Eurovision Star Told To ‘Tone Down Performance Ahead Of Semi-Final

Eurovision hopeful Jonas Lovv has claimed he’s been told to tone down his act ahead of his first live performance in the festival later this week.

Jonas is representing Norway at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, where he’ll perform his song Ya Ya Ya during Thursday night’s live semi-final.

However, speaking to the Norwegian broadcaster NRK over the weekend, the singer admitted he still has some work to do on his number before then.

While he claimed he’s “not allowed to say exactly what” he’d been told by the higher ups at the European Broadcast Union (EBU), the group of national broadcasters who organise Eurovision every year, he added that his routine being “too sexy” was part of the problem.

The head of the Norwegian delegation added: “We have been told to tone down the ‘sex appeal’ because [the performance] is not family friendly enough, so we will do that.”

“We take it very seriously when we get that kind of message,” Jonas agreed. “I think they just say it to make sure we don’t take it too far.”

“But we’re not the worst!” he added.

A Eurovision spokesperson told HuffPost UK on Monday: “Conversations are held with all delegations on the content of their stage acts at the Eurovision Song Contest. We are satisfied that all the performances of this year’s artists will be suitable for all audiences.”

Eurovision rehearsals are now underway ahead of the live shows beginning on Tuesday.

As has been the case for the last few contests, this year’s Eurovision has faced backlash due to Israel’s continued presence, despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, leading to calls for a boycott of the competition from many critics.

For the last few years, Israel’s broadcaster has also come under scrutiny due to concerns about voting irregularities and the general behaviour of its delegations’ members behind the scenes.

Over the weekend, it was announced that the 2026 Israeli delegation had already been given a formal warning due to a campaign video that had been released by Israel’s broadcaster days earlier.

Last year, five countries confirmed they’d be withdrawing from Eurovision in protest over Israel’s involvement, in solidarity with Palestine.