Rylan Clark was praised by Eurovision viewers following Tuesday’s semi-final after he directly addressed the controversy around Israel’s participation in the song contest.
This year a string of countries have boycotted the competition after it was announced Israel would continue to take part.
Israel’s act Noam Bettan reached the grand final after being booed by pro-Palestine supporters during his performance, with Austria’s broadcaster ORF confirming in a statement several members of the audience were removed by security.
Early in the show, Rylan, who was commentating the semis with Angela Scanlon, told viewers that five nations, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland, had declined to take part this year.
He said: ‘As I’m sure you’re aware, this year Eurovision has faced one of its most challenging years, five countries have withdrawn following the continued participation of Israel, which leaves us with 35 acts competing in this year’s live shows.’
Rylan was lauded by fans for referencing the controversy that has surrounded the contest, writing on X: ‘Rylan immediately starting off with mentioning 5 countries withdrawing because of israel… honestly wasn’t expecting it.’
Rylan Clark was praised by Eurovision viewers following Tuesday’s semi-final after he directly addressed the controversy around Israel’s participation (pictured with Angela Scanlon)
‘Big on Rylan for mentioning the withdrawals and that is because of Israel.’
‘Rylan is making his feelings known, good for him.’
‘The BBC and Rylan actually acknowledging withdrawn countries and their reason?’
Israel sailed through to the final of the competition, with the lovestruck pop song Michelle, performed by 28-year-old Bettan.
The contest’s festive atmosphere has been upended in recent years by a controversy over Israel’s military action in Gaza. Five countries have boycotted the 2026 event, including seven-time winners Ireland.
Bettan faced a mixed reception during the semi-final as a few audience members booed and shouted anti-Israeli slogans, while others chanted his name in support.
The negative reaction to Bettan’s performance was audible on the TV broadcast, after Austrian broadcaster ORF, which is hosting the show, said it would not censor protests or negative reactions to any of the contestants.
In a statement after the show, ORF and Eurovision organisers the EBU said the audience member had been ‘close to a microphone’ and ‘loudly expressed their views’ – both as Israel prepared to take the stage and during their song.
‘They were later removed by security for continuing to disturb the audience. Three other people were also removed from the arena by security for disruptive behaviour,’ said the statement.
Israel’s act Noam Bettan (pictured) reached the grand final after being booed by pro-Palestine supporters during his performance
During the semi-final broadcast, Rylan told viewers that five countries had boycotted the contest, with fans praising the star for acknowledging the controversy
The semi-final, held at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle, saw 10 countries qualify for Saturday’s grand finale including Finnish duo Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius, who are the current favourites to win.
Portugal, Georgia, Montenegro, Estonia and San Marino were eliminated from the competition following a popular vote, with the latter seeing The Culture Club singer Boy George join its entrant Senhit to perform the song Superstar, which he co-wrote.
The boycotts are a financial blow to Eurovision, which is funded largely by participating broadcasters, and to public broadcasters at a time when many are under financial pressure from government funding cuts and competition from social media.
Long a forum for good-natured and sometimes more pointed national rivalries, Eurovision has found it hard to separate pop and politics in recent years.
Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Tensions rose again after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed some 1,200 people, and Israel’s subsequent campaign in Gaza that has left more than 70,000 people dead.
The last two Eurovision contests have seen pro-Palestine protests both outside the venues and inside, forcing organisers to clamp down on political flag-waving.
Several performers and countries have called for the exclusion of Israel, which has competed in Eurovision since 1973, one of a few non-European countries to do so.
The 2024 contest in Malmo, Sweden, and last year’s event in Basel, Switzerland, saw pro-Palestine protests that called for Israel to be expelled over the conduct of its war against Hamas in Gaza and allegations it ran a rule-breaking marketing campaign to get votes for its contestant after Israel finished second last year.
When organisers declined to kick Israel out, five countries announced in December that they would not participate this year.
The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, has toughened voting rules in response to the vote-rigging allegations, halving the number of votes per person to 10 and tightening safeguards against ‘suspicious or coordinated voting activity’.
Israel last year got 83 per cent of its points from the public for its song New Day Will Rise and came second overall.
The 2025 winner, Austria’s Wasted Love, got just 41 per cent of its votes from the public, and had to rely on the support of national juries to power its way to the top.
Posts and photos from the Israel X account run by Israel’s foreign ministry and dated on the day that Israel competed in last year’s semi-final had encouraged people to vote for its singer Yuval Raphael, adding that ‘you can vote up to 20 times’.
‘We saw some activity last year which we could describe as disproportionate marketing and promotional activity that we felt was out of sync with the nature of the show, so we put some rules in about that,’ Eurovision Song Contest Director Martin Green told Reuters, without referring directly to the posts.
Several pro-Palestine demonstrations are planned in Vienna during Eurovision week, and security is tight, with police officers from across Austria deployed in the capital and support from forces in neighbouring Germany.
