VIENNA(National Times)- A fiery Finnish violinist-singer duo and an acclaimed Australian star are the favourites to win Saturday\u2019s grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest, as protesters demonstrated in host city Vienna against Israel\u2019s participation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year marks the 70th edition of the world\u2019s biggest televised music event, which despite the razzmatazz rarely escapes the politics in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five countries, including Spain \u2014 one of Eurovision\u2019s biggest financial contributors \u2014 are staying away in protest over Israel\u2019s bombardment of Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The overwhelming favourites in the 25-country final were the Finnish act of violinist Linda Lampenius and pop singer Pete Parkkonen, who set ablaze the immense circular stage of Vienna\u2019s Stadthalle venue in the first semi-final on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia\u2019s Delta Goodrem, who has sold nine million albums, was also coming in hot, according to the latest media poll, which puts her in first place after a semi-final performance that had her soar into the air atop a glittering piano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final began with more than 10,000 Eurovision fans in party mood set to pack out Austria\u2019s biggest arena. \u201cIt\u2019s going to come down to Finland and Australia,\u201d Fabien Randanne, a journalist at French news outlet 20 Minutes and a specialist on the contest, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Star aura\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lampenius, 56, got special permission to use her Gagliano violin \u2014 made in 1781 \u2014 live. Given the complexities of staging the mammoth show, usually only the vocals are performed live at Eurovision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 41-year-old Goodrem, who had a string of international hits in the early 2000s, has raised hopes of a first win for her country with \u201cEclipse\u201d, a song evoking a romantic alignment of the planets. Australia has appeared at Eurovision by invitation since 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe European public still has more or less conscious reservations about voting for Australia… but perhaps Delta Goodrem\u2019s star aura can spur them to rally around her,\u201d Randanne said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her rise has come at the expense of Greece, Israel, Denmark and France, all of which slipped in the rankings of bookmakers. Romania\u2019s Alexandra Capitanescu, 22, was an outside bet thanks to an electrifying stage presence with her metal track \u201cChoke Me\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, Sal Da Vinci, 57, could emerge as \u201cthe dark horse\u201d with his love song \u201cPer sempre si\u201d (\u201cForever yes\u201d), according to Sebastien Dias-das-Almas, a French journalist who has covered Eurovision since 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A major figure on the Italian music scene, Da Vinci \u201ccould appeal to the traditional audience, who only follow the contest on television on the night\u201d, Dias-das-Almas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Multilingual show<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While stage designs vary in boldness, songs range from pop to heavy rock and electro. \u201cEveryone\u2019s bringing their A-game. The show is going to absolutely astounding and vintage Eurovision. I saw some of the rehearsals and my jaw was on the floor,\u201d said Eurovision director Martin Green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Across Eurovision week, though 16 songs were in English, words from 25 languages and dialects were sung on stage, including Neapolitan, Japanese and Maltese. \u201cI feel like we are the underdog in this year\u2019s competition,\u201d Malta\u2019s entrant Aidan, who is singing a classic romantic ballad, \u201cBella\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs a huge Eurovision fan myself I\u2019ve seen the need for true music, real music at Eurovision. I feel like \u2018Bella\u2019 does that, and it\u2019s very rich music,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parties and protests<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Undeterred by rain in Vienna, many have taken musical cruises on the Danube and sang karaoke in the huge fan zone set up in front of the City Hall and aboard trams crisscrossing the city. Some 166 million viewers watched the contest on television last year when it was hosted in Basel, Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Austria hopes to match that figure despite the boycott by Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain, and a call by more than 1,000 artists not to watch Eurovision over Israel\u2019s participation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday said he was certain his country was on \u201cthe right side of history\u201d by snubbing the event because of Israel\u2019s \u201cgenocide\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hundreds of demonstrators shouted \u201cFree, free Palestine\u201d in a central Vienna square hours before the final, under heavy police presence. They held banners reading \u201cBlock Eurovision. Don\u2019t celebrate genocide\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s very weak of Austria that it isn\u2019t taking a boycotting stance itself,\u201d 17-year-old student Juli Pfefferkorn said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" VIENNA(National Times)- A fiery Finnish violinist-singer duo and an acclaimed Australian star are the favourites to win Saturday\u2019s grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest, as protesters demonstrated in host city Vienna against Israel\u2019s participation. This year marks the 70th edition of the world\u2019s biggest televised music event, which despite the razzmatazz rarely escapes the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n