Three weeks after La Zarra’s ‘gesture’ during the televoting sequence at Eurovision, the fiasco continues for the Montréal-born singer. French news outlet Actu.fr is reporting that La Zarra’s appearance at the Greenland Festival in Palau-del-Vidre has been canceled.
The Greenland Festival is an annual music celebration that takes place near Perpignan. This year, it is drawing some big names including Martin Solveig, Kendji, and Feder, among others. Yet it will not feature La Zarra, as her name has been rescinded from the list of artists participating on 23rd July.
The controversy over the ‘gesture’ she made at the M&S Bank Arena at Liverpool continues to haunt La Zarra, as she has been unable to convince the French public that she did not give the audience the ‘middle finger’. After Eurovision she tried to explain:
“You need to understand my French generational custom, and it is not a negative gesture. It is the gesture of disappointment which we commonly use among friends. I’m aware my gesture can be considered as something else by people outside France.”
#Eurovision #LaZarra
On était à 2 doigts de la victoire…
Ah non….1 doigt 🖕 pic.twitter.com/RSIBoa1ZMD— Mico C 🇫🇷 (@MicoInTheMix) May 13, 2023
Officially, the Greenland Festival organizers had this to say about La Zarra’s removal from the festival:
“For reasons beyond our control, we regret to announce the cancellation of the participation of the artist La Zarra in our festival this year.”
However, Actu.fr is reporting that their sources have uncovered that the Festival is using “reasons beyond our control” to avoid saying it had anything to do with that happened in the Green Room during the Eurovision final. They also report that La Zarra will have to announce more cancellations ‘very soon’.
Do you think the Festival made the right move, or is this an overreaction? You can let us know on our social media or in the comments below! La Zarra improved France’s result from 2022 with a 16th place finish for Évidemment.
