In the hours preceding the Eurovision 2024 Grand Final on May 11, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) decided to disqualify Dutch representative Joost Klein - who had qualified in second place from his semifinal - from competing in said final over an accident that had occurred on Thursday May 9, where reports state that a non-physical altercation between Joost and a camera woman working backstage had taken place shortly after Joost's performance. According to a statement released by Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, "Against clearly made agreements, Joost was filmed when he had just gotten off stage and had to rush to the greenroom. At that moment, Joost repeatedly indicated that he did not want to be filmed. This wasn't respected. This led to a threatening movement from Joost towards the camera. Joost did not touch the camera woman." This is the first time in the history of the contest that an entry has been disqualified so close to the final event.

Following what AVROTROS called a "very heavy and disproportionate penalty," the EBU failed to respond clearly and swiftly to questions being raised regarding the nature of the confrontation that had taken place, the reasoning as to why a member of the production crew had failed to abide by previously agreed upon guidelines re: the artist's privacy and private space, and the reasoning behind such a drastic sanction (and how the rules of the contest would support it). As we now know, Joost Klein had qualified for the grand final by finishing in second place in his semifinal - a clear indicator that he was a contender for a possible Top 5 placement.

In light of these events, and following other questionable decisions recently made by the EBU in regards to the case-by-case enforcement of rules that should otherwise apply to all competing entries alike, we demand for an external investigation to take place that will clarify the nature of the events that took place, the reasoning behind this disqualification as a response to those events, and whether sanctions will be imposed against the production crew that failed to abide by stipulations made to protect the Dutch entrant's privacy. These events, and the way in which they were handled by the EBU, have brought the contest into disrepute, and we don't believe the EBU will be able to address any of this internally in a way that feels satisfactory and transparent. An external investigation is therefore needed for the contest to be able to move forward.