Lights, camera, glitter ball: The Eurovision Song Contest reaches its grand final

BASEL Switzerland AP The world s largest live music event has reached its glitter-drenched conclusion with the grand final on Saturday of the Eurovision Song Contest a celebration of music and unity ruffled by discord over Israel s participation A trio warbling for Sweden about the joys of saunas and a classically trained Austrian countertenor are among those tipped to take the microphone-shaped Eurovision trophy at the contest in Basel Switzerland But at the ever-unpredictable event the prize could just as easily go to powerful singers from France the Netherlands or Finland or even an Estonian who sings about Italian coffee The final kicks off at p m local time Sweden s sauna song is a favorite Bookmakers say the favorite is KAJ representing Sweden with their ode to sauna civilization Bara Bada Bastu followed by Austrian singer JJ s pop-opera song 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 a great number of 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 Acts from countries trimmed from entrants through two elimination semifinals will perform to certain million viewers for the continent s pop crown No smoke machine jet of flame or dizzying light display has been spared by musicians who have minutes to win the viewers who along with national juries of music professionals pick the winner The live show is also set to feature a guest performance by nonbinary Swiss singer Nemo who won last year s contest in Sweden and a face-off between two fan favorites Baby Lasagna of Croatia the runner up with Rim Tim Tagi Dim and Finland s K rij whose rap-pop party anthem Cha Cha Cha came second in There are also rumors of an appearance by Celine Dion Before she was a global star the Canadian chanteuse won Eurovision in competing for Switzerland She sent a video message to one of the semifinals where three singers performed her winning song Ne partez pas sans moi Don t Leave Without Me An eclectic competition Dean Vuletic an expert on the history of Eurovision reported the competition has become more diverse over the years both musically and linguistically There are songs in 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 declared But in the past decade we ve seen songs become much more socially and politically engaged songs that present the audience with chosen sort of meaning In fresh years the formulaic approach to a Eurovision entry hasn t succeeded he added An entry requirements to be memorable and it necessities to be authentic in order to succeed these days Gaza war clouds the contest This year s contest has been roiled for a second year by disputes over Israel s participation Dozens of former participants including Switzerland s Nemo 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 A pro-Palestinian demonstration is planned for Saturday evening in central Basel about kilometers miles from the St Jakobshalle arena contest venue A group of Israel supporters gathered in Basel s cathedral square on Saturday to root for Raphael and to show that Jews belong in population spaces in Switzerland declared Zurich resident Rebecca Laes-Kushner She declared it would be such a strong report against antisemitism if Raphael won This is supposed to be about music not about hate she explained The European Broadcasting Union or EBU which runs Eurovision tightened the contest s code of conduct this year calling on participants to respect Eurovision s values of universality diversity equality and inclusivity and its political neutrality Performers say the backstage vibe is more relaxed After a controversial ban in 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 hman one third of favorites KAJ acknowledged that it s tough to keep Eurovision an unpolitical event The world inevitably seeps in in a few sense he advised 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 in fact making the decisions Eurovision director Martin Green communicated reporters that the organizers goal was to re-establish a sense of unity calm and togetherness this year in a demanding world All delegations in intricate times have behaved impeccably he announced Associated Press journalists Hilary Fox and Kwiyeon Ha contributed to this description Source