The European Broadcasting Union have terminated its contract with Chinese broadcaster Mango TV, after it failed to broadcast Ireland’s Eurovision performance on Tuesday night.
Ryan O’Shaughnessy performed his own song ‘Together’ on the night, which secured Ireland a place in the Grand Final for the first time in five years.
On stage, the singer-songwriter was joined by two male dancers, depicting a same-sex couple on the Eurovision stage for the first time in the contest’s 63 year history.
However, Mango TVÂ edited out Ryan’s performance over its depiction of a gay relationship, due to China’s strict broadcast rules.
In a statement, the EBU said, “On the 9th of May, Chinese broadcaster Mango TV broadcast the first Semi-Final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest live but two performances were censored.”
“This is not in line with the EBU’s values of universality and inclusivity and our proud tradition of celebrating diversity through music.
“It is with regret that we will therefore immediately be terminating our partnership with the broadcaster and they will not be permitted to broadcast the second Semi-Final or the Grand Final.”
Speaking to Rylan Clark-Neal on BBC Four, Ryan O’Shaughnessy said, “I would like to welcome the decision by the EBU to do that because from the very start we have just said love is love.”
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s between two guys and two girls or a guy and a girl. I think it’s a really important decision by the EBU, they haven’t taken it lightly, and I think it’s a move in the right direction – I’m happy about it.”
Rylan added, “This is Eurovision, it’s inclusive of every single person.”
