Years before on Grand Final day, I would have loaded my phone with a number of my favourite Eurovision and national selection songs to enjoy on the go.
Last year I had hardly any. This year I have none.
Music has been such a big part of my life, well before Eurovision came into the picture.
And so in honour of what the contest should be about, music first, I'd like to share one song that is a better reflection of what is resonating with me nowadays rather than the 'nothing to see here' escapism that Eurovision tries to be.
I hope you give it a listen and that it makes you think about this current moment.
I had the pleasure of speaking with @HelloNicklas over on his channel about the state of the contest this year. It was a really great chat and he covers a lot of ground to explain how we got to this point. His channel is relatively new and his videos are high quality, so go and support him by subscribing!
The EBU have issued a warning to Israeli broadcaster KAN after violating its newly introduced rules around promotional campaigns.
Videos surfaced featuring their artist Noam Bettan speaking in dozens of languages, with captions instructing people to vote for Israel up to the maximum 10 times.
This campaign mimics those from previous years, which were funded by the Israeli Government Advertising Agency and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Eurovision has rules against politicizing the contest and insists that governments do not take part. The new rules were introduced for 2026 specifically to prohibit artists from directly contributing to these campaigns and to weaken their impact on the score.
While the EBU took action on the newly circulating videos, it is also parroting dubious claims from KAN that aim to distance the broadcaster from their involvement in the government-backed effort.
Before the new campaign came to light, ESC Director Martin Green told NPO’s Niewswuur that the videos with 2025 artist Yuval Raphael were organized through Raphael's management, not the broadcaster.
Days later, when responding to the 2026 campaign surfacing in a statement to TV2, KAN said:
‘The incident in question comes from the artist’s own initiative, without any form of illegal funding, and is similar to similar advertising by other artists in the competition.’
But the idea that each of these artists had produced nearly identical campaigns on their own without KAN’s awareness is both implausible and unconvincing.
Both the 2025 and 2026 campaigns were recorded with the same technical set-up and concept. The link between the 2025 campaign and Israel’s government was already identified via Google’s Ad Transparency Center.
As with all the other broadcasters, KAN was fully aware of how strongly other members opposed these campaigns, leading to the updated rules. Trying to run the campaign anyway is the latest example of them flouting the regulations and slighting the contest.
A New York Times investigation revealed that only a few hundred people are needed to secure the top scores in some of the countries with the largest audiences. Spain’s televote data from 2025 revealed that a minimum of 482 voters voting the maximum 20 times was all that was needed to surpass Ukraine and give Israel 12 points.
This would have been easily attainable given that the campaign was shared by government owned accounts, such as the Israeli Embassy in Spain, which itself has over 30.4K followers.
There have been other incidents since 2024 that have involved the Israeli delegation and their broadcaster. Safeguarding rules had to be introduced in 2025 after their delegation harassed other artists backstage and their commentators made inflammatory remarks on air.
When broadcasters demanded the membership take a democratic vote on Israel’s participation, Israel’s president lobbied other members to help them avoid that vote, including the host broadcaster in Austria. ORF's former Director General met with President Isaac Herzog a month before the vote would have happened.
After ignoring boycotts from across Europe and the withdrawal of five countries, the EBU want people to believe they are taking action and are in control of the situation.
Despite the warning however, the 2026 videos have already circulated on social media platforms and remain public on some accounts.
By failing to hold KAN accountable, the EBU have left an open goal for Israel to exercise its contempt towards the contest, and towards the international audience, for a third year in a row. . . . #eurovision#israel#kan#vienna2026#unitedbyignorance
Over on @hashtageurovision's channel, I'll be a guest for their series 'When Glitter Feels Heavy'. Along with my friend Harry Briffa (ESC Harry) we'll be covering a wide range of topics that address the state of the contest and about the decisions we've made as creators.
Today we got confirmation that the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 would have the lowest number of participants in 20 years and the lowest since the semi-finals were introduced.
But there's something else that was revealed in today's announcement: a pattern that echoes a shift in rhetoric from the EBU.
Shifting the focus to ‘broadcasters’ instead of 'countries' is both intentional and strategic. The exclusion of Russia set a precedent that aggressor countries should not be allowed to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Once people started to see Israel as an aggressor rather than a victim, the EBU needed to deflect any suggestion that Israel be treated similarly to Russia.
Differentiating between the countries and broadcasters allows them to distance KAN from the Israeli government in order to justify their continued participation amidst the genocide.
To this day, they have failed to acknowledge government interference in KAN’s selection process, or the Israeli president’s lobbying efforts with the 2026 host broadcaster ORF - even after he proudly admitted to it.
The organization has also failed to acknowledge any of the 150+ examples documented by Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) of content published on KAN’s channels that they believe violate EBU membership standards - all while repeatedly claiming that KAN have followed all the rules.
