Israel have sailed through to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, with the lovestruck pop song Michelle, performed by 28-year-old Noam Bettan.
The contest’s festive atmosphere has been upended in recent years by a controversy over Israel’s military action in Gaza. Five countries have boycotted the 2026 event, including seven-time winners Ireland.
Bettan faced a mixed reception at Tuesday’s semi-final. A few audience members booed and shouted anti-Israeli slogans, while others chanted his name in support.
Before the show, the singer told the Jerusalem Post he was determined to concentrate on the music and relegate any criticisms to “background noise”.
The negative reaction to Bettan’s performance was audible on the TV broadcast, after Austrian broadcaster ORF, which is hosting the show, said it would not censor protests or negative reactions to any of the contestants.
In a statement after the show, ORF and Eurovision organisers the EBU said the audience member had been “close to a microphone” and “loudly expressed their views” – both as Israel prepared to take the stage and during their song.
“They were later removed by security for continuing to disturb the audience,” the statement said.
“Three other people were also removed from the arena by security for disruptive behaviour.”
The semi-final, held at Vienna’s Wiener Stadhalle, saw 10 countries qualify for Saturday’s grand finale.
Among them were Finnish duo Pete Parkonnen and Linda Lampenius, whose tempestuous love song Liekinheitin (Flamethrower) is currently the favourite to win.
But there was disappointment for British star Boy George. The Culture Club singer appeared as a guest performer on San Marino’s entry, which failed to survive Tuesday’s vote.
Here are the acts we will see again at Saturday’s grand finale.
That means Estonia, Georgia, Montenegro, Portugal and San Marino have all been eliminated.
They included three returning Eurovision acts – Estonia’s Vanilla Ninja, San Marino’s Senhit and Georgian trio Bzikebi, who won Junior Eurovision in 2008.
Loyalty, it would seem, means nothing in the gladiatorial arena of the annual song contest.
Tuesday’s semi-final opened with a sweet film marking Eurovision’s 70th birthday. It followed the story of Toni, a young Austrian boy who grew up watching the contest – his love for the show enduring through decades of changing fashions and friendships.
Featuring famous winners like Abba, Sandie Shaw, Conchita Wurst and Nemo, it ended with Toni on stage, playing L’amour Est Bleu – originally performed by Vicky Leandros at Eurovision 1967, the first year that Austria hosted the contest.
Leandros then joined him on stage, accompanied by a 70-member choir, for a touching finale.
The contest itself kicked off with Moldovan singer Satoshi, who brought an unruly energy (and a wobbly cameraman) to his party anthem Viva, Moldova!
Swedish singer Felicia was up next, her face concealed by a mask as she sang My System, a dance track about being catching a fatal infection… of love.
All-female Croatian band Lelek changed the tone with the powerful, folkloric harmonies of Andromeda – which addressed the suppression of women during the Ottoman Empire.
But Greek singer Akylas had the most ambitious staging of the night, referencing everything from ancient Greek sculpture and knitting culture to the country’s first (and so far only) Eurovision winner, Helena Paparizou.
His song, Ferto, contrasted the materialism of the social media generation with the struggles his family endured during the Greek financial crisis of 2009-18.
One of this year’s strongest competitors, he still has to overcome Finland – who have a 34% chance of winning, according to bookmakers.
The Finnish duo gave a fiery, impassioned performance on Tuesday night, which was notable for breaking one of Eurovision’s golden rules.
Lampenius, a classical concert violinist, obtained permission to play her instrument – a 19th Century Gagliano violin – live on stage. It is only the second time that a live instrument has been allowed since 1998.
Elsewhere, Italy’s Sal Da Vinci paid tribute to his wife on the sumptuous disco track Per Sempre Si while Lithuania’s Lion Ceccah painted himself entirely in silver paint for a man-vs-machine anthem entitled Sólo Quiero Más.
Rounding off the night were leather-clad metal band Lavina, whose blood-curdling Serbian screams brought proceedings to a sinister climax.
The 10 qualifiers were selected by a combination of public votes and jury scores.
The process was overhauled for this year’s contest after accusations of voting irregularities in 2025.
Among the changes, viewers can only vote 10 times – down from 20 – and credit card details are required to vote online.
The latter measure will ensure that votes genuinely originate from the country in which they are submitted.
As the votes were counted on Tuesday night and viewers enjoyed an acrobatic tribute to Vienna’s Wurstelprater – one of the world’s oldest amusement parks.
There was also a brief cameo for Eurovision superfan Will Ferrell, and a bizarre song about the differences between Austria and Australia, which mainly centred around kangaroos.
The second semi-final will take place on Thursday, with hotly tipped acts from Denmark and France performing for the first time.
The show will also see the debut of Australian pop star Delta Goodrem, one of the most recognisable names on this year’s line-up, alongside the British entry Look Mum No Computer.
