proven that Joost had actually made threatening movements towards the camerawoman who continued to film him against his wishes. According to the camerawoman, Joost’s actions caused fear because she did not know whether he actually had such intentions. The incident caused Joost to be disqualified and so he was not allowed to participate in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest with his song ‘Europapa’.
Despite the decision of the Swedish Public Prosecution Service, the EBU continues to support the disqualification of Joost Klein. Due to the incident and its aftermath, broadcaster AVROTROS still has doubts about the participation of the Netherlands in the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest. In order to make the choice, the EBU has granted AVROTROS a postponement. The broadcaster now has until November 1 to make a choice. Nothing is yet known about who could represent our country. We do know that Joost himself has expressed that he would like to try again on the Eurovision stage. In addition, singer Anouk has shown interest in participating in the song festival again. Anouk previously participated in 2013 with the song ‘Birds’.
The Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Switzerland in 2025 after Swiss artist Nemo won with the song ‘The Code’. The city in which the event will be organized is Basel.
