Although Ryan O'Shaughnessy's performance of 'Together' at the Eurovision semi-final the other night was roundly praised, not everyone was on the same page.
Chinese broadcaster Mango TV had censored the Irish performance because the staging depicted a same-sex relationship - and now the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has ended its contract with them for that reason.
China banned depictions of gay people and same-sex relationships on television in 2016, and the same broadcaster censored the Albanian Eurovision entry because the performer Eugent Bushpepa has tattoos.
"This is not in line with the EBU’s values of universality and inclusivity and our proud tradition of celebrating diversity through music," they said in a statement. “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.”
O'Shaughnessy, meanwhile, praised the EBU for their decision, telling BBC Four: "You know what, I just – I’d like to welcome the decision by the EBU to do that because from the very start we’ve said love is love – doesn’t matter whether it’s between two guys, two girls or a guy and a girl. I think this is a really important decision by the EBU and they haven’t taken this lightly and I think it’s a move in the right direction so I’m happy about it.”
