Ryan O'Shaugnessy's qualifying entry for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest was removed from the broadcast by Chinese service Mango TV, according to a report by ESCtoday.com.
Albania's song - sung by Eugent Bushpepa - was also edited and removed by Mango TV before being shown to Chinese audiences, likely as a result of strict regulations imposed on foreign broadcasts.
China's media regulator SAPPRFT has a clause that "specifically requires that programs should not feature actors with tattoos [or depict] hip hop culture, sub-culture (non-mainstream culture) and dispirited culture (decadent culture)", which explains why Albania's entry was barred as some of the musicians in Bushpepa's band had visible tattoos.
For Ireland's entry, the reason was much more specific - China has a strict ban on same-sex relationships being shown on television and O'Shaugnessy's performance included a same-sex couple.
On top of this, an LGBT flag being held aloft in the crowd was specifically blurred out during the broadcast. So far, Eurovision have not commented on the decision to censor acts from Chinese television and it's likely that the same censoring will take place during the final this Saturday on Mango TV.
This isn't the first time there's been an issue with Ryan O'Shaugnessy's performance, as there were rumours a couple of months ago that Russian television channels would not carry Eurovision or O'Shaugnessy's performance. China's laws on broadcast and propaganda are incredibly strict, as its stopped cinematic releases like 2016's Ghostbusters from securing a release.
Here's the broadcast that was removed by Mango TV.
Via ESCtoday.com
