Eurovision is coming: Controversies, bets and… ABBA? Everything you need to know about the festival – Life

This year the Eurovision festival takes place in Malmö, Sweden, and 37 countries will compete in an effort to unite through music that every year tries to exclude international conflicts.

The two Semi-Finals take place on May 7th and 9th, followed by the Grand Final on May 11th. As is customary, the competition is organized by the previous year’s winner, Sweden, who triumphed in 2023 with “Tattoo” by Loreen.

Sweden is considered a Eurovision powerhouse, having won the contest seven times, a number matched only by Ireland. Loreen was the second performer and the first woman to win the festival on two occasions, after Johnny Logan, for Ireland, won three times, one of them as a composer.

This year is also special because it marks the 50th anniversary of one of Eurovision’s most iconic moments, ABBA’s victory in the 1974 contest, with “Waterloo”. The victory propelled the band to stardom and helped transform the Swedish music industry.

Fans are hoping for an appearance from the Swedish group in Malmö, although the band members have not confirmed this possibility.

The contest venue will be the Malmö Arena, with a capacity of up to 15,500 people and will be hosted by Swedish comedian and actress Petra Mede and Swedish-American actress Malin Åkerman.

How to watch Eurovision?

In Portugal, RTP1, RTP Internacional and RTP Play will follow the broadcasts of the Semi-Finals and Final on the 7th, 9th and 11th of May. The first Semi-Final and Final will be broadcast live from 8pm each day. The second Semifinal will be broadcast delayed at 10:30 pm. Nuno Galopim and José Carlos Malato are once again the voices that narrate Eurovision in Portugal.

Furthermore, the contest will be broadcast by national broadcasters in the remaining participating countries, on the streaming Peacock in the United States and the Eurovision channel on YouTube. Viewers in the US and other non-participating countries can vote online or using the Eurovision app. Viewers in participating countries can also vote by phone or text message during the contest.

When will Portugal participate?

This year’s winner of the RTP Song Festival, Iolanda, will perform in the first Semi-Final, scheduled for May 7th, where representatives from Cyprus, Serbia, Lithuania, Ireland, Ukraine, Poland, Croatia, Iceland, Slovenia, Finland will also be present. , Moldova, Azerbaijan, Australia and Luxembourg. The national song “Grito” is in 14th place next Tuesday.

Iolanda’s entire experience in Sweden is being followed on the Festival da Canção’s social networks: Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, YouTube and Official Website.

What are the political controversies this year?

The motto of Eurovision is “united by music” and the organizer, the European Broadcasting Union, strives to keep political divisions out of the competition, although it does not always succeed.

Russia has been banned since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and last year’s contest was held in the English city of Liverpool because the 2022 winner, Ukraine, remained at war.

This year, pro-Palestinian activists and some musicians called on organizers to remove Israel from the event due to its conduct in the war against Hamas, which has killed more than 33,000 people in Gaza, according to the local Health Ministry.

Israel was not suspended, but was forced to change the lyrics of the competing song, originally titled “October Rain,” an apparent reference to the October 7 cross-border Hamas attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis. Renamed “Hurricane”, the ballad will be performed by 20-year-old singer Eden Golan.

With political tensions high, organizers issued a statement that they “strongly oppose any form of online abuse, hate speech or harassment directed at the artists or any individuals associated with the contest.”

Pro-Palestinian groups plan demonstrations in central Malmö during Eurovision week, and hope to attract thousands of protesters from Sweden and neighboring countries.

Malmö district police chief Petra Stenkula said security would be “tight”, with Swedish police reinforced by officers from Denmark and Norway.

The competition organizers also announced that all flags from non-participating countries were prohibited, with the audience only being able to take flags from the countries in the competition and the flag of the LGBTQIA+ community (Rainbow Flag).

Who is the favorite?

Bookmakers have Switzerland as favorites, giving the rapper and Swiss singer Nemo Mettler 23% chance of winning with the song “The Code”, according to fan site Eurovisionworld. Switzerland will appear in the first half of the second Semifinal, on May 9th, where Malta, Albania, Greece, Switzerland, Czechia, Austria, Denmark, Armenia, Latvia, San Marino, Georgia, Belgium, Estonia, Israel will also compete. , Norway and the Netherlands.