The Eurovision final lineup is confirmed after 5 more countries are sent packing

VIENNA (AP) — The lineup for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest has been decided, with five more countries sent home after the second semifinal on Thursday.

Fifteen countries battled for 10 of the 25 spots in Saturday’s finale of the pan-continental pop competition, with the results decided by votes from national juries and viewers around the world.

Those heading for the final include Denmark’s Søren Torpegaard Lund with the sultry “Før Vi Går Hjem” (“Before We Go Home”), Australian star Delta Goodrem with power ballad “Eclipse” and Bulgarian singer Dara with the catchy “Bangaranga.”

Singers Daniel Žižka from Czechia, Leléka from Ukraine, Alis from Albania, Aidan from Malta, Antigoni from Cyprus, Alexandra Căpitănescu from Romania and Jonas Lovv from Norway also qualified. Performers from Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Armenia, Switzerland and Latvia were eliminated.

Ten other acts secured a place through a semifinal on Tuesday, including Finland’s Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius, Greek rapper Akylas, Serbian goth metal band Lavina, Moldovan folk-rapper Satoshi and Israeli singer Noam Bettan.

The U.K., France, Germany and Italy automatically qualify for the final because they are among the contest’s biggest funders. Austria, last year’s winner, gets a place in the final as host country.

Protests and political tensions

The contest’s motto is “United by Music,” and it aims to steer clear of politics — often unsuccessfully. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The 2024 contest in Malmo, Sweden, and last year’s event in Basel, Switzerland, saw pro-Palestinian protests that called for Israel to be expelled over the conduct of its war against Hamas in Gaza. A demonstration against Israel’s participation is planned ahead of Saturday’s final in Vienna.

Five countries — Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland — are boycotting Eurovision this year because of Israel’s inclusion.

Israel has also faced allegations it ran a rule-breaking marketing campaign to get votes for its contestants. The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, has toughened voting rules in response, halving the number of votes per person to 10 and tightening safeguards against “suspicious or coordinated voting activity.”

Israel’s Bettan was met with some protest chants when he performed in Tuesday’s semifinal. Unlike in previous years, Palestinian flags are being allowed in the arena and Austrian broadcaster ORF says it will not mute any booing.

The five-country boycott is a revenue and viewership blow to an event that organizers say was watched by 166 million people around the world last year. Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania have returned after skipping the event for artistic or financial reasons in recent years, but the number of participants is still the lowest since 2003.

Still, Eurovision is eyeing expansion, with a spinoff Eurovision Song Contest Asia due to take place in Bangkok in November.

Contest director Martin Green said Thursday he is hopeful Hungary will return to Eurovision for the first time since 2019 now that Prime Minister Péter Magyar has replaced the nationalist-populist leader Viktor Orbán.

And he said the door remains open to the five boycotting countries.

“We’ve made it very clear to them we can’t wait for them to come back,” Green said.