分类： entertainment

VIENNA — The final lineup for the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest has been locked in, following the conclusion of the second semi-final that saw five competing nations eliminated from the pan-continental pop competition on Thursday night.

Fifteen competing acts took the stage in the second semi-final, fighting for 10 remaining spots in the 25-act grand final scheduled for Saturday. Advancement to the final was determined by a combined vote of national juries and public viewers from across participating countries.

Qualifiers advancing to the grand final include Denmark’s Søren Torpegaard Lund with his soulful, moody entry “Før Vi Går Hjem” (Before We Go Home), Australian global star Delta Goodrem with her soaring power ballad “Eclipse”, and Bulgarian pop artist Dara with the upbeat, infectious track “Bangaranga.” Rounding out the second semi-final’s qualifying acts are Daniel Žižka of Czechia, Leléka of Ukraine, Alis of Albania, Aidan of Malta, Antigoni of Cyprus, Alexandra Căpitănescu of Romania, and Jonas Lovv of Norway. Eliminated acts from the semi-final represent Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Armenia, Switzerland and Latvia.

The 10 remaining finalists secured their spots in the competition during the first semi-final held on Tuesday. This group includes Finnish performers Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius, Greek rapper Akylas, Serbian goth metal outfit Lavina, Moldovan folk-rap fusion artist Satoshi, and Israeli singer Noam Bettan. Like all past winners and the largest financial backers of the contest, the 2024 champion Austria automatically claims a spot in the final as this year’s host nation, alongside the so-called “Big Five” funders: the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, who also bypass the semi-final round.

While the competition’s official 2025 motto is “United by Music”, with a stated mission to bring European nations together through art beyond political divides, the event has once again become the center of heated political tensions that have overshadowed much of the lead-up to Saturday’s final. The contest has a long history of navigating geopolitical friction: Russia was fully expelled from the competition in 2022 following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a move that mirrored growing global condemnation of the Kremlin’s military campaign.

The 2024 contest hosted in Malmo, Sweden and the 2023 event in Basel, Switzerland were both disrupted by large pro-Palestinian protests demanding Israel’s expulsion from the contest over its ongoing military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Organizers confirm a new demonstration against Israel’s participation is planned to take place ahead of Saturday’s grand final in the Vienna arena.

This year, five nations — Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland — have launched a full boycott of the 2025 contest in direct protest of Israel’s inclusion. This boycott has delivered a tangible financial and audience hit to the iconic event. Last year, Eurovision organizers reported a global viewership of 166 million people, and the absence of five major national broadcasters means both reduced revenue from participation fees and lower overall viewership this year. While Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania have returned to the competition after sitting out recent editions for artistic or financial reasons, 2025 still has the smallest number of participating countries since 2003.

Beyond the protests, Israel has also faced formal accusations of violating contest rules with an organized off-platform marketing campaign designed to coordinate mass votes for its entrant. In response to the allegations, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the governing body that oversees Eurovision, updated and tightened contest voting rules ahead of this year’s event. The new rules cut the maximum number of votes per viewer in half to 10, and added enhanced monitoring systems to flag and disqualify “suspicious or coordinated voting activity.”

When Israeli entrant Noam Bettan performed during Tuesday’s first semi-final, his set was interrupted by scattered protest chants from audience members. In a break from past event protocols, Austrian host broadcaster ORF has confirmed Palestinian flags will be permitted inside the competition arena, and the network will not mute audience booing for broadcast, a policy designed to preserve the live nature of the event even amid tension.

Despite the ongoing challenges and boycotts, Eurovision leadership remains focused on long-term growth and reconciliation. The contest is already scheduled to launch its first official Asian spin-off, Eurovision Song Contest Asia, which will hold its inaugural edition in Bangkok this coming November. Contest director Martin Green also shared Thursday that he is optimistic about the return of Hungary, which has not participated in Eurovision since 2019, following the replacement of nationalist-populist former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán by new Prime Minister Péter Magyar.

Green emphasized that the competition remains open to the five boycotting nations, adding that organizers are eager to welcome them back to future editions of the contest. “We’ve made it very clear to them we can’t wait for them to come back,” Green said.

Princess Catherine, Princess of Wales, marked a landmark moment in her public life with her first overseas trip since completing cancer treatment, a visit to the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia that laid bare the enormous draw of her star power for the British Royal Family.

Framed by her team as a “huge moment” and her official comeback to international royal engagements, the trip was originally scheduled as a low-profile fact-finding mission focused on Reggio Emilia’s globally renowned early childhood education approach. Instead, it turned into a massive public celebration of the princess, with crowds of adoring well-wishers turning out at every stop to catch a glimpse of her.

