Eurovision Semifinals Begin in Vienna

Five countries — Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland — are boycotting to protest Israel's inclusion. Spain, Ireland and Slovenia are also refusing to broadcast this week’s contest at all. The withdrawals mark the contest’s biggest-ever political boycott and reduce the number of participating countries to the fewest since entry was expanded in 2004.

Israel's war in the Gaza Strip prompted the withdrawals, though some broadcasters also cited suspicions that the public televoting system was manipulated to boost Israel in last year’s contest in Basel, Switzerland. Organizers declined to exclude Israel, leading to the December announcement by the five countries that they would not participate.

Israeli singer Noam Bettan is among 15 acts competing for votes from viewers and national juries in Tuesday’s semifinal at the Wiener Stadthalle arena. ” The top 10 from Tuesday’s semifinal will join 10 from Thursday’s second semifinal and automatic qualifiers in the final.

Several pro-Palestinian demonstrations are planned in Vienna during Eurovision week. Activists plan to place coffins in the city center on Tuesday, lamenting in a statement that Israel has the opportunity to be celebrated despite its actions in Gaza.

Security is tight, with police officers from across Austria deployed in the capital and support from neighboring Germany. Last month a 21-year-old Austrian man accused of pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group pleaded guilty to plotting to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024.

The head of Austria’s DSN intelligence service said the terror threat posed by Islamist terror groups, as well as Iran-affiliated groups, remains at a high level.

The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, has toughened voting rules in response to the vote-rigging allegations from last year, halving the number of votes per person to 10 and tightening safeguards against suspicious or coordinated voting activity.

Professional juries return for the first time since 2022 to help decide the semifinals. Finland is the bookmakers’ favorite to qualify from Tuesday’s semifinal with the intense “Liekinheitin” (“Flamethrower”) by violinist Linda Lampenius and pop singer Pete Parkkonen.

Other acts include Greece’s Akylas with the party-rap track “Ferto,” Portuguese quintet Bandidos do Cante with “Rosa,” and San Marino’s Senhit with the anthem “Superstar” featuring Boy George. Bettan has practiced singing while being booed, as his predecessor did last year.

Eurovision director Martin Green vowed Monday to do anything in our power to find a pathway back for the boycotting countries. The contest has long mixed good-natured national rivalries with politics. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the 2024 and 2025 editions saw pro-Palestinian protests calling for Israel’s exclusion.

Each competing country has a dedicated coffee house in the city for fans to congregate. Austria is hosting for the third time after its win last year in Basel. The withdrawals were also linked by some broadcasters to concerns about media freedom, with Israel preventing their journalists from accessing Gaza.

Israel’s diaspora affairs minister said a sharp and coordinated surge in antisemitic and anti-Israel discourse surrounding the contest had been detected. The semifinals were introduced in 2004 to give acts a chance to build support before the grand final.

Ten more acts will compete in Thursday’s semifinal, with the 25-country final set for Saturday.