When it comes to the winner’s announcement, we attended a nerve-wracking voting sequence which finally crowned The Netherlands as its winner. During the revelation of the votes, an act of political content by the Icelandic entrants Hatari, was enough to stir the EBU’s quick reaction…

Hatari were shown to be holding Palestinian banners in the Green Room, an act which obviously had a political dimension and certainly conflicts with the rules of the competition. The EBU immediately issued a statement on the incident, where it was also suggested that sanctions could be imposed on the Icelandic delegation.

In the live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final, Hatari, the Icelandic act, briefly displayed small Palestinian banners whilst sat in the Green Room. The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and this directly contradicts the contest’s rules. The banners were quickly removed and the consequences of this action will be discussed by the Reference Group (the contest’s executive board) after the contest.

With their song Hatrið mun sigra (Hate will prevail), Hatari placed 10th among the 26 participants of the Grand Final tonight: