Akylas from Greece performs the song “Ferto” during the dress rehearsal for the Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Friday. [Martin Meissner/AP Photo]
The Eurovision Song Contest’s final takes place in Vienna on Saturday, with the organizers hoping the annual show of glitz and Europop will be a success despite five countries’ withdrawal over Israel taking part.
The run-up to the event – a kitsch and usually good-natured competition between pop acts from countries across Europe and beyond, now in its 70th year – has been overshadowed by a boycott of the event by the public broadcasters of heavyweights Spain, the Netherlands and Ireland, as well as Iceland and Slovenia.
Those countries are protesting Israel’s participation in the wake of the country’s military offensive in Gaza, a response to the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023.
Israel has alleged a global smear campaign against it.
