Eurovision 2024 to be reviewed by an independent expert

The 2024 Eurovision Song Contest will be reviewed by an "independent expert" following a year plagued by controversy.

This year's song competition saw the disqualification of the Netherlands's contestant Joost Klein over an incident where he was alleged to have made verbal threats to a female production worker.

There was also controversy over the participation of Israel in the wake of the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza, with several commentators citing a double standard over Russia's exclusion after the invasion of Ukraine 2 years previously.

Complaints were also made about the conduct of the Israeli delegation by Ireland's Bambie Thug who said that the Israeli broadcaster broke rules by  inciting "violence".

The Macroom artist said they have been waiting to hear back from the European Broadcasting Union about what action would be taken.

Other participants accused the Israeli delegation of filming them and posting clips online without their permission.

The national broadcaster for Israel later claimed its delegation faced "an unprecedented display of hatred" from other countries and their entrants during the competition.

On the day of the final, Klein was disqualified from the contest over an alleged run-in with a female member of the production crew, who made a complaint to Swedish police. Dutch organisers The Netherlands Songfestival said Klein had "repeatedly indicated" he did not want to be filmed and that he "did not touch the camera woman".

Dutch broadcaster Avrotros called Klein's disqualification "disproportionate".

In a statement on social media, the company said it was "shocked by the decision" and would "come back to this later".

Confirming a review will take place, the organiser of Eurovision told the Press Association news agency in a statement: "The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) seeks to continuously improve its services and events.

"To further strengthen the Eurovision Song Contest, we have asked an independent expert to look at ESC 2024 in Malmö to share insights and learnings with the EBU's governing bodies to support the continuous improvement of this global event."

The review comes after competition, the EBU said it would be reviewing the contest after some delegations "didn't respect the spirit of the rules".

During the week-long contest, pro-Palestinian protesters showed their support for Gaza and condemned Israel taking part in Eurovision, while Golan's performances throughout the week were met with boos, which had been edited with the sound of cheers over in the television broadcast.

Lithuania's entrant Silvester Belt, meanwhile, said he regretted taking part in the competition's final: "Going after that country, with the crowd being so intense, was one of the worst things I had to go through," he wrote on social media, referring to the fact that his performance followed Israel's.

"I really did the best that I could in this situation," he added, calling the contest a "traumatic experience" and adding: "[I] wish it all ended after the first semi."

Speaking on how the EBU handled complaints, Bambie Thug said: "Fuck the EBU",  saying that organisers had not responded to multiple complaints in the run-up to the final.

"We still haven’t got a statement back to us," they said, adding that the EBU had "allowed us to be scapegoats, allowed us to be the spokesperson for standing up for ourselves.”