The controversy surrounding Eurovision continues to grow. The European Broadcasting Union’s (EBU) decision to allow Israel’s participation in Eurovision 2026 has sparked a cascade of reactions inside and outside the competition. Spain’s refusal to participate in protest was a turning point, particularly in countries such as Ireland, Slovenia, the Netherlands and, more recently, Iceland. To this climate of rejection was added the winning gesture of Eurovision 2024, Nemo, who decided to return his trophy to the EBU. However, this protest is supported by another historic winner of the festival: the Irishman Charlie McGettigan, winner in 1994, who announced that he would do so in support of Nemo.
McGettigan communicated this through a video posted on social networks. “Hello, my name is Charlie McGettigan. You remember me because Paul Harrington and I won the Eurovision Festival in 1994 with Brendan Graham’s wonderful song, Rock’n’Roll for children“, says the singer, who explains that the day before recording the video, he received a private message on Instagram from Nemo, in which he communicated his decision to return the trophy as a protest for Israel’s inclusion in the competition.
“I seemed like an intelligent, sensitive person, and I presented the case very well,” McGettigan said in reference to Nemo’s message. After some thought, he made his decision: “To support Nemo, I would also like to return my trophy to the EBU.” But the artist faces a difficult past: “Unfortunately, I won in 1994 and I can’t find the trophy we received at the time. But if I find it, I will return it too.”
Nemo, the start of the protest
Nemo was one of the first winners of the festival and publicly raised his voice against the EBU’s decision, becoming the first to win the competition by returning his trophy. Through a statement on social media, he harshly criticized the organization’s position: “Eurovision claims to promote inclusion, unity and dignity for all, but Israel’s participation demonstrates an obvious conflict between these values and the decision adopted by the EBU,” he expressed.
His gesture opened the door to an unprecedented symbolic protest among the festival’s winners. This protest, linked to the cascade of international reactions that arose after the EBU decision of the last 4 days and the shock of the five countries (others such as Switzerland, Austria or Germany assured the opposite: that if they went to Israel they would be expelled), with which the controversy will continue to grow until the same celebration of the event, which will take place next May 16 in Vienna.
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