Eurovision Song Contest

Crossposted from https://feddit.uk/post/50320799

THE 2026 EUROVISION Song Contest was watched by 131 million viewers, organisers said Friday, down 35 million on the year before after Ireland and four other countries boycotted over Israel’s participation.

Bulgaria won the contest for the first time with Dara’s catchy floor-filler “Bangaranga” sweeping the 70th edition of the world’s biggest live televised music event, with Israel finishing in second place. The UK finished last.

RTÉ joined broadcasters in Spain, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands in deciding not to send an act or air the contest in protest at Israel’s participation amid its war on Gaza.

The 2025 contest was watched by an average audience of 5.8 million people in Spain, and 3.5 million people in the Netherlands. In Ireland, RTÉ’s broadcast of last year’s contest garnered an average of 268,000 viewers.

This year’s Eurovision was held in Vienna, with the grand final taking place on 16 May.

Protests were held in Vienna over Israel’s participation, and chants of ‘stop of the genocide’ could be heard during Israel’s performance in the semi-final.

The contest is run by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the world’s biggest public-service media alliance.

“While some of our figures are naturally lower without those of our five members who chose not to participate this year, we remain committed to doing everything possible to find pathways back for them in 2027,” said Eurovision director Martin Green.

Big Nordic audiences

The biggest share of viewers watching Eurovision was recorded in Finland (93%), Sweden (86%), Norway (83%) and Denmark (79%).

Across the board in 35 measured TV markets, the grand final attracted an average viewing share of 42.6%.

The share for viewers aged 15 to 24 was higher, at 54.8%.

The EBU noted that viewing figures were down 3.8 million in Poland, 3.7 million in Britain and 3.3 million in France, compared to those for Eurovision 2025, held in the Swiss city of Basel.

Eurovision garnered more than a billion views for content on Instagram this year.

“It’s fantastic to see the impact the Eurovision Song Contest is having on young audiences globally,” said Green.

“The hundreds of millions reached via our digital platforms also underlines the Eurovision Song Contest’s 70-year evolution from a TV show to a true global, cultural, multi-platform phenomenon.”

People in 148 different countries and territories cast votes for their favourites.

Outside the 35 participating countries, the biggest votes were received from the United States, the Netherlands, Canada, Spain, Ireland, Slovakia and Turkey. Continue Reading - https://www.thejournal.ie/eurovision-viewers-down-israel-7062161-Jun2026/

Crossposted from https://feddit.org/post/29823706

Crossposted from https://sh.itjust.works/post/59116071

This May, millions of people are expected to tune in to the 70th Eurovision Song Contest. For the third consecutive year, they’ll find Israel celebrated onstage despite its ongoing genocide in Gaza, while Russia remains banned for its illegal invasion of Ukraine.

As musicians and cultural workers, many living within the reaches of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), we reject Eurovision being used to whitewash and normalise Israel’s genocide, siege and brutal military occupation against Palestinians.

We stand in solidarity with Palestinian calls for public broadcasters, performers, screening party organisers, crew, and fans to boycott Eurovision until the EBU bans complicit Israeli broadcaster KAN.

We applaud the principled withdrawals of the Spanish, Irish, Icelandic, Slovenian, and Dutch broadcasters, and the many national selection finalists committing to refuse to go to Eurovision. Just as artists stood against oppression in South Africa, we stand together now.

Apartheid Israel’s president Isaac Herzog – named in South Africa’s submission to the International Court of Justice for inciting to genocide – has played a leading role in lobbying broadcasters not to ban Israel from the contest, the world’s most-watched live music event.

The EBU's hypocritical responses to Russia’s and Israel’s crimes have removed any illusion of Eurovision's claimed “neutrality”. In 2022, the EBU said that Russia’s presence would “bring the competition into disrepute”.

Yet more than 30 months of genocide in Gaza – alongside ethnic cleansing and land theft in the besieged West Bank – aren’t considered sufficient to apply the same policy to Israel.