Ironically, the violation of membership standards has become the new reasoning for why Russia was banned, even though none of the statements from before Oct 7, 2023 make any mention of this. The reasoning at the time was…
“In light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s Contest would bring the competition into disrepute.”
The five broadcasters who have withdrawn from the contest have taken a step, albeit a much overdue one, to not be complicit in shielding Israel from criticism as it commits war crimes.
The remaining broadcasters cannot claim to be ‘apolitical’ by turning a blind eye to the EBU’s failure to adhere to its own values and statutes.
They are enabling this protection of Israel by proceeding with the contest as if nothing is wrong.
Please take a moment to appreciate these absolutely STUNNING illustrations by the talented Beatrice Baronaite Lau. She re-imagined my latest video as an op-ed for a design project, and I must say it is so surreal to see it portrayed with another person’s artistic eye!
To just be thought of is already flattering enough. But to see someone apply their own talents to create something that looks so professional is beyond anything I could have ever expected. Thank you so much Beatrice!
A BIG THANK YOU to all of you for your support! It's you who make all the work that goes into this project worthwhile and I am so grateful that you give me your time.
Seeing as my stuff is not super personal, my partner suggested doing a classic YouTuber Q&A to mark the occasion. If you've got a question for me, especially one that's not Eurovision related, let me know and I will do my best to answer 😊
Stuart MacLean
Years before on Grand Final day, I would have loaded my phone with a number of my favourite Eurovision and national selection songs to enjoy on the go.
Last year I had hardly any. This year I have none.
Music has been such a big part of my life, well before Eurovision came into the picture.
And so in honour of what the contest should be about, music first, I'd like to share one song that is a better reflection of what is resonating with me nowadays rather than the 'nothing to see here' escapism that Eurovision tries to be.
I hope you give it a listen and that it makes you think about this current moment.
The Bony King of Nowhere - Everybody Knows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OcO_...
#eurovision #eurovisionsongcontest #boycotteurovision #freepalestine #gaza
1 week ago | [YT] | 497
View 47 replies
Stuart MacLean
NEW VIDEO! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67qG4...
I had the pleasure of speaking with @HelloNicklas over on his channel about the state of the contest this year. It was a really great chat and he covers a lot of ground to explain how we got to this point. His channel is relatively new and his videos are high quality, so go and support him by subscribing!
It's in Danish, but there are English subs! ☺️
1 week ago | [YT] | 92
View 0 replies
Stuart MacLean
The EBU have issued a warning to Israeli broadcaster KAN after violating its newly introduced rules around promotional campaigns.
Videos surfaced featuring their artist Noam Bettan speaking in dozens of languages, with captions instructing people to vote for Israel up to the maximum 10 times.
This campaign mimics those from previous years, which were funded by the Israeli Government Advertising Agency and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Eurovision has rules against politicizing the contest and insists that governments do not take part. The new rules were introduced for 2026 specifically to prohibit artists from directly contributing to these campaigns and to weaken their impact on the score.
While the EBU took action on the newly circulating videos, it is also parroting dubious claims from KAN that aim to distance the broadcaster from their involvement in the government-backed effort.
Before the new campaign came to light, ESC Director Martin Green told NPO’s Niewswuur that the videos with 2025 artist Yuval Raphael were organized through Raphael's management, not the broadcaster.
Days later, when responding to the 2026 campaign surfacing in a statement to TV2, KAN said:
‘The incident in question comes from the artist’s own initiative, without any form of illegal funding, and is similar to similar advertising by other artists in the competition.’
But the idea that each of these artists had produced nearly identical campaigns on their own without KAN’s awareness is both implausible and unconvincing.
Both the 2025 and 2026 campaigns were recorded with the same technical set-up and concept. The link between the 2025 campaign and Israel’s government was already identified via Google’s Ad Transparency Center.
As with all the other broadcasters, KAN was fully aware of how strongly other members opposed these campaigns, leading to the updated rules. Trying to run the campaign anyway is the latest example of them flouting the regulations and slighting the contest.
A New York Times investigation revealed that only a few hundred people are needed to secure the top scores in some of the countries with the largest audiences. Spain’s televote data from 2025 revealed that a minimum of 482 voters voting the maximum 20 times was all that was needed to surpass Ukraine and give Israel 12 points.
This would have been easily attainable given that the campaign was shared by government owned accounts, such as the Israeli Embassy in Spain, which itself has over 30.4K followers.
There have been other incidents since 2024 that have involved the Israeli delegation and their broadcaster. Safeguarding rules had to be introduced in 2025 after their delegation harassed other artists backstage and their commentators made inflammatory remarks on air.
