Hovi Star at the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Credit: Albin Olsson via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – This year’s Israeli contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest, Hovi Star, has advanced to the final round. He will compete May 14 in the televised showdown in Stockholm, Sweden, singing “Made of Stars.”

The 29-year-old Star, whose real name is Hovav Skuletz, is from Haifa. He had participated in the seventh season of the Israeli music contest Kokhav Nolad, finishing in seventh place. In April, Hovi, who is gay, was interviewed about a negative experience he had at the airport in Moscow due to his sexual orientation.

“In Moscow, people have a rough time with me, maybe because I’m gay, maybe because I dress like this, maybe because I wear makeup—I don’t know,” Star said, the Jerusalem Post reported.

“When I wanted to get into Moscow I had problems with passport control. They told me I can’t go in. They looked at my passport, they ripped my passport, and they laughed at me,” he said. A Russian event coordinator denied the allegation.