Vienna (AFP) – A fiery Finnish violinist-singer duo followed by an Australian star are the favourites to win Saturday's Eurovision grand final, with the contest hit by an unprecedented boycott over Israel's participation.
This year in Vienna marks the 70th edition of the world's biggest televised music event, which despite the razzmatazz rarely escapes the politics in the background. Five countries, including Spain, traditionally one of the Eurovision Song Contest's biggest financial contributors, are staying away over Israel's participation to protest against its war in Gaza.
Australian star Delta Goodrem has climbed to second place among the favourites © Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP
The overwhelming favourites in the 25-country final are violinist Linda Lampenius and pop singer Pete Parkkonen, who already set ablaze the immense circular stage of Vienna's Stadthalle concert venue in the first semi-final on Tuesday. Australian star Delta Goodrem, who has sold nine million albums, climbed to second place among the bookmakers' favourites, after her performance in the second semi-final on Thursday that saw her soar into the air on a riser from the top of a glittering piano. The final begins at 9:00 pm local time (1900 GMT) in front of some 11,200 spectators. "It's going to come down to Finland and Australia," Fabien Randanne, a journalist at French news outlet 20 Minutes and a specialist on the contest, told AFP. Eurovision: 70 years of geopolitics, patriotism, music and glitter 'Star aura' Internationally acclaimed violinist Lampenius, 56, got permission to use her 1781 Galliano live, to perform "Liekinheitin" ("Flamethrower") in Finnish with Parkkonen, 36.
