Marina Satti, Greece’s representative in the Eurovision Song Contest, caused controversy when she kept yawning and pretending to fall asleep as Eden Golan, the representative of Israel was speaking to the press.
Some accused her of disrespect whereas others claimed she was making a political statement against the Israeli war in Gaza.
The Greek delegation in Eurovision tried to play down the incident. It said that Satti was simply tired of the busy schedule. She never intended to offend Eden Golan or the Israeli delegation in general.
“If you watched the full video instead of merely the part of Eden Golan’s statements, you would see that Marina Satti engaged with the panel of artists and the journalists in the same manner from start to finish of the press conference,” the Greek delegation said according to Eurovision.
“Throughout the press conference, Marina Satti yawned, not to disrespect the Israeli representative, whom she wished luck for in the final on Saturday, but rather as a result of the demanding schedule and lengthy rehearsals of the previous few days,” it was added.
Controversy over Marina Satti erupts on social media
However, her stance during the press conference of the singers who qualified for Saturday’s Eurovision final divided social media users.
“Marina Satti is there to sing, representing the country. Acting like a 12-year-old and supposedly conveying a political message is comical at best,” read one comment.
Another said that her reaction was “an embarrassment for Greece and for every decent Greek person.”
This is Greece representative singer at @Eurovision , @marina_satti .An embarassment for Greece and for every decent #Greek person. Pretending to fall asleep while the Israel’s contestant is speaking is not just bad education or pure jew-hatred,but also a stain over the greek… pic.twitter.com/FSZQylPPKg
— miha schwartzenberg (@mihaschw) May 10, 2024
While 20 year old Eden Golan was being interviewed, 38 year old Marina Satti decided to behave like a petulant child.
Embarrassing and immature pic.twitter.com/lWDW0QjRg2
— Nioh Berg ♛ ✡︎ אסתר (@NiohBerg) May 10, 2024
Other social media users applauded her behavior and congratulated her for making a stance against Israel and the war in Gaza.
“Those who yawn in front of Israel’s fascism and the murders of children were upset Marina Satti yawned when the killers’ representative spoke,” one said.
Αυτοί που χασμουριούνται μπροστά στον φασισμό του Ισραήλ κ τις δολοφονίες παιδιών παρεξηγήθηκαν που χασμουρήθηκε η #μαρινασαττι όταν μίλαγε η εκπρόσωπος των δολοφόνων. Γελάει ο κόσμος
Μοιάζει να έγινε τυχαία αλλά αν ήταν επίτηδες μπράβο της. Εκφράζει την πλειοψηφία#eurovisiongr— panagiotis (@panos__00) May 10, 2024
This might be looking to some of you as immature, but this is a way to silently protest about the situation in #Eurovision2024
We know 100% that EBU is not letting Marina Satti or anyone else make clear statements, so this is the least we get for nowpic.twitter.com/z6J9QyHJFG
— Larry 🎲 | Zári Propaganda Era (@larysson__) May 10, 2024
Satti and Greece qualify for Eurovision final
Greece qualified for the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest grand final on Saturday, May 11th after Marina Satti’s energetic performance of her song “Zari.”
Satti’s approach to her upcoming performance emphasizes a continuous take with a music video that tells a compelling story. She aims to showcase Greek values through her presence on the Eurovision stage.
For Eurovision 2024, after a number of submissions were sent her way and after lots of consideration, she finally decided to take “Zari” to Malmo, Sweden.
The Eurovision song is a mixture of urban rhythms and ethnic sounds from Greece, as well as other parts of the globe, and it will mark the first time since 2018 that Greece will be represented by a song in Greek.
Earlier in the week, Cyprus also qualified for the finals. Greek Cypriot singer Silia Kapsis performed in the first semi-final round on Tuesday, earning enough votes for her song, “Liar,” to advance to the next stage of the competition.
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