Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

has never participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. The country's broadcasting organisation, , was set to make the country's debut at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2005 The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was the 50th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "Wild Dances" by Ruslana. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (E ...

with the song "" performed by

Aline Lahoud Aline Lahoud ( ar, ألين لحود; born 2 March 1981) is a Lebanese singer. Life Lahoud's parents are Salwa Al Katrib and producer Nahi Lahoud. She studied singing and dramatic art from 1997 until 1999. In 2002, she received a BA degree in ...

, but withdrew due to

's laws barring the broadcast of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i content.

2005 contest

On 21 October 2004,

Ibrahim El Khoury Ibrahim E. El Khoury ( ar, ابراهيم أ. الخوري; July 20, 1936 – July 28, 2013) was a Lebanese director and producer who was chairman of the Télé Liban television network from 1999 until his death. Early life He started at ...

, President Director General of , stated that Lebanon intended to make its debut at the

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

. On 3 November 2004, it was announced that

was internally selected by the network to represent Lebanon. Her

orient The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of '' Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...

occident The Occident is a term for the West, traditionally comprising anything that belongs to the Western world. It is the antonym of ''Orient'', the Eastern world. In English, it has largely fallen into disuse. The term ''occidental'' is often used to ...

song "", sung in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and written by Jad Rahbani and Romeo Lahoud, was chosen in mid-February. Lahoud was scheduled to present her song in the semi-final held on 19 May 2005. On 15 December 2004, announced that financial constraints forced them to withdraw from the contest, and denied reports that it was due to political conflicts with

. However, five days later, the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the C ...

(EBU) reached an agreement with Télé Liban and Lebanon was put on the official list of participants. In early March 2005, the official Lebanese Eurovision Song Contest website did not list Israel as a participant. After the EBU asked to resolve the issue within 24 hours or face disqualification, the site removed the complete list of participants and replaced the page with a link to Eurovision.tv, the official Eurovision website. Later that month, the EBU asked to assure that they would broadcast the entire contest, including the Israeli entry, without interruption. could not guarantee that request, so on 18 March 2005, it once again announced its withdrawal from the contest. Lebanese legislation prohibited the broadcast of Israeli content on Lebanese television networks. wrote on its website that it "is not permitted to broadcast the performance of the Israeli participant, thereby breaching the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest 2005" and forcing its withdrawal. Since withdrew almost three months after the 15 December "no consequence" withdrawal deadline, the broadcaster was penalised, losing its participation fee and was served with a three-year ban.

Subsequent events

With the three-year ban, was not eligible to re-enter the Eurovision Song Contest until

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

. In 2007, Lebanon-born singer

Mika Mika is a given name, a nickname and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footba ...

stated that he was interested in entering the contest for

in 2008, but for one of the other Lebanese television stations that would not be impacted by the ban, such as the

Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International ( ar, المؤسسة اللبنانية للإرسال انترناسيونال), widely known as LBCI, is a private television station in Lebanon. LBCI was founded in 1992 by acquiring the asse ...

or Future Television. Neither broadcaster was a member of the EBU, but was eligible to join the organisation. His plans never came to fruition, and the country has not made any other attempt to join the contest following the expiration of the ban imposed on . Mika himself, however, did eventually become involved in Eurovision, as he was one of the hosts of the 2022 contest in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

Participation overview

References

External links

Entry information
for Lebanon in the 2005 contest via Eurovision.tv (archived) {{Portal bar, Music Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pri ...