What is the Eurovision Song Contest? How is Israel involved?

Held this week for the 68th occasion, the Eurovision Song Contest is an international music competition that involved just seven countries when it took place for the first time, in 1956. Just under seven decades on, no fewer than 37 nations entered the latest edition of the competition, which is traditionally staged by the previous year’s winning country. In 2023, Sweden’s Loreen claimed victory with her song “Tattoo”, so the southern Swedish city of Malmö is the venue for Eurovision 2024.

Run by the European Broadcasting Union, Eurovision was conceived as “a technical experiment in television broadcasting”, the event’s organisers say. “The live, simultaneous, transnational broadcast that Europe has now been watching for nearly 70 years was in the late 1950s a marvel.”

How does the Eurovision Song Contest work?

Every year, each participating country nominates a singer or group to represent it at Eurovision, which in its current form consists of three live shows: two semi-finals held in the midweek before the final, which then takes place that Saturday.

Throughout its history, Eurovision has been a launchpad to international renown for several artists who have earned a country’s nomination. Among the contestants who have become household names are the Swedish group ABBA, who finished first at Eurovision 1974, and the Canadian singer Celine Dion, who won the competition for Switzerland in 1988 (performers do not actually have to be from the country they represent, although they normally are). Spain’s Julio Iglesias is also a former participant, having come fourth in 1970.

At the contest, each country’s act is allowed to perform one song (down from an initial two), and must stick to three chief rules outlined on the Eurovision website. One: songs must be original, and cannot last for more than three minutes. Two: lead vocals must be sung live. Three: in each performance, there can be no more than six performers on stage.

After every act has performed its song, a five-person jury from every nation awards points to its 10 favourite entries: depending on its position in a jury’s top 10, a track can earn 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 or 12 points. Since 1997, acts have also received points on the same 1-12 scale from TV viewers, who can vote for their favourite performances by phone, text and on the official Eurovision app. Countries cannot vote for themselves.

Over the years, countries’ Eurovision voting habits have not always been characterised by unquestionable objectivity. Indeed, studies have shown that certain nations, particularly those close to each other geographically and culturally, have tended to vote for each other. Per a 2017 paper by academics at the University of Florida, for example, such “collusive pairs” have included the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a number of Scandinavian countries.

Which countries have won Eurovision the most?

Ireland and Sweden are Eurovision’s most successful nations, having each won the contest seven times. France, Luxembourg, the UK and the Netherlands all have five wins, and Israel has the third-highest tally of victories, with four.

Protests against Israel’s participation in Sweden

At this year’s Eurovision final, Israel is to be represented by the 20-year-old singer Eden Golan, against a backdrop of protests over the country’s involvement in the contest.

Amid Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, where a reported 35,000 people have been killed, Golan was booed by audience members as she performed her song, “Hurricane”, during a dress rehearsal for Thursday’s second semi-final. Her submission had only been accepted by Eurovision organisers after lyrics thought to refer to Hamas’ 7 October attack in southern Israel were removed.

In addition to boos for Golan, Malmö has witnessed demonstrations by pro-Palestinian protestors calling for Israel’s exclusion from Eurovision. Per AP, more than 10,000 people marched through the city on Thursday, chanting “free Palestine” and “Israel is a terror state”. And this weekend, an alternative music competition dubbed “a song contest without genocide” is to be held.

What is Israel doing in the Eurovision Song Contest anyway?

Given that Israel is a country that lies in West Asia, sandwiched between Egypt and Jordan, you can be forgiven for wondering why it is involved in the Eurovision Song Contest in the first place.

Despite being a non-European country, it is eligible for the competition thanks to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation’s membership of the European Broadcasting Union. The body includes member countries that are not technically in Europe, but do lie within what’s known as the European Broadcasting Area - a zone that extends slightly beyond Europe’s geographical boundaries.

2024 Eurovision Song Contest final: start time, how to watch

Held at Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden, this year’s Eurovision final takes place on Saturday 11 May 2024, and is scheduled to start at 3pm ET/12 noon PT. Viewers in the US can watch the event on Peacock.