How can any performer or Eurovision fan in good conscience participate at the contest’s next edition in Austria amidst US-Israeli plans for hyper-surveilled concentration camps in 'New Gaza'? There are moments in time when passive silence is not an option.

We refuse to be silent when Israel’s genocidal violence soundtracks and silences Palestinian lives. When children in Israeli prisons endure beatings for humming a tune. When all that’s left of nearly every stage, studio, bookshop and university in Gaza is piles of rubble, under which slaughtered bodies still await recovery and proper burial.

As artists, we recognise our collective agency – and the power of refusal. We refuse to be silent. We refuse to be complicit. We call on others in our industry to join us. And we stand in solidarity with all principled efforts to end complicity in every industry.

No stage for genocide. #BoycottEurovision.

Initial Signatories include Brian Eno, Massive Attack, Sigur Rós, Nadine Shah, Idles, Young Fathers, Kneecap, Erika de Casier, Paul Weller, Mogwai, Smerz, Nemahsis, Macklemore, Roger Waters, Peter Gabriel, Primal Scream, Ólafur Arnalds, Of Monsters And Men, Paloma Faith, Black Country New Road, Salute, David Holmes, Dry Cleaning, Hot Chip, Midland, Olof Dreijer from The Knife, Mechatok, Lido Pimienta and former Eurovision winners Emmelie de Forest and Charlie McGettigan

SIGN THE STATEMENT

GEOBLOCK YOUR MUSIC

Crossposted from https://feddit.uk/post/47842441

Celebrated musicians including Massive Attack, Kneecap, Brian Eno, Sigur Rós, Nadine Shah, and many more have signed an open letter calling for a boycott of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in protest of Israel’s participation.

Campaign groups No Music For Genocide and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel are calling for a boycott of this year’s highly divisive Eurovision Song Contest.

More than 1,000 artists, including Massive Attack, Kneecap, Brian Eno, Sigur Rós, Nadine Shah, Mogwai and Hot Chip, have signed an open letter calling for a boycott of Eurovision 2026 in protest of Israel’s participation.

The letter calls upon the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to ban KAN – the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation – from the upcoming contest.

“For the third consecutive year,” the letter states, Israel will be “celebrated onstage despite its ongoing genocide in Gaza, while Russia remains banned for its illegal invasion of Ukraine.”

“We refuse to be silent when Israel’s genocidal violence soundtracks and silences Palestinian lives,” the letter reads. “When children in Israeli prisons endure beatings for humming a tune. When all that’s left of nearly every stage, studio, bookshop and university in Gaza is piles of rubble, under which slaughtered bodies still await recovery and proper burial.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for No Music For Genocide said: “People of conscience around the globe are fighting complicity in every industry for a free Palestine and a freer world. While many of us in the industry make light of Eurovision or doubt our own power as cultural producers, genocidal Israel’s leaders speak openly about the contest’s geopolitical value.”

Continue reading HERE

How else could it explain allowing Israel to continue to participate in the competition, while other countries have dropped out condemning what Israel have done and continue to do.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-strikes-gaza-school-kill-10-health-crisis-deepens-under-siege

Crossposted from https://sopuli.xyz/post/43075983

Edited to add more data (sorry Vatican City, you were not on the map app I used, but you are a no)

The important bit:

Felicia stated in an interview with TT that she believed that Israel should not be allowed to compete in Eurovision 2026. According to the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest, artists are not allowed to take a political stance.

The member broadcasters of the EBU Held the annual Winter Meeting on 4 December, after the organizing body delayed the meeting while they decided what to do about Israel.

A rules change package was proposed, and many come in direct response to Israel's behavior in the 2025 contest. (Government social media pushing votes, significant ad spend across Europe to support their artist) Those rules changes are:

• Juries are back in the Semi Finals. The last few years have been televote-only. There will be a 50/50 split weight.
• Juries increase from 5 to 7 people per country, and 2 of them must now be 18-25 years old.
• Half as many votes allowed per payment method, from 20 down to 10.
• "discourage disproportionate promotion campaigns…particularly when undertaken or supported by third parties, including governments or governmental agencies.”

