The staging of singer Jonas Lovv, Norway’s representative at Eurovision 2026, would have been judged “too daring” during rehearsals for the competition, the final phases of which are organized in Vienna (Austria) from 12 to 16 May.
During the opening ceremony of Eurovision this weekend, the Norwegian delegation revealed that it had been called to order by the organizers, who would have asked it to make the performance of its candidate and its title “Ya Ya Ya” more general public. “Not to beat around the bush: it was just too sexy,” confided singer Jonas Lovv according to Norwegian media NRK. “We cannot go into detail about the exact subject of the warning, but we clearly need to calm things down on certain points,” he added.
Mads Tørklep, the head of the Norwegian delegation, confirmed having received a warning from the EBU (European Broadcasting Union which organizes the event, and which also broke the rules for Finland): “We were asked to curb the sex appeal, because the performance was not ‘family friendly’ enough. We will therefore obey very wisely,” he explained, before specifying that he “did not try to do too much”, explaining that “it’s simply his style” when speaking of the Norwegian candidate. “As you are very comfortable on stage, the slightest movement of the pelvis or the slightest jerky gesture immediately takes on another dimension,” he added, addressing the singer directly.
The latter stressed that the Norwegian delegation took “this message very seriously”. “I think they warned us to make sure we didn’t push the limits too far. Even if we are certainly not the worst!”, punctuated the one who will perform live during the second semi-final, which will be held this Thursday, May 14.
