Was Eurovision Song Contest podcast privatized over Israel 2026 controversy

"We no longer recognise the Eurovision Song Contest we grew up with," agreed Ireland's Eirevision podcast.

From dancefloor bangers to heartfelt ballads, here are the highlights and low points of Eurovision.

However, Israel, who is sending singer Noam Bettan to Vienna with the seemingly ordinary heartbreak pop song "Michelle," will not be barred from participating, in a decision that aligns with the European Broadcasting Union's (EBU) long-standing position: The competition is an association of broadcasters, not of governments. As a result, Israel remains part of the Eurovision Song Contest.

The absence of Spain would also mark the first time that the "Big Five" is incomplete since its expansion with Italy in 2011. The boycott was described by several media outlets as "the biggest crisis in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest". Protesting the decision to permit Israel, Nemo, who won for Switzerland in 2024, returned their trophy to the EBU.

SVT's decision was made in the context of a high terroristic threat level in Sweden, with the Swedish Security Service (SÄPO) having raised the level from 3 to 4 out of 5 in August 2023, primarily in response to the 2023 Quran burnings in the ...

said in April that it would not participate as the contest’s stated mission of neutrality had become “impossible to maintain”. "No one raised an eyebrow when Russia was required to leave international competitions and not participate in Eurovision after the invasion [of Ukraine],” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, an outspoken critic of Israel’s policies in Gaza, added in May.

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The world’s largest music competition will take place in Austria's capital in 2026 as the Eurovision Song Contest celebrates its 70th anniversary. A city synonymous with musical brilliance - from Mozart to modern pop - Vienna provides a spectacular backdrop for this landmark edition of the Contest.

For her part, Forest said that while she opposed Israel's involvement and wouldn't "feel comfortable" attending, she said her criticism was directed at the EBU and the decisions being made at an institutional level, not at individual artists or ordinary fans. She said that Eurovision had always created a sense of connection and community "across countries and cultures" and said longtime fans still wanted to hold on to the contest.