On Thursday, the second full day of the visit, hundreds of people lined the dusty side streets on Reggio Emilia’s outskirts, gathered behind police barriers long before Catherine’s motorcade arrived. As the black royal BMW pulled up flanked by a police escort, young children in the crowd chanted “Principessa, principessa,” their voices rising over the hum of onlookers. Catherine stepped out with a warm, steady smile, waving to the crowd before working her way along a line of local officials and community leaders to enter an industrial facility hosting a recycled materials education project.

During her visit, the princess participated in a hands-on pasta-making class, played with young children at a local primary school, and drew on the Italian language skills she developed during her gap year to interact with attendees. The project she was exploring, which repurposes waste materials for creative learning activities, aligns with Catherine’s long-standing public advocacy for early childhood development, a cause she has centered throughout her time as a working royal.

As crowds grew outside the facility, Italian police Carabinieri and event organizers added extra barriers to manage the flow of attendees. Some well-wishers arrived in formal outfits and decorative hats, others carried handwritten signs and flowers, all waiting for an hour to catch another glimpse of the princess when she emerged. The turnout was even larger on Wednesday, when more than 1,000 people packed the city’s central square for a walkabout, with nearly every attendee eager to shake Catherine’s hand or snap a selfie.

Interviews with waiting attendees revealed a deep, personal connection many Italians feel to the princess. Maria Theresa, who traveled all the way from Rome to see her, highlighted Catherine’s widely noted sincerity and empathy as the core of her appeal. “Italians like her. We’re people of emotions,” she said, adding that she sees Catherine as “close to the people” and a true humanitarian for her work supporting children and vulnerable communities.

Georgia, a visitor from nearby Modena who dressed up for the event and wore a royal-themed badge, echoed that affection, noting that Catherine reminds many people of her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, a figure who remains deeply beloved in Italy. Chiara, also from Modena, expressed relief at seeing Catherine looking well after her cancer treatment, calling her “strong and kind.”

Many attendees specifically cited the authenticity of Catherine’s public empathy, particularly after her own experience with illness. One anonymous woman noted that unlike the manufactured connection common to many celebrities, Catherine’s care for others feels genuine. A large banner hung in Reggio Emilia’s central square read “Love and Support for Catherine,” a reciprocal gesture for the years of support the princess has extended to people facing illness and hardship.

Though Catherine gave no public speeches or interviews during the trip, she released a statement reflecting on the warm reception she received. “I have had such a deeply moving and unforgettable time here,” she said. “Thank you to the people of Reggio Emilia for welcoming me into a culture of care with such warmth and generosity.”

For the British Royal Family, the overwhelming public response to Catherine’s trip underscores just how critical her widespread popular appeal is to the institution’s public standing. A charismatic figure whose face regularly makes front-page news across the globe, she brings a rare, movie-star energy that draws public attention in a way few other working royals can match. The visit is already being framed as a successful comeback, with observers expecting more public and international engagements from the princess in the near future.

The Eurovision Song Contest, one of the world’s most-watched live music events, is rolling out enhanced voting monitoring for this year’s competition, contest director Martin Österdahl has confirmed. The move comes in direct response to lingering public and stakeholder concerns that emerged following the 2023 contest, when questions were raised about potential unfair influence on the final results linked to Israel’s participation.

Österdahl emphasized in a recent statement that event organizers have ramped up scrutiny of all voting activity this year, with teams tracking voting patterns “very, very carefully” to safeguard the contest’s long-standing commitment to fair and transparent competition. The changes to voting oversight come amid broader debates around political tensions impacting the pan-European music competition, which has prided itself on uniting countries through musical performance for nearly 70 years.

Organizers have not announced sweeping changes to the core voting structure— which combines public televoting and jury scores from participating countries— but have added new layers of data analysis to flag any unusual or coordinated voting activity that could skew the final rankings. The goal of the adjusted monitoring process is to maintain public trust in the contest’s outcome, ensuring that results reflect genuine audience and expert appreciation of competing entries rather than external interference.

The Eurovision Song Contest has increasingly become a stage where familiar faces from across the entertainment world make surprise appearances, with small participating nation San Marino leading the trend in recent years — from a fleeting cameo by 80s pop icon Boy George at this year’s contest to a high-profile guest spot from American rapper Flo Rida that helped the country secure its place in the 2021 grand final. This year, however, it is fans of hit British reality series *Love Island* that are in for a surprise: 2022 series eight contestant Antigoni Buxton is set to take the stage in the contest’s second semi-final, representing Cyprus with her upbeat dance-pop entry *Jalla*.

