Overview
- The 70th contest stages its Grand Final on Saturday at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle, with 25 acts and BBC One and iPlayer carrying it live from 8pm BST.
- Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia have withdrawn to protest Israel’s participation during the Gaza war.
- The EBU cut each viewer’s televotes to 10, expanded national juries to seven members and warned Israel’s broadcaster KAN over videos urging fans to vote 10 times.
- Betting markets led by William Hill make Finland’s Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen the clear favourites, with Australia’s Delta Goodrem next and Israel listed as a challenger.
- Vienna has seen organised protests including the No Stage For Genocide rally, and Israel’s Noam Bettan was booed in a semi-final but advanced to perform third in the final.