VIENNA (AP) 鈥� Competition starts Tuesday at the , with divisions over Israel’s participation hanging over the 70th birthday of the over-the-top .
Host city has been bedecked in hearts and the contest鈥檚 鈥淯nited by Music鈥� motto for a week in which singers and bands onstage for the continent鈥檚 musical crown. But five countries 鈥� Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland 鈥� are boycotting to protest .
Several pro-Palestinian demonstrations are planned in Vienna during Eurovision week, and security is tight, with police officers from across Austria deployed in the capital, and support from forces in neighboring Germany.
Last month a 21-year-old Austrian man accused of pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group pleaded guilty to plotting to in Vienna in 2024, and the head of Austria鈥檚 DSN intelligence service, Sylvia Mayer, said 鈥渢he terror threat posed by Islamist terror groups, as well as Iran-affiliated groups, is still at a high level.鈥�
Israeli singer Noam Bettan is among 15 acts competing for votes from viewers and national juries in Tuesday鈥檚 semifinal at the Wiener Stadthalle arena. The top 10 will go through to Saturday鈥檚 grand final, along with 10 from Thursday鈥檚 second semifinal. The U.K., France, Germany and Italy automatically qualify because they are among the contest鈥檚 biggest funders. Austria, , goes through to the final as host country.
Bettan is seeking to get Israel, which came second in 2025, into Saturday鈥檚 final with the ballad 鈥淢ichelle.鈥� Like last year鈥檚 Israeli competitor, , he has practiced singing while being booed.
Hoping to cement its status as bookmakers鈥� favorite is Finland, with the intense 鈥淟iekinheitin鈥� (鈥淔lamethrower鈥�) by violinist Linda Lampenius and pop singer Pete Parkkonen.
Other competitors in Tuesday鈥檚 semifinal include Greece鈥檚 Akylas with fan-favorite party-rap track 鈥淔erto鈥� (鈥淏ring It鈥�); Portuguese quintet Bandidos do Cante with the soulful 鈥淩osa鈥�; and singer Senhit, representing tiny San Marino with 鈥淪uperstar,鈥� a party anthem featuring a guest appearance by Boy George.
Long a forum for good-natured 鈥� and sometimes more pointed 鈥� national rivalries, Eurovision has found it hard to separate pop and politics in recent years. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its .
The 2024 contest in , and last year鈥檚 event in , saw that called for Israel to be expelled over its conduct of its war against Hamas in Gaza and allegations it ran a rule-breaking marketing campaign to get votes for its contestant.
When organizers declined to kick Israel out, five countries announced in December that they would not participate this year.
The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, has toughened voting rules in response to the vote-rigging allegations, halving the number of votes per person to 10 and tightening safeguards against 鈥渟uspicious or coordinated voting activity.鈥�
Dean Vuletic, author of “Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest,” is confident Eurovision can weather the latest storms.
鈥淲e鈥檒l see demonstrations, but we鈥檒l also see a lot of colorful events going on which will really represent what Eurovision is about, which is bringing Europeans together,鈥� he said.
鈥淚f you look at the history of Eurovision, it鈥檚 gone through so many crises, so many political challenges, so many geopolitical changes in Europe, and it鈥檚 always managed to survive.鈥�
___
For more coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest, visit:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
