Romania’s Eurovision 2026 entry under fire for “glamorizing sexual strangulation”

Romania’s entry for this year’s edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, “Choke Me,” came under fire in recent days for lyrics that allegedly idealize sexual strangulation, The Guardian reported. Critics of the song say it promotes a practice that can lead to brain injury and death, and that the entry should be banned from competing.

Campaigners against sexual violence argue the song sung by The Voice Romania winner Alexandra Căpitănescu mentions “choke me” 30 times in 3 minutes. Other lyrics mention that “it’s hard to breathe in,” or “I want you to choke me,” and “make my lungs explode.”

Clare McGlynn, a professor of law at Durham University, told The Guardian that the sexualized messaging “shows an alarming disregard for young women’s health and wellbeing.”

Last year, a complaint by the BBC to the European Broadcasting Union, which runs the song contest, led it to rule against the title and lyrics of the Maltese entry, which contained a play on words where “kant” (meaning “sing” in Maltese) sounded like “cunt.” In previous years, the EBU has ordered entries to remove other words from songs.

In reply, the Romanian singer said the metaphor behind the vivid imagery was about the feeling of being overwhelmed by strong emotions and being suffocated by self-doubt.

This year’s edition of Eurovision is also facing calls for a boycott over the inclusion of Israel, which is accused of genocide in Gaza.

(Photo source: Alexandra Căpitănescu on Facebook)