Eurovision explained as the extravagant pop contest reaches its grand final

BASEL Switzerland AP There has already been triumph and tears chanting onstage and in the streets and a touch of political division as the th Eurovision Song Contest approaches its grand final in the Swiss city of Basel Musical acts from countries will take the stage at the St Jakobshalle arena on Saturday in a spectacular sequin-drenched competition that has been uniting and dividing Europeans since Here s everything to know What is Eurovision Eurovision is competition in which performers from countries across Europe and a limited beyond it compete under their national flags with the aim of being crowned continental champion Think of it as the Olympics of pop music or the World Cup with vocalizing instead of soccer It s a celebration of silly fun and music s unifying power but also a place where politics and regional rivalries play out It s Europe s biggest cultural event stated Dean Vuletic an expert on the history of Eurovision It has been going on for almost years and people love to watch it not only for the show for the glitter the stage effects the crazy costumes but also because they like to see it as a reflection of the zeitgeist in Europe Who is in the Eurovision final Of countries that sent performers to Eurovision were knocked out by society voting in semifinals on Tuesday and Thursday Another six automatically qualified for the final the host Switzerland and the Big Five that pay the greater part to the contest France Germany Italy Spain and the U K The countries competing Saturday in order of performance are Norway Luxembourg Estonia Israel Lithuania Spain Ukraine the U K Austria Iceland Latvia the Netherlands Finland Italy Poland Germany Greece Armenia Switzerland Malta Portugal Denmark Sweden France San Marino and Albania Favorites according to oddsmakers are KAJ representing Sweden with Bara Bada Bastu a jaunty serenade to the sauna Dutch singer Claude is also highly rated with soulful ballad C est La Vie Other favorites include classically trained Austrian countertenor JJ with his pop-opera song Wasted Love and Israel s Yuval Raphael with her anthemic New Day Will Rise What is Eurovision music like Eurovision has a reputation for campy europop with nonsense lyrics past winners include La La La and Boom Bang-a-Bang But It has also produced particular enduring pop classics And it helped make stars of performers including ABBA winners in with Waterloo Celine Dion Austrian drag performer Conchita Wurst and Italian rock band M neskin This year s finalists range from Lithuanian emo rockers Katarsis to a power ballad Spanish diva Melody and Ukrainian prog rockers Ziferblat Campiness humor and double entendres abound Espresso Macchiato is a comic ode to Italian stereotypes performed by Estonia s Tommy Cash Miriana Conte sings for Malta with the double entendre-filled Serving performed on a set including a glitter ball and giant lips it is classic Eurovision It was once widely accepted that the majority effective Eurovision songs were in English but that is changing This year s contest features songs in a record languages including Ukrainian Icelandic Latvian Maltese and Armenian Vuletic noted viewers these days want more authenticity in Eurovision entries They don t just want a standard pop song sung in English he commented They want to also see something about the custom of the country that the song represents How is the winner chosen Once all the acts have performed in the final the winner is chosen by a famously complex mix of phone and online voters from around the world and rankings by music-industry juries in each of the Eurovision countries As the results are released countries slide up and down the rankings and tensions build Ending up with nul points or zero is considered a national humiliation Sounds fun How can I watch and vote The final starts Saturday at GMT p m EDT and will be aired by national broadcasters in participating nations on streaming arrangement Peacock in the United States and in multiple countries on the Eurovision YouTube channel During and straightaway after the final viewers in participating countries can vote by phone text message or the Eurovision app but not for their own country Viewers in the U S and other nonparticipating countries can vote all day Saturday online at www esc vote or with the app The combined rest of the world vote is given the weight of one individual country Is Eurovision a politics-free zone The contest s motto is united by music but the world s divisions inevitably intrude Russia was banned from Eurovision after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in and since then Ukrainian musicians including winner Kalush Orchestra have competed under the shadow of war in the home country This year s contest has been roiled for a second year by disputes over Israel s participation Dozens of former participants including Nemo have called for Israel to be excluded over its conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protests have both taken place in Basel though on a much smaller scale than at last year s event in Sweden A handful of protesters attempted to disrupt a rehearsal by Israeli singer Raphael on Thursday with oversized flags and whistles and were escorted from the arena Organizers say they have tightened shield ahead of the final Source