The world’s biggest live music spectacle came to a sparkling close on Saturday with the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest — an event that celebrates music and unity, though this year’s edition was marked by controversy surrounding Israel’s participation.
Among the top contenders vying for the iconic microphone-shaped trophy in Basel, Switzerland, were a Swedish trio singing an ode to sauna culture and an Austrian countertenor with classical training.
As always with Eurovision’s unpredictable nature, the winner could just as easily come from France, the Netherlands, or Finland — or even be the Estonian artist performing a song about Italian coffee. The grand final began at 9 p.m. local time.
According to bookmakers, Sweden’s KAJ, with their sauna-themed track “Bara Bada Bastu,” is the current frontrunner, followed closely by Austria’s JJ with his genre-blending pop-opera entry “Wasted Love.”
French chanteuse Louane has risen up the odds with “maman,” as has Dutch singer Claude with soulful ballad “C’est La Vie” and Finland’s Erika Vikman with the innuendo-laden “Ich Komme.” Estonia’s Tommy Cash is also a contender with his highly caffeinated dance-pop song “Espresso Macchiato.”
Israel’s Yuval Raphael has won many fans with her anthemic “New Day Will Rise,” but also faced protests from pro-Palestinian demonstrators calling for Israel to be kicked out of the contest over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
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Acts from 26 countries — trimmed from 37 entrants through two elimination semifinals — will perform to some 160 million viewers for the continent’s pop crown. No smoke machine, jet of flame or dizzying light display has been spared by musicians who are given 3 minutes to make their mark.
Dean Vuletic, an expert on the history of Eurovision, said the competition has become more diverse over the years, both musically and linguistically. There are songs in 20 languages this year, including Ukrainian, Icelandic, Albanian, Latvian and Maltese.
“In the past it was about having a catchy, innocuous pop song, usually in English,” he said. But in the past decade “we’ve seen songs become much more socially and politically engaged, songs that present the audience with some sort of meaning.”
“In recent years the formulaic approach to a Eurovision entry hasn’t succeeded,” he added. “An entry needs to be memorable and it needs to be authentic in order to succeed these days.”
This year’s contest has been roiled for a second year by disputes over Israel’s participation. Dozens of former participants, including last year’s winner Nemo of Switzerland, have called for Israel to be excluded.
Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protests have both taken place in Basel, though on a much smaller scale than at last year’s event in Sweden, where tensions spilled over backstage and Dutch competitor Joost Klein was expelled over an alleged altercation with a crew member.
The European Broadcasting Union or EBU, which runs Eurovision, subsequently tightened the contest’s code of conduct, calling on participants to respect Eurovision’s values of “universality, diversity, equality and inclusivity” and its political neutrality.
Performers say the backstage vibe this year is more relaxed.
After a controversial ban in 2024 on flags, apart from national ones, being waved in the arena, this year audience members can bring Palestinian flags or any others, as long as they are legal under Swiss law. Performers, though, can only wave their own country’s flag.
Axel Åhman, one third of favorites KAJ, acknowledged that it’s tough to keep Eurovision an unpolitical event.
“The world always seeps in in some sense,” he told the AP. “But we’re here to represent Sweden and we have prepared for this for all our lives and want to make the best of our moment as artists in this huge and legendary competition.
“So our main focus is there, and the politics (we) try to leave that to the EBU and those actually making the decisions.”