<\/p>\n
Soren Torpegaard Lund from Denmark who performed the song “For Vi Gar Hjem” reacts as votes are announced during the second semifinal of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, May 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
Martin Meissner\/AP Photo\/Martin Meissner<\/p>\n
Soren Torpegaard Lund from Denmark performs the song “For Vi Gar Hjem” during the second semifinal of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, May 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
Martin Meissner\/AP Photo\/Martin Meissner<\/p>\n
Delta Goodrem from Australia performs the song “Eclipse” during the second semifinal of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, May 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
Martin Meissner\/AP Photo\/Martin Meissner<\/p>\n
Jonas Lovv from Norway performs the song “YA YA YA” during the second semifinal of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, May 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
Martin Meissner\/AP Photo\/Martin Meissner<\/p>\n
Leleka from Ukraine performs the song “Ridnym” during the second semifinal of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, May 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
Martin Meissner\/AP Photo\/Martin Meissner<\/p>\n
VIENNA (AP) \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
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Those heading for the final include Denmark\u2019s S\u00f8ren Torpegaard Lund with the sultry \u201cF\u00f8r Vi G\u00e5r Hjem\u201d (\u201cBefore We Go Home\u201d), Australian star Delta Goodrem with power ballad \u201cEclipse\u201d and Bulgarian singer Dara with the catchy \u201cBangaranga.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singers Daniel \u017di\u017eka from Czechia, Lel\u00e9ka from Ukraine, Alis from Albania, Aidan from Malta, Antigoni from Cyprus, Alexandra C\u0103pit\u0103nescu from Romania and Jonas Lovv from Norway also qualified. Performers from Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Armenia, Switzerland and Latvia were eliminated.<\/p>\n
Ten other acts secured a place through a semifinal on Tuesday, including Finland\u2019s Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius, Greek rapper Akylas, Serbian goth metal band Lavina, Moldovan folk-rapper Satoshi and Israeli singer Noam Bettan.<\/p>\n
The U.K., France, Germany and Italy automatically qualify for the final because they are among the contest\u2019s biggest funders. Austria, last year\u2019s winner, gets a place in the final as host country.<\/p>\n
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Protests and political tensions<\/p>\n
The contest\u2019s motto is \u201cUnited by Music,\u201d and it aims to steer clear of politics \u2014 often unsuccessfully. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The 2024 contest in Malmo, Sweden, and last year\u2019s 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\u2019s participation is planned ahead of Saturday\u2019s final in Vienna.<\/p>\n
Five countries \u2014 Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland \u2014 are boycotting Eurovision this year because of Israel\u2019s inclusion.<\/p>\n
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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 \u201csuspicious or coordinated voting activity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s Bettan was met with some protest chants when he performed in Tuesday\u2019s semifinal. Unlike in previous years, Palestinian flags are being allowed in the arena and Austrian broadcaster ORF says it will not mute any booing.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Still, Eurovision is eyeing expansion, with a spinoff Eurovision Song Contest Asia due to take place in Bangkok in November.<\/p>\n
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Contest director Martin Green said Thursday he is hopeful Hungary will return to Eurovision for the first time since 2019 now that Prime Minister P\u00e9ter Magyar has replaced the nationalist-populist leader Viktor Orb\u00e1n.<\/p>\n
And he said the door remains open to the five boycotting countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve made it very clear to them we can\u2019t wait for them to come back,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n
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