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China: Ireland and Albania removed from semi-final 1 broadcast

Chinese broadcaster Hunan TV has edited their broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 first semi-final to omit the performances of Albania and Ireland.

Hunan TV, through their MangoTV web streaming service, broadcast last night’s semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, but not after making a few edits to the show. The performances from Ireland and Albania were skipped over entirely, also having been edited out of the recaps.

Eugent Bushpepa - Albania
Eugent Bushpepa – Albania. Source: Arkiva News
Albania, with Eugent Bushpepa and his performance of “Mall”, was skipped over due to China’s ban on television performers displaying tattoos.

Ireland, on the other hand, was censored due to its inclusion of LGBT content, which China has also banned. Ryan O’Shaughnessy’s performance of “Together” notably featured a romantic dance number with two men. Parts of Switzerland’s performance were also censored with blurred bars to cover rainbow flags in the audience.

During the announcement of the qualifiers, however, Albania and Ireland’s reactions were left unedited.

The Chinese version of the broadcast can be watched here on MangoTV.

The Eurovision Song Contest was first broadcast in China in November 2013, when CCTV aired both the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 and 2012 on delay and in multiple parts.


The Eurovision Song Contest was brought to Portugal for the first time in the history of the contest after Salvador Sobralโ€™s victory in Kyiv, Ukraine last year. Salvador received 758 points in the Grand Final with his song โ€œAmar Pelos Doisโ€.

The official slogan for this yearโ€™s contest is โ€œAll Aboard!โ€, and was chosen to represent a celebration of Europe and music.ย The slogan was inspired by Lisbonโ€™s longstanding history as an important global seaport and the importance of the ocean in Portugalโ€™s history. The ocean has connected Portugal to the rest of the world for centuries, and this connectivity is intended to invite people from across the world to come together to celebrate music and Eurovision.

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