When broadcasters demanded the membership take a democratic vote on Israel’s participation, Israel’s president lobbied other members to help them avoid that vote, including the host broadcaster in Austria. ORF's former Director General met with President Isaac Herzog a month before the vote would have happened.
After ignoring boycotts from across Europe and the withdrawal of five countries, the EBU want people to believe they are taking action and are in control of the situation.
Despite the warning however, the 2026 videos have already circulated on social media platforms and remain public on some accounts.
By failing to hold KAN accountable, the EBU have left an open goal for Israel to exercise its contempt towards the contest, and towards the international audience, for a third year in a row.
.
.
.
#eurovision #israel #kan #vienna2026 #unitedbyignorance
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 600
View 113 replies
Stuart MacLean
JOIN US FOR A LIVE CHAT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQf7z...
Over on @hashtageurovision's channel, I'll be a guest for their series 'When Glitter Feels Heavy'. Along with my friend Harry Briffa (ESC Harry) we'll be covering a wide range of topics that address the state of the contest and about the decisions we've made as creators.
8pm CET
2pm EST
Hope to see you there!
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 14
View 0 replies
Stuart MacLean
Something's in the works. You're not going to want to miss it!
#unitedbyignorance
1 month ago | [YT] | 92
View 5 replies
Stuart MacLean
Today we got confirmation that the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 would have the lowest number of participants in 20 years and the lowest since the semi-finals were introduced.
But there's something else that was revealed in today's announcement: a pattern that echoes a shift in rhetoric from the EBU.
Shifting the focus to ‘broadcasters’ instead of 'countries' is both intentional and strategic. The exclusion of Russia set a precedent that aggressor countries should not be allowed to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Once people started to see Israel as an aggressor rather than a victim, the EBU needed to deflect any suggestion that Israel be treated similarly to Russia.
Differentiating between the countries and broadcasters allows them to distance KAN from the Israeli government in order to justify their continued participation amidst the genocide.
To this day, they have failed to acknowledge government interference in KAN’s selection process, or the Israeli president’s lobbying efforts with the 2026 host broadcaster ORF - even after he proudly admitted to it.
The organization has also failed to acknowledge any of the 150+ examples documented by Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) of content published on KAN’s channels that they believe violate EBU membership standards - all while repeatedly claiming that KAN have followed all the rules.
Ironically, the violation of membership standards has become the new reasoning for why Russia was banned, even though none of the statements from before Oct 7, 2023 make any mention of this. The reasoning at the time was…
“In light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s Contest would bring the competition into disrepute.”
The five broadcasters who have withdrawn from the contest have taken a step, albeit a much overdue one, to not be complicit in shielding Israel from criticism as it commits war crimes.
The remaining broadcasters cannot claim to be ‘apolitical’ by turning a blind eye to the EBU’s failure to adhere to its own values and statutes.
They are enabling this protection of Israel by proceeding with the contest as if nothing is wrong.
#eurovision #eurovisionsongcontest #vienna2026 #ebu #UnitedByIgnorance
5 months ago | [YT] | 1,299
View 150 replies
Stuart MacLean
Please take a moment to appreciate these absolutely STUNNING illustrations by the talented Beatrice Baronaite Lau. She re-imagined my latest video as an op-ed for a design project, and I must say it is so surreal to see it portrayed with another person’s artistic eye!
To just be thought of is already flattering enough. But to see someone apply their own talents to create something that looks so professional is beyond anything I could have ever expected. Thank you so much Beatrice!
Please show her some love:
Website: www.beatricebaronaitelau.com/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/b_baronaite/
Eurovision Is Dying... It Can Only Blame Itself: https://youtu.be/THgn1w7Lzvo
.
.
.
#eurovision #eurovisionsongcontest #ebu #vienna2026 #brutal #UnitedByIgnorance
7 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,042
View 21 replies
Stuart MacLean
The feeling this week
Eurovision Is Dying... It Can Only Blame Itself: https://youtu.be/THgn1w7Lzvo
#eurovision #brutal #vienna2026 #UnitedByIgnorance
8 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,309
View 31 replies
Stuart MacLean
What do you think of the new ESC slogan? 😍
#eurovision #esc2026 #ebu
9 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 116
View 5 replies
Stuart MacLean
🎉 WE'RE AT 5,000 SUBSCRIBERS 🎉
A BIG THANK YOU to all of you for your support! It's you who make all the work that goes into this project worthwhile and I am so grateful that you give me your time.
Seeing as my stuff is not super personal, my partner suggested doing a classic YouTuber Q&A to mark the occasion. If you've got a question for me, especially one that's not Eurovision related, let me know and I will do my best to answer 😊
You can also answer here: www.instagram.com/stories/stu.makes.vids/360804192…
1 year ago | [YT] | 114
View 13 replies
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