Israeli Eurovision Song Contest contender Yuval Raphael faced a failed stage invasion during her performance at the Grand Final on Saturday night.
Swiss broadcaster SSR, which hosts the telecast of the Eurovision competition, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that a crew member was hit with paint after a man and a woman attempted to get over the barrier around the stage at the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel, Switzerland.
“At the end of the Israeli performance, a man and a woman tried to get over a barrier onto the stage. They were stopped. One of the two agitators threw paint and a crew member was hit. The crew member is fine and nobody was injured. The man and the woman were taken out of the venue and handed over to the police,” the Swiss broadcaster said in a statement.
For the second year running, the Eurovision contest was overshadowed by protests over the European Broadcasting Union’s decision to allow Raphael to participate, despite calls for her exclusion and pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protests taking place outside the arena.
Raphael, a survivor of the Nova festival massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, did a solo performance around and up and down a giant chandelier-like staircase on stage. Presenting the BBC One’s coverage in the UK, Graham Norton lit up social media sites after insisting at the end of Raphael’s performance: “I’m not sure what you can hear at home. Slightly mixed reception here in the hall.”
None of the disruption around the failed stage invasion could be seen on the live feed for the 2025 Eurovision Grand Final, as Raphael concluded her performance to applause from the arena audience.
An earlier dress rehearsal for Raphael ahead of the second semi-final on Thursday was also disrupted as six people appeared with flags and whistles. “Security personnel were able to quickly identify those involved and escort them out of the hall,” host broadcaster SRG said in an earlier statement.
