Eurovision Song Contest 2025: Politics, scandals and favorites

The Eurovision Song Contest gets down to business with the first semifinal on Tuesday, May 13th. The artists from the 37 participating countries rehearsed their performances for over a week on the stage of the St. Jakobshalle in Basel. On the last Sunday before the contest in Switzerland , everyone gathered for the official opening ceremony, which was intended to reflect the festive and inclusive nature of the contest. But it was not without its share of excitement.

Disrupted start of the ESC

This time, the organizers had something special in mind. Instead of having the artists walk across a turquoise ESC carpet in the presence of accredited journalists and select fans, they held a parade through the city center. Participants presented themselves on a turquoise catwalk in front of the town hall, then boarded vintage or retro trams and traveled the almost 1.5-kilometer route over the Rhine Bridge to the exhibition halls – accompanied by brass bands, traditional costume and carnival clubs, and past approximately 100,000 spectators.

Along the roadside, people not only held up the flags of the participating countries or the flags of the LGBTQ+ community , which are common at the Eurovision Song Contest, but also Palestinian flags. Placards accused the Eurovision Song Contest of complicity in genocide.

The reason for the protests is Israel's participation. Israeli artist Yuval Raphael was booed outside City Hall. There were threatening gestures. and an attempt to stop the tram she was riding in. However, there were no major incidents. Protesters numbered only a few hundred – in contrast to last year's Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, where thousands marched through the city center for several days . Israel's representative at the time, Eden Golan, felt the wrath of other Eurovision Song Contest participants.

EBU intervenes and remains silent

To prevent similar incidents from occurring again at the Eurovision Song Contest this year, the organizer, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), has required artists, members of official delegations, and journalists to sign a code of conduct designed to ensure respectful interaction. One of the central points of this set of rules is the prohibition of any political statements. "The Eurovision Song Contest respects freedom of expression as a fundamental right. Participants retain their right to freedom of expression outside of the competition," the document states.

Due to the EBU's strict stance, the article on the official Eurovision Song Contest website about Yuval Raphael apparently makes no mention of a pivotal event in the 24-year-old's life. The singer survived the Hamas terrorist attack on the Supernova Festival on October 7, 2023, by lying for several hours under the bodies of murdered young people.

Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip in response to the Hamas attack sparked protests at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. This year, for the first time, the Spanish broadcaster RTVE called for a Debate over the participation of the Israeli broadcaster KAN in the contest ( according to the official rules, it is not a country, but a broadcasting company that participates in the Eurovision Song Contest, ed. ). A few days before the Eurovision Song Contest began, more than 70 former contestants, musicians, and songwriters called for Israel's exclusion. They accused the EBU of double standards, given that Russia was excluded from the contest following its attack on Ukraine in 2022. Last year's Eurovision Song Contest winner, Swiss singer Nemo , later joined this call.

In response, ESC Director Martin Green renewed his support for the Israeli broadcaster and emphasized that it is not the EBU's role to compare conflicts. The EBU had, incidentally, justified the exclusion of Russia's First Channel and Rossiya from the ESC by citing their failure to comply with the principles of public service broadcasters.

Scandals and favorites

Compared to this debate, the outrage of the Vice President of the Italian Senate, Gian Marco Centinaio, of the right-wing populist party "Lega," against Estonian rapper Tommy Cash is nothing more than a storm in a teacup. In his song "Espresso Macchiato," he mocks common Italian clichés and Italians. "I work around the clock, so I sweat like a mafioso" – this sentence particularly bothered Centinaio, and he demanded that the Estonian be excluded from the competition. Estonia , however, is unlikely to face sanctions.

The Finnish trio KAJ, representing Sweden , also takes aim at a national idiosyncrasy: in the song "Bara Bada Bastu," they poke fun at the Finns' love of saunas. So far, this folk-pop composition, almost in the genre of a folk song, is the bookmakers' absolute favorite. This could give Sweden its eighth victory in this competition—which would be a record.

Erika Vikman, also from Finland , sings the brutally catchy hit "Ich komme" (I'm Coming) in German, with which she quite clearly alludes to sexual climax. Reportedly, the Eurovision organizers asked her to make the performance, her costume, and the choreography a little less erotic. Will she comply?

24-year-old Maltese singer Miriana Conte, however, had to change the title of her R&B-style song: The original title, "Kant," which means "singing" in Maltese, is a vulgar term for the female genitalia in English—albeit spelled differently. The BBC criticized "Serving Kant" as being in poor taste for a family show. So, the song is now simply called "Serving," and the word "Kant" is no longer used.

According to bookmakers' predictions, Miriana Conte, Erika Vikman, and Tommy Cash can maintain their positions among the top ten favorites one week before the Eurovision final. However, they give the best chances of success to the ballads "Maman" by French singer Louane and "New Day Will Rise" by Israeli singer Yuval Raphael, and of course, to countertenor JJ, who will represent Austria with the pop aria "Wasted Love."

ESC trends in Basel

Germany is hoping for a success with the electro-pop composition "Baller" by the duo Abor & Tynna, siblings Attila and Tünde Bornemisza from Vienna. This time, Germany is right on trend at the current Eurovision Song Contest: Finns are competing for Sweden, a Norwegian for Ireland , a Slovak for the Czech Republic , and an Italian for San Marino – all with the title "Tutta l'Italia" ("All of Italy").

Another special feature of this year’s competition is the number of songs that will not be performed in English at all or only partially – more than half of the 37 songs will be performed in other languages. The winner will be determined based on the results of the first and second semi-finals on May 13 and 15, respectively, and the final on Saturday, May 17.