Unfortunately, the EBU reportedly met separately with Israeli officials to negotiate the rules package in advance. When the actual voting was announced, the EBU tied the votes on Israeli participation and the rules package together, with the idea that member countries voting Yes on the rules package believed that it was enough to deal with the situation. Only if the rules package was voted down could a separate vote be held on Israeli participation.

Here's a leaked picture from inside the meeting showing the voting terms and results.

Several of the rules changes were desired for years, and so the motion was adopted. No vote was held on participation.

In my opinion this is very shady behavior from the EBU. While I personally think these are good rules change, there's no reason they should have been tied to the Israel vote.

In essence, the EBU has determined that Israel's participation is more important than that of Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and the Netherlands (as those countries had promised to boycott). An interesting twist of history is that Spain has never missed a Eurovision, and they are boycotting to oppose the inclusion of a country with an authoritarian government, just as Franco's Spainish participation was itself boycotted in 1970.

One argument we have heard in favor of Israeli participation has been that it is important to support independent public broadcasters in member countries where they are under threat, and indeed that is a core function of the EBU. Russia was allowed to participate under that principle until after the full scale invasion of Ukraine.

KAN, the Israel public broadcaster, was fairly independent and so this argument held water, but the last two years have seen significant interference from the government, including the selection of the propaganda song "October Rain". The Netanyahu government has been vocal about their dislike of KAN due to critical reporting.

The EBU choosing to favor KAN is especially short sighted when you consider that a bill to privatize and/or shut down KAN is currently in the Knesset , at which point Israel would be ineligible to participate in the EBU and by extension the ESC.

Cross posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/40957293

The winner of last year's Eurovision Song Contest, Nemo, has said they are returning their trophy in protest over Israel's continued participation in the event.

The 26-year-old Swiss singer said there is a "clear conflict" between Israel's involvement in the competition and the ideals of "unity, inclusion and dignity" the contest says it stands for.

Israel's presence at Eurovision has been an increasing source of tension, because of the war in Gaza and a voting controversy during this year's event.

Five countries - Iceland, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands - have announced they will boycott next year's event because Israel has been allowed to compete.

Israel has previously called the decision to keep it in the contest a "victory" over critics who had tried to silence it and spread hatred.

Nemo became the first non-binary performer to lift the Eurovision trophy with their song The Code, which is about the path to realising they were non-binary.

After the win, Nemo told the BBC about the challenges they faced during the contest and their feeling that organisers didn't do enough to support participants who were caught up in the row over Israel's inclusion in 2024.

Continue reading here - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q5504vv0ko

Cross posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/40957286

Belgium already confirmed their participation

Poland reaffirms participation at Eurovision 2026

Poland’s national broadcaster TVP has reaffirmed it will take part at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2026. It comes amid pressure on the broadcaster to withdraw from the competition in the wake of Israel’s inclusion.

Poland “offering opportunity” for music In a statement given to Polish news outlet Gazeta, TVP confirmed that it would indeed be participating in next year’s competition in Vienna. The statement read:

We are aware of the scale of tension surrounding the upcoming edition. We understand the emotions and concerns. However, we believe that Eurovision still has a chance to once again become a space filled with music. And only music. We, like the overwhelming majority of EBU members, are offering this opportunity.

TVP had originally confirmed its participation in November, but came under increasing pressure following the controversial vote to approve voting reforms — and in turn, keep Israel in the Contest. Poland’s culture minister had also called on TVP to reconsider their position. However, on Wednesday (December 10th), the channel confirmed its position on the list of participating countries.

Continue reading here - https://thateurovisionsite.com/2025/12/11/poland-reaffirms-eurovision-2026/

Iceland’s broadcaster RÚV will not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 due to Israel’s participation. The decision was made at a meeting of the RÚV board 10 December 2025, 17:27 CET The board of the Icelandic broadcaster RÚV has decided not to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna.