For many viewers who only know Buxton from her time as a bombshell on the reality dating show, her leap to Eurovision may come as a shock — but the London-born singer-songwriter says that transition is anything but out of the blue. In an interview with BBC Newsbeat, Buxton explained that singing has been her lifelong passion, long before her *Love Island* appearance. “I’ve been wanting to be a singer, that has been my dream since I was as young as I can remember,” she said. “And I had an obsession with Eurovision ever since I saw Helena Paparizou win for Greece back in 2005.” Buxton frames her 2022 reality TV stint as a happy accident that opened unexpected doors: “If anything doing Love Island was random. It was a great moment because it gave me the chance to introduce myself to a lot of people and now I’m on that path I always wanted to be on.”

Though raised in the British capital, Buxton has deep Greek-Cypriot roots, and she has woven her cultural heritage into every layer of her Eurovision entry. She spent six to eight weeks every summer on the Mediterranean island growing up, and says she has always felt a strong connection to her Cypriot identity, making representing the country a point of immense pride. *Jalla* blends modern pop production with traditional Greek instrumentation, and draws direct inspiration from Tsifteteli, the beloved Greek belly dance style. The track’s title itself holds special local meaning: it is unique Cypriot-Greek slang that roughly translates to “more” or “again”, a detail Buxton says she is excited to share with a global audience. “Sharing my roots is something I do across all my music, and I am really proud to be able to share that specific part of Cypriot culture here,” she added.

The music video for *Jalla* leans even further into Buxton’s cultural and entertainment connections, featuring cameos from her own mother and grandparents, as well as iconic UK-based Cypriot dance duo Stavros Flatley. The father-son pair rose to fame after their memorable 2009 run on *Britain’s Got Talent*, and Buxton says they are one of the most famous Cypriot acts to break through in the UK. She reached out directly to Demi, the duo’s lead performer, who jumped at the chance to join the project with open enthusiasm.

Unlike her experience on reality competition television, Buutton says she has found the Eurovision community to be overwhelmingly warm and supportive, a sharp contrast to the critical culture that often surrounds reality TV appearances. “That’s the thing about Eurovision, it’s almost the opposite of some things I’ve done in the public eye in the past where people want to judge and give bad comments,” she explained. “People still do, but it’s a very loving community. It’s a really warm, happy, loving, supportive community. Everyone sees that it’s a big opportunity to learn about culture, to have fun. So I feel overwhelmed with joy and with gratitude.”

This year marks the 42nd time Cyprus has competed in the Eurovision Song Contest — a record for the most participation by any country without ever claiming the top prize. After failing to qualify for the 2025 grand final, the country is pulling out all the stops for Buxton’s performance in this year’s host city Vienna. Her live staging takes the track’s lyric about dancing on tables literally, featuring a giant prop table that dancers emerge from underneath, and builds to a explosive climax packed with extensive pyrotechnics. But despite the high stakes for her country, 30-year-old Buxton says she is not solely focused on taking home the win. “In terms of my career and in terms of success, the focus is just doing my very best,” she said. “If I can leave there and feel like I did myself proud, Cyprus is proud of me, my family and my team, that is a win in itself. But I also feel like I have an opportunity to make history for my country and it would just mean so much to the people of Cyprus.”

The iconic coffeehouses of Vienna, a city long celebrated as a global hub of music, have opened their doors to Eurovision Song Contest fans this year — but the festive atmosphere has been sharply overshadowed by escalating geopolitical tensions tied to Israel’s inclusion in the glitzy global pop competition.

When city officials first unveiled their roster of “Eurofan Cafes,” themed venues serving cuisine and playing music from each competing nation, Israel was notably absent from the lineup. Stepping into the gap, MQ Kantine — a contemporary cafe located in Vienna’s popular arts and museums district — stepped forward to host Israeli-themed programming. Today, the space features falafel, lox bagels and kosher wine on its menu, strings of small Israeli flags strung across its ceiling, and a uniformed police officer posted permanently outside its entrance.

Security measures across Vienna have been ramped up significantly for this year’s contest, turning the event’s unifying “United by Music” slogan into something of a hollow promise for many. Five countries have already announced boycotts of the 2026 Eurovision in response to the European Broadcasting Union’s decision to allow Israel to compete, while pro-Palestinian organizers have planned alternative protest concerts across the continent, alongside a major anti-Israel march scheduled ahead of Saturday’s grand final. At MQ Kantine, local volunteers rotate shifts to watch for potential unrest, but cafe representative Daniel Kapp — a PR consultant and pro-Israel campaigner — says community response has so far been overwhelmingly supportive.

Sitting on the cafe’s sun-dappled terrace as guests sipped coffee and drank beer, Kapp noted that while the visible police presence confirms the situation is far from business as usual, the public support for the venue reflects a shifting cultural context in Austria. “My feeling is that Austria to a certain degree has learned from its history,” he said, referencing the state-sponsored antisemitism that killed hundreds of thousands of Austrian and European Jews under Nazi rule during World War II. “Which is why the support for Israel is a lot more normal than it is in other countries.”

