Article #28028

The contest is enduring the biggest boycott it has ever seen, but 2026 is far from its first year of controversy

A song contest intended to promote European harmony and cultural exchange morphs into a battle over human rights. A boycott dominates headlines and polarises opinion. Performers with big hair proclaim art over politics.

It could only be Eurovision. But the year was 1969, and the dispute centred on Austria’s decision to shun the host, Spain, because it was a dictatorship – a boycott echoed half a century later by five countries who are shunning this week’s contest in Vienna because of Israel’s participation.