This week's Eurovision contest, already marred by boycotts announced over Israel's participation, also faces a test of new public voting rules introduced to respond to complaints about Israel's ability to mobilize votes in its favor at the last edition of the contest, in 2025.
The contest, a celebration of pop music and eccentricity, now in its 70th year, is no stranger to disputes over voting results and rivalries between participating countries' national broadcasters.
The music contest's organizer, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), introduced new regulations targeting the 2026 edition to discourage states and other third parties from “disproportionate promotional campaigns” after several broadcasters expressed concern about the outcome, citing Israel's unusually strong performance in the public vote last year.
“Disproportionate Marketing”
Israel – which claims to be following the rules – scored 83% of its total points from the public for the song “New Day Will Rise” and placed second overall. Last year's winner, Austria's 'Wasted Love', only got 41% of its public vote and had to rely on the support of national juries to propel itself to the top of the rankings.
Posts and photos on Israel's X social media account, run by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, published on the day Israel competed in last year's semi-final, encouraged people to vote for singer Yuval Raphael, adding that “you can vote up to 20 times”.
“Last year we noticed a series of actions that we could describe as disproportionate marketing and promotion activities, which seemed to us to be in contradiction with the nature of the show, so we established some rules in this regard,” said Martin Green, director of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), for the quoted international press agency, without making direct reference to the respective posts.
Another rule change is to allow each viewer – identified by payment method – to cast only 10 votes for their favorite songs, half of the 20 allowed last year.
On Saturday, Green said he had issued a formal warning to Israel's national broadcaster, KAN, over videos posted online by his contestant this year, Noam Bettan, which contained instructions to “vote 10 times for Israel”.
Directly asking for 10 votes for a track is not in accordance with ESC rules or the spirit of the competition, he said.
Israel, which has often said it faces a global smear campaign, particularly after the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip, did not directly respond to a question about its promotional efforts over the past year.
Responding to the warning regarding Noam Bettan's videos, KAN said it “follows all EBU rules”.
“The matter in question relates to an independent initiative carried out by the personal team, close to the artist, without any prohibited funding, similar to the activities also carried out by other competitors,” KAN added.
“We are the Olympics of Music”
This episode highlights the challenges facing the contest as it adapts its boundaries within what the EBU describes as the world's largest and most complex televised voting operation.
“All countries ask their citizens, especially (citizens from) the diaspora — because of course you can't vote for your own country in your own country — to support them. It's a sport. We're the Olympics of music, so there's nothing unusual about that,” Green said in an interview Friday.
The EBU said it encourages the public to split their votes between more than one song. It also introduced security measures to prevent fraud.
The public will still be able to register three times using each of the three payment methods allowed – online, by SMS and by phone – and get to cast 30 votes.
But no system is perfect and there are advantages to splitting votes, said Juan Moreno-Ternero, an economics professor at Pablo de Olavide University in Seville, Spain, who published a 2022 academic paper on Eurovision voting.
“You can always find pros and cons for almost any protocol,” he added. “All voting rules, regardless of their nature, are susceptible to manipulation,” the professor warned.
Boycott
Public broadcasters in Spain, Ireland and Slovenia, three of the countries that withdrew from the Eurovision Song Contest, reconfirmed on Monday that they will not broadcast the anniversary edition of the competition they are boycotting because of Israel's participation, AFP previously reported.
The three countries, along with the Netherlands and Iceland, have decided not to participate in the 2026 edition, which is being held this week in Vienna.
“Instead of the Eurovision circus, the national television program will be colored by the thematic series “The Voice of Palestine”, announced the Slovenian television RTV.
On Thursday, when the second semi-final of Eurovision 2026 takes place, Irish broadcaster RTE will broadcast 'The End of the World with Beanz', in which 1993 Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh experiences the life of reindeer herders in Norway.
During the Eurovision final, the television will air a Eurovision-themed episode of 'Father Ted', a popular Irish sitcom from the 1990s.
Also then, the Spanish channel RTVE will broadcast “House of Music”, which it describes in an official statement as a serial version of its special New Year's Eve music show.
Instead, public broadcasters in Norway and Iceland will broadcast Eurovision even if the countries have withdrawn from the contest.
35 countries will participate in Eurovision 2026, the 70th edition of the European music contest. It is the lowest number since the format was expanded in 2004, following five withdrawals.
“Choke me”, representing Romania
Alexandra Căpitănescu and her bandmates, who will represent Romania with the song “Choke me”, will perform in the second semi-final on Thursday, May 14. The first takes place on Tuesday and the grand final will take place on Saturday, May 16.
Alexandra Căpitănescu The artist said about her song, “Choke Me”, which caused controversy, that it is “a personal manifesto”. “It's a very honest story, about the fragile balance between falling and coming back,” Romania's representative at Eurovision 2026 told HotNews.
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