In a press release, RÚV explains that Iceland will not take part in next year’s contest due to Israel’s confirmed participation:

– It is clear from the public debate in this country and the reaction to the EBU's decision made last week that there will be neither joy nor peace regarding RÚV's participation in Eurovision. It is therefore RÚV's decision to inform the EBU today that RÚV will not participate in Eurovision next year.

PRESS RELEASE Icelandic National Broadcasting - Press release 10 December 2025

Continue reading here - https://eurovisionworld.com/esc/iceland-will-not-participate-in-eurovision-2026

I would be very surprised if Iceland vote to stay in the competition while Israel are allowed. Could be that the dominoes are starting to fall.

THE ARTICLE:

Iceland will determine its participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 next week.

The board of Icelandic national broadcaster RÚV has confirmed that they will be discussing the Nordic country’s participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in a meeting on Wednesday, December 10. It is expected that a decision on whether Iceland withdraws from the contest will be made on that date. This comes after today’s EBU General Assembly vote confirming that Israeli broadcaster KAN would be allowed to participate in this year’s contest.

Last week, the RÚV board approved a recommendation calling for the EBU to remove Israel from the competition. Meanwhile, a survey in October revealed that nearly 60 percent of Icelanders prefer the country to withdraw from Eurovision were Israel to remain in the contest.

Continue reading here - https://eurovoix.com/2025/12/04/iceland-ruv-board-to-discuss-eurovision-participation-next-week/

There had been calls for Israel to be excluded over the conduct of the war in Gaza.

Crossposted from https://sh.itjust.works/post/46757545

Crossposted from https://piefed.social/post/1288823

Up to 5 saying no to israel.

RTÉ has announced that it will not take part in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest "if the participation of Israel goes ahead".

In a statement, the broadcaster said that "it is RTÉ's position that Ireland will not take part in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, if the participation of Israel goes ahead, and the final decision regarding Ireland’s participation will be made once the EBU’s decision is made".

RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst said that "RTÉ feels that Ireland’s participation would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza. RTÉ is also deeply concerned by the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza, the denial of access to international journalists to the territory, and the plight of the remaining hostages".

Speaking to reporters, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers said he supports and respects RTÉ's decision.

While Mr Chambers said he was not aware of any contact between the broadcaster and the Government about the move, the minister said: "I think we’ve all been shocked over the summer to see the innocent killing of journalists who are providing objective information to the world about the genocide in Gaza and Israel’s activities and I absolutely respect RTE’s decision."

Eurovision director Martin Green said: "We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

"We are still consulting with all EBU members to gather views on how we manage participation and geopolitical tensions around the Eurovision Song Contest.

"Broadcasters have until mid-December to confirm if they wish to take part in next year’s event in Vienna.

"It is up to each member to decide if they want to take part in the contest and we would respect any decision broadcasters make."

The National Union of Journalists Dublin Broadcasting Branch said it welcomed the announcement. In a statement, they said its members working in RTÉ supported the decision not to take part if Israel is included.

Crossposted from https://lemmy.ml/post/36045128

Dutch broadcast company AVROTROS has announced that the Netherlands will boycott the 2026 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is allowed to compete. The Netherlands is the fifth country to announce a planned boycott of the event, which is scheduled to be held in Vienna.

“AVROTROS can no longer justify Israel’s participation in the current situation, given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza,” the company said in a statement. The organization manages Dutch participation and broadcast rights for the competition as part of the Dutch public broadcasting umbrella, NPO.

AVROTROS stated that they have been in discussions with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) regarding Israel’s participation in 2026. The broadcaster added that they are also concerned about the “serious erosion of press freedom,” citing the interference by the Israeli government in last year’s edition, claiming that the event was used as a “political instrument.”

cross-posted from: https://europe.pub/post/703286

cross-posted from: https://metawire.eu/post/98630

Am Samstagabend findet das Finale des Eurovision Song Contests in Basel statt. Wo ist die Show live zu sehen, wer startet wann und wie kann man für seinen Favoriten abstimmen? Hier sind die wichtigsten Informationen – kompakt zusammengefasst.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/29812077