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Noam Bettan Qualifies for Eurovision Final
The 28-year-old Israeli contestant performed 'Michelle' in Tuesday's semi-final at Vienna's Wiener Stadthalle, where audience members chanted 'stop the genocide' and four were removed. Bettan said he heard booing but received a wave of support and looked for Israeli flags for strength. Five countries are boycotting the 70th edition of the contest over Israel's participation.
May 13, 1:05 PM·2m read3 sources
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Noam Bettan qualified for Saturday's Eurovision grand final after performing his song 'Michelle' in the semi-final on Tuesday night at Vienna's Wiener Stadthalle. The 28-year-old Israeli contestant told Reuters he heard booing as he took the stage on May 13 2026. Audience members chanted 'stop the genocide' during the performance.
One audience member had 'Free Palestine' written across his chest and was removed, according to BBC News. Four audience members were removed from the arena for disruptive behaviour, the EBU and ORF stated. One audience member loudly expressed their views close to a microphone as Noam Bettan began his performance, the same statement said.
Bettan told the BBC he was surprised by the protests and experienced a 'wow effect' and 'a little bit of shock'. He told Reuters: "I heard, first of all, in the beginning, a lot of booing, and it's fine. It's part of the thing.
Bettan said he looked for Israeli flags and that they gave him strength. He told the BBC he looked for the flags of the people who love him and that this carried him through the performance. The song's lyrics include a Hebrew section meaning 'There's always someone listening', Bettan said.
He told the BBC he found the Hebrew lyric moment emotional and was proud to represent his country. Bettan said he had received a warm welcome in Vienna despite being accompanied by armed guards. Bettan practised being booed during preparations but said you cannot really prepare for 13,000 people booing.
He asked fans on social media to use all 10 of their votes for Israel. Eurovision organisers rebuked him, saying the voting post was not in the spirit of the competition and demanded it be deleted. The EBU issued a formal warning to Israel's broadcaster Kan.
