Israel’s Noam Bettan prepares to take the stage at partly boycotted Eurovision final

Israeli delegation said to believe ‘Michelle’ could win the public vote; Finnish violinist-singer duo and acclaimed Australian star are favorites to take the contest

Noam Bettan was set to take to the Eurovision stage Saturday evening, with the glittery song contest hit by an unprecedented boycott over Israel’s participation.

Bettan advanced to the final after he performed “Michelle” in French, Hebrew and English in the first semifinal on Tuesday over the sounds of “Stop the genocide” chanting in the Wiener Stadthalle in the Austrian capital, which could be heard on the live broadcast at the start of the song.

Austrian public broadcaster ORF had said it would not use anti-booing technology during the show. Bettan told The Times of Israel in an interview last month that he had been practicing to the sounds of booing in order to be prepared.

During his rehearsal on Saturday, Bettan was loudly booed, telling the cameras after he left the stage that it was “the loudest I have ever heard.”

“Whatever, let’s go,” he told his backup dancers. “It’s all good.”

This year in Vienna marks the 70th edition of the world’s biggest televised music event, which despite the razzmatazz rarely escapes the politics in the background.

Five countries, including Spain, traditionally one of the Eurovision Song Contest’s biggest financial contributors, are staying away over Israel’s participation.

This year, the Eurovision brought back the professional jury votes in the semifinal rounds, as part of a package of reforms agreed to by members last year to address concerns raised after Israel’s runaway televote win in 2025.

In addition, votes have been capped at 10 per person instead of 20, and the European Broadcasting Union promised to crack down on “disproportionate promotion campaigns,” especially those funded by governments.

An unnamed source told the Ynet news site on Saturday that the Israeli delegation believed it could again top the viewers’ vote this year.

Last year, Israel’s Yuval Raphael — who co-wrote “Michelle” — finished second overall after coming first in the televote, with “New Day Will Rise.” In 2024, Eden Golan finished fifth overall and second in the televote with “Hurricane.”

While the odds were wrong about the winner for the past two years, the overwhelming favorites in the 25-country final are Finnish violinist Linda Lampenius and pop singer Pete Parkkonen.

But Australia’s Delta Goodrem, who has sold nine million albums, is also coming in hot, according to the latest press poll, which puts her in first place after her performance in the second semi-final on Thursday that saw her soar into the air on a riser from the top of a glittering piano.

The final begins at 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) in Vienna in front of some 11,200 spectators.

‘Star aura’

Internationally acclaimed violinist Lampenius, 56, got permission to use her 1781 Gagliano live, to perform “Liekinheitin” (“Flamethrower”) in Finnish with Parkkonen, 36.

Instruments featured on stage are typically pre-recorded.

“I will never be a wallflower,” Lampenius, who has appeared on the cover of Playboy and in an episode of the hit TV show “Baywatch,” told Austrian news agency APA ahead of the final.

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 “Eclipse,” a song evoking a romantic alignment of the planets.

Australia has appeared at Eurovision by invitation since 2015.

Goodrem’s rise has come at the expense of Greece, Israel, Denmark and France, which have slipped in bookmakers’ rankings.

Romania’s Alexandra Capitanescu, 22, has managed to break into the top five thanks to an electrifying stage presence with her metal track “Choke Me.”

Meanwhile, Sal Da Vinci, 57, could emerge as “the dark horse” with his love song “Per sempre si” (“Forever yes”), according to Sebastien Dias-das-Almas, a French journalist who has covered Eurovision since 2011.

A major figure on the Italian music scene, Da Vinci “could appeal to the traditional audience, who only follow the contest on television on the night of the event,” Dias-das-Almas said.

‘Right side of history’

Fans from 75 countries have flocked to Vienna for the spectacle.

Some 166 million viewers watched the contest on television last year when it was hosted in Switzerland.

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’s participation.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday said he was certain his country was on “the right side of history.”

Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists organized an alternative concert dubbed “song protest” on Friday in downtown Vienna, which has been under tight security all week.

Israel has won the competition four times since it began competing in the Eurovision in 1973 — in 1978 with “A-Ba-Ni-Bi,” 1979 with “Hallelujah,” 1998 with “Diva” and 2018 with “Toy.”