MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The finals of the Eurovision Song Contest air this weekend. Pop acts from 35 countries are competing. Eurovision launched 70 years ago to foster European unity after World War II. Esme Nicholson reports on a boycott this year over Israel's continued inclusion.
(CROSSTALK)
ESME NICHOLSON, BYLINE: As a man I met in a bar the other night told me, never underestimate the power of Eurovision - the high-camp music extravaganza that last year drew 166 million viewers worldwide.
(SOUNDBITE OF CELINE DION SONG, "NE PARTEZ PAS SANS MOI")
NICHOLSON: After all, pop doyenne Celine Dion launched her career on its stage back in 1988, donning a shoulder-padded blazer and rah-rah skirt combo that screamed power ballad as loudly as she could.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NE PARTEZ PAS SANS MOI")
CELINE DION: (Singing in French).
NICHOLSON: And - brace yourselves - without Eurovision, there'd be no Abba...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WATERLOO")
ABBA: (Singing) My, my. At Waterloo, Napoleon...
NICHOLSON: ...Who, of course, shot to global fame after winning with "Waterloo" in 1974. But the contest is about so much more than the music.
NICKOLAI TODOROV: "Cha Cha Cha" was an amazing song, and also the Croatian song, which was robbed.
NICHOLSON: The ostentatious costumes, the melodramatic choreography, the lighting - they are all hallmarks of the performative histrionics and spectacle that is Eurovision.
TODOROV: The kitsch, the glamour, also the campiness of it, the oddness of it. It's a very bizarre phenomenon.
NICHOLSON: That's Nickolai Todorov (ph), the man I met in the bar where people are gathering to watch the contest's semifinal. Todorov has been watching Eurovision since before the end of communism in his native Bulgaria.
TODOROV: It's always trying not to be political, but of course, politics always comes into it.
NICHOLSON: This year, politics is center stage as five countries boycott the contest because Israel is allowed to compete despite its war in Gaza, which it launched following the Hamas attacks of October 2023. They accuse the organizers, the European Broadcasting Union, of double standards, seeing as it banned Russia in 2022 following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Among those boycotting it are Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain.
BARBARA BARREIRO LEON: They canceled the pre-party in Madrid this year, which is one of the biggest ones in Europe.
NICHOLSON: Barbara Barreiro Leon is a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen who dedicates her academic research to Eurovision.
BARREIRO LEON: A lot of people I know who are from Spain and are Eurovision fans - they are also boycotting Eurovision this year.
NICHOLSON: Barreiro Leon explains that Israel has taken part in Eurovision since 1973 because the European Broadcasting Union map is bigger than the geopolitical map of Europe. It reflects the region served by telecommunications cables more than a century ago. Australia's inclusion, she says, has more to do with enthusiasm than anything else, adding that the contest was always about cultural diplomacy.
BARREIRO LEON: It's a tool for cultural memory and preservation of national heritage.
NICHOLSON: Eurovision is run by the region's public broadcasters. Barreiro Leon says that when they launched the contest in 1956, it was to showcase the latest in live-television technology. But as these public broadcasters, which strive to be impartial, come increasingly under attack from far-right populists from across the continent, the very event is becoming more political.
(CROSSTALK)
NICHOLSON: Back in the bar, fans are not worried about politics as they kick back, order another cocktail and enjoy the song and dance.
For NPR News, I'm Esme Nicholson in Berlin.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "POUPEE DE CIRE, POUPEE DE SON")
FRANCE GALL: (Singing in French). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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