Pop singer Madonna performed at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv on Saturday night and sang a new song from her next album as well as a hit from the past.
While performing the first song, her past hit "Like a Prayer," Madonna sang a bit off key, leading to criticism on social media such as, "They paid her $ 1.3 million, for what?" Other users wrote, "The off key singing was embarrassing for a singer like Madonna. The truth is that she was totally off key... but she’s 60 years old and still a champion."
She later performed the song "Future" from her 14th album, which will be released next month.
The dancers who accompanied Madonna wore shirts with Israeli flags printed on their backs. One of the dancers stirred up a firestorm with a Palestinian Arab flag on the back of his shirt.
MK Michal Shir (Likud) responded to the incident and said, "All the appreciation over the organizing of an exemplary event was erased in one moment. I do not know who is responsible for this, but the flag on the right is responsible for the murder of tens of thousands of Israelis. Since when has it become legitimate to proudly present it on the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation? I expect those responsible to be held accountable for this failure, there is a limit to our flattery to the world, and the buck stops here."
The European Broadcasting Union responded to the Madonna incident later on Saturday night, saying according to Reuters, “This part of the performance were not part of the rehearsals which had been approved by the EBU and the host broadcaster, Kan. The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and Madonna has been made aware of it.”