Israel has competed in the Eurovision Song Contest for more than 50 years, claiming the grand prize four times. But its participation has sparked global controversy ever since it launched its full-scale military offensive in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 cross-border attack led by Hamas that killed roughly 1,200 people and took roughly 250 hostages. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry — which operates under Hamas rule but whose casualty data is widely regarded as reliable by the international community — more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive to date. The Israeli government has repeatedly defended its military campaign as a necessary response to the October 7 attacks, though multiple independent experts, including a panel commissioned by a United Nations human rights body, have concluded that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide. Israel, a country home to hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors and their descendants, has vehemently denied these allegations. Ongoing cross-border conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and recent Israeli strikes on Iranian military targets have only amplified global tensions surrounding Israel’s participation.

Protests calling for Israel’s expulsion from the contest marred last year’s event in Liverpool, UK, and this year’s preliminary rounds hosted in Malmö, Sweden, and tensions have carried over to Vienna’s host city activities. This year’s contest has been split sharply along political lines: while the main arena at Wiener Stadthalle and the official Eurovision Village fan zone maintain an upbeat, celebratory vibe, entry requires passing through a heavy security cordon of armed officers, bag scanners and personal searches, with a total ban on all bags inside the arena. Security concerns have been heightened in Vienna after a 21-year-old Austrian man pled guilty this year to plotting a mass attack on a 2024 Taylor Swift concert, after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group.

Israeli contestant Noam Bettan has revealed he practiced his performance while recordings of crowd booms played in the background, following the same preparation used by 2023 Israeli competitor Yuval Raphael. When Bettan took the stage for Tuesday’s first semifinal, scattered boos rang out through the arena between cheers from supporters, but he still secured a top 10 spot to advance to Saturday’s grand final, determined by a combined vote of national juries and global viewers. Contest organizers confirmed four audience members were removed from the 10,000-person semifinal crowd for disruptive political behavior.

Austrian Eurovision fan Ivo Herzl, who attended the semifinal, described the in-arena energy as “incredibly positive.” He has shown his support for Israel by designing and selling “Mazel Lov” T-shirts, a playful pun on the Hebrew-Yiddish celebratory phrase “mazel tov.” “Vienna has always been a city of tolerance,” Herzl said. “It’s the city of music and we’ll always do everything possible for everyone to enjoy a musical event.”

Many Israeli fans said they have been reassured by the heavy security and widespread public support in Vienna. Oz Yona, who is attending his first Eurovision this year, said he has encountered “no hate” during his trip, and credited Austria for taking the threat of antisemitism seriously. Yona came to cheer on Bettan alongside friends, but he downplayed his chances of winning — for musical, not political, reasons. “I don’t think he will win,” Yona said. “Finland is better this year. Greece is better this year. We have a good song, but not a winning song.”

Even among long-time Eurovision fans, the political tensions have fractured a community long known for its radical inclusivity and cross-border friendship. Birgitta Peterson and Kristina Nilsson, two Swedish fans who call themselves The Swedish Ladies and attend the contest every year to meet their network of “Eurovision family” from across the continent, plan to wave Israeli flags in the stands during Saturday’s final, breaking with the position of their home country’s contestant Felicia, who has publicly stated she believes Israel should be excluded from the competition. “The wounds are very deep at the moment,” Nilsson said. “This event should really be about ‘united by music’ and happiness. That’s what Eurovision is all about.”

After months of focused cancer treatment, the Princess of Wales has marked a highly anticipated return to international public appearances, with her first stop this week drawing enthusiastic crowds across Italy. The milestone visit comes as the British royal steps back into official overseas duties following a period of private treatment and recovery from her cancer diagnosis, a health journey that drew global attention and messages of support earlier this year.

Members of the public turned out in large numbers along the Princess’s public route in Italy, waving flags, holding handwritten supportive signs, and cheering loudly as she greeted well-wishers. The warm, enthusiastic reception from Italian locals highlighted the widespread public interest in her recovery and the broad affection for the British royal family across continental Europe.

This trip carries significant symbolic weight for the Princess’s public return: it is her first major overseas engagement since announcing her cancer diagnosis, and it signals her gradual resumption of official royal duties as her treatment progresses. While details of the exact itinerary and the private agenda for her visit have been partially kept from public view to respect her ongoing recovery, the public welcome itself has already made the trip a notable moment in her 2024 public schedule. Royal watchers across the globe have framed the warm Italian welcome as a positive milestone in her recovery journey, with many expressing hope for her continued good health as she eases back into public life.