By Issy Ronald, CNN
(CNN) — Despite Eurovision’s insistence it is apolitical, politics has always been part of the continent-wide song contest, as much a feature as whatever constellation of pyrotechnics and power ballads are on display that year.
But where, previously, politics was somewhat of a punchline, a useful indicator for cynical fans to guess which country might award points to another, this year it is threatening to overshadow the entire contest.
Five countries – Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Iceland – are boycotting this year’s event over Israel’s continued participation in it, marking the biggest crisis in the contest’s 70-year history.
The furor has dampened the festivities of the normally high-camp, joyful, gaudy extravaganza, in which acts representing different, mostly European countries each perform a song, competing to be crowned the winner after a public and jury vote.
It was watched by 166 million people on TV last year and has become a key cultural touchstone for the LGBTQ+ community. But only 35 countries traveled to Vienna, Austria for this year’s contest, which culminates in Saturday’s grand final, representing the lowest number of competitors since 2004. Visiting fan numbers may also be down.
“We can see that there are tickets still available for the final on Saturday, which is kind of unheard of,” Frank Dermody, president of the Irish Eurovision Fanclub, told CNN from Vienna. Where around 800 Irish fans will normally travel to the host city, this year only about 40 have made the trip, he said.
“There’s a lot of people from other countries who are not coming as well. They just don’t feel comfortable. They might get FOMO in the coming days and just turn up to the city itself but right now I would say there’s a smaller than average crowd,” he said.
Rule changes after claims of influence effort
Israel’s participation in the contest has proven controversial for the past two years due to its war in Gaza, sparking some protests and boycotts from fans.
In December, divisions between the countries who make up the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes Eurovision, burst into the open when they met to discuss the matter.
They ended up not holding a vote on Israel’s participation in the contest but introduced “targeted changes” to “reinforce trust, transparency and the neutrality of the event,” the EBU said in December. Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia promptly announced their boycott, and Iceland joined a week later. At the time, Israel’s foreign minister said he was “ashamed” of the countries boycotting the contest.
That all came after rumors and accusations that the Israeli government had influenced the results of the last two competitions by promoting a mass voting campaign.
The EBU has never commented publicly on such allegations, but a New York Times investigation published Monday described a “well-organized campaign by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government that embraced Eurovision as a soft power tool, and a secretive contest organizer that was ill-equipped to respond.”
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment to CNN. Amichai Chikli, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs, said in a statement that his ministry “has identified a sharp and coordinated surge in antisemitic and anti-Israel discourse surrounding Eurovision 2026.”
Under the contest’s previous rules, one person could vote up to 20 times, meaning that a few hundred people could sway the public vote, the Times found. Eurovision director Martin Gree