The Eurovision Song Contest is legendary for celebrating all the pieces from cross-dressing ballad singers to heavy metallic bands in monster masks, however geopolitics is threatening its seventieth anniversary version.
More than 1,000 artists final week urged a boycott, and a number of other international locations have already stated they’re staying away in protest over Israel’s participation.
Just eight years in the past in Lisbon, the competitors managed by Europe’s public broadcasters featured artists from 43 international locations, however solely 35 will probably be vying for the highest prize on May 16 this 12 months in Vienna, marking the smallest version lately.
While Israel’s presence poses a problem this 12 months, the world’s largest dwell music occasion has lengthy been interwoven with politics, specialists say.
Hungary give up the competition in 2020, a choice broadly seen as linked to its more and more conservative political line.
Belarus was suspended in 2021 for suppressing media freedom, whereas Russia acquired kicked out after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, different international locations together with North Macedonia have pulled out in previous years citing monetary points.
Sanctioning Russia created a precedent and sparked “a debate”, stated Christina Oberg, the writer of a number of research on how Eurovision has grow to be a stage for geopolitical tensions in opposition to its will.
Some are asking, she stated, “why they haven’t done the same with Israel in terms of saying that you’re not allowed into the competition” due to the large civilian demise toll from Israel’s two-year bombardment of Gaza.
Five broadcasters, together with Spain, are anticipated to boycott the 2026 version over Israel’s participation.
This is an unprecedented transfer by one of many “Big Five”, because the Eurovision jargon calls the 5 largest monetary contributors having fun with computerized qualification to the Grand Final.
Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia have additionally determined to snub the upcoming version for a similar motive, complaining that its political neutrality is now not assured.
More than 1,000 musicians around the globe have signed a petition below the banner of “no music for genocide” to exclude Israel’s public broadcaster KAN “complicit” in “crimes” dedicated by Israel.
The signatories embody star artists and bands resembling Massive Attack, Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters and Sigur Ros.
Eurovision organizer, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), has defended KAN previously, arguing that it meets all standards for independence.
It has additionally introduced modifications and safeguards to the general public voting system following accusations of manipulation in favor of the Israeli candidate final 12 months.
If extra broadcasters give up, it could be “sort of a slow death… because you need a certain amount of countries within it for it to still feel like this is for everyone,” stated Oberg, a professor at Linnaeus University in Sweden.
Hosting this 12 months’s version, Austria has labelled any cultural boycott as “stupid and pointless”.
Though in truth it was Austria that led the way in which by snubbing the 1969 version in Madrid “because of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco,” in keeping with Croatian-Australian Eurovision historian Dean Vuletic.
Eurovision stays a significant software for selling inclusion and tolerance, and analysts agree it has all the time been greater than a singing contest.
Artists parade below their international locations’ flags, and the occasion is broadcast dwell throughout Europe, offering an impressive platform augmented by social media.
And with 166 million viewers claimed in 2025, the monetary stakes are excessive for Eurovision, which has grow to be a model to guard.
“When the EBU started to attract sponsors in the late 1990s, produce merchandise, place the contest in larger halls and sell tickets to the public, it also started taking steps to avoid any damage to the contest’s image,” Vuletic informed AFP.
Further tensions may come up this 12 months because the highlight will probably be on Denmark “in a way that never happened before”, stated Lisanne Wilken from Aarhus University in Denmark.
“The situation with Greenland and (U.S. President Donald) Trump has put Denmark even more on the map,” she stated.
Trump’s strident claims on the huge Arctic territory that belongs to Denmark have stirred a wave of concern and resistance inside the European Union.
Experts predict that Danish entry Soren Torpegaard Lund may gain advantage from a wave of empathy.
© 2026 AFP