Eurovision returns amid protests over Palestine, Pride flags and parody lyrics
With songs about everything from the joy of raving to the morning after the night before, from death and domestic violence to metaphorical milkshakes and poisoned cakes served in revenge, Eurovision is back for its 69th edition – hosted by Switzerland after singer Nemo's victory last year.
Ahead of the first semi-final on Tuesday night, the contest announced its arrival in host city Basel on Sunday with a parade – mixed with protests over Israel's participation – to kick off a week of revelry building up to the grand final on Saturday, 17 May.
The Eurovision Song Contest was launched in 1956 (with Switzerland the inaugural host) to foster European unity in the wake of the Second World War. A campy yet heartfelt celebration of diversity, national pride and the power of pop, it has gone from seven participating countries to 37, and is now the world's biggest annual live televised music event, reaching 163 million viewers in 150 countries in 2024.
The final on Saturday will see 26 of the 37 entrants compete for the grand prize, the rest having been eliminated in two semi-finals on Tuesday and Thursday. As the host, Switzerland is guaranteed a place in the final, as are the so-called Big Five – France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom – who contribute the most towards the cost of staging the contest.
"It's impossible to depoliticise the event," Dean Vuletic, a historian and the author of Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest, told French news agency AFP.
(with newswires)
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