While most of us typically associate the Eurovision Song Contest with joy and escapism, the event has become a far more controversial topic in recent history. For the last few years, Eurovision has been at the centre of controversy for a variety of reasons, mostly revolving around the continued presence of Israel as a competitor. This year has been no exception, with the contest having once again been overshadowed by controversy in the run-up to this year’s live final. Here’s a quick guide to why Eurovision is once again facing a backlash ahead of this year’s event… First of all – what happened at last year’s Eurovision? To fully explore the controversy surrounding this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, first we have to take a quick jump back to 2024. In the run-up to last year’s event, many fans began urging the organisers to remove Israel from the competition as a result of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, similar to how Russia was banned in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine. Ultimately, these calls were not acted on, which led to calls for an overall boycott of the contest, which was backed by the Palestine-led BDS movement (in the UK, Eurovision dropped around a quarter of its viewership in 2024 compared to the previous year’s broadcast, though it’s worth pointing out that the previous year, the competition was held in Liverpool, the UK’s first time hosting in a quarter-century). The pressure group Artists For Palestine also publicly called on UK representative Olly Alexander to pull out of the competition, in light of his past support for Palestine. Olly ultimately chose to remain in the contest, but did issue a statement of his own in solidarity with Palestine, while joining a handful of other acts in co-signing an open letter calling for a peaceful ceasefire in the Middle East. But the controversy didn’t stop once the acts actually arrived in Malmö. Just one day before the final, there was further backlash when The Netherlands’ representative Joost Klein – who had been considered a favourite to win the whole show – was abruptly axed over an undisclosed incident involving a woman who filmed him backstage without his consent, for which he was later cleared. Once Eurovision was over, it also emerged that several complaints had been made to the EBU about the Israeli delegation’s behaviour towards other acts in the competition. “We regret that some delegations at the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Malmö didn’t respect the spirit of the rules and the competition both onsite and during their broadcasts,” the EBU said in a statement. “We spoke to a number of delegations during the event regarding various issues that were brought to our attention. “The EBU’s governing bodies will, together with the heads of delegations, review the events surrounding the ESC in Malmö to move forward in a positive way and to ensure the values of the event are respected by everyone.” Changes to Eurovision’s code of conduct were later introduced in the lead-up to this year’s contest. Oh – and as if all that wasn’t enough, there was also a separate controversy relating to flags last year. Acts were only permitted to wave the flag of their own country on stage, as well as the traditional six-stripe rainbow Pride flag – meaning that, effectively, the flag of Palestine and other flags relating to underrepresented groups within the LGBTQ+ community were banned from Eurovision 2024. Eventual winner Nemo – who is non-binary – said they managed to “smuggle” a non-binary Pride flag into the arena to hold on stage. Alluding to the controversy after their win, they called out the “double standard” and separately told reporters: “The [broken Eurovision trophy] can be fixed – maybe Eurovision needs fixing a little bit too, every now and then.” That was a lot. So, how come this year’s Eurovision Song Contest has also been so controversial? Considering the ongoing conflict in the Middle East – as well as complaints about the Israeli delegation last year – many were surprised to see the country returning to the contest in 2025. Yuval Raphael is representing Israel this year, with her song New Day Will Rise. In October 2023, Yuval was in attendance at the Nova music festival in Israel, when it was attacked by members of the terrorist group Hamas, with BBC News pointing out she still has a piece of shrapnel in her leg following the incident. As was the case a year ago, critics have once again called Israel’s participation into question, with the BDS movement having called for a boycott for the second contest in a row. Several countries’ national broadcasters (four in total, at the time of writing) have also raised the issue with the EBU, while more than 70 performers and musicians associated with Eurovision from past years – including multiple winners – signed a joint statement calling for Israel’s immediate removal from the competition. An EBU spokesperson responded: “We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East. “The EBU is not immune to global events but, together, with our members, it is our role to ensure the Contest remains – at its heart – a universal event that promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music. “We all aspire to keep the Eurovision Song Contest positive and inclusive and aspire to show the world as it could be, rather than how it necessarily is.” Reigning winner Nemo – who is returning to the Eurovision stage in 2025 as a guest performer – later added their voice to this conversation, telling HuffPost UK: “I support the call for Israel’s exclusion from the Eurovision Song Contest. “Israel’s actions are fundamentally at odds with the values that Eurovision claims to uphold — peace, unity, and respect for human rights.” Separately, flags are again proving to be a divisive issue. On one hand, Eurovision organisers appear to have relaxed their rules, allowing audience members to wave any flags they like, as long as they don’t violate any Swiss laws. However, it’s a different matter for the acts in the competition, who have been told they’re allowed to wave the flag of the country they’re representing and nothing else – including Pride flags. Nemo told HuffPost UK this rule change was “stupid as fuck”, “so dumb”, “weird” and potentially “harming… the cause of Eurovision”. What has happened so far at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest? After Ireland’s RTÉ became the fourth national broadcaster to raise questions about whether it was appropriate for Israel to be part of Eurovision in the current climate, the EBU said that it would hold discussions with its members on the subject. It’s worth pointing out, though, that they said these conversations would only be taking place after Eurovision was over. On the first day of Eurovision week on Sunday 11 May, pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered at the sight of the “turquoise carpet” where this year’s acts arrive as part of the contest’s official launch. During this, the Israeli representative Yuval Raphael was met with jeers from protesters, with Israel’s public broadcaster Kan also making an official complaint to Swiss police after an alleged threatening gesture was made towards her by one of these protesters. Yuval told BBC News that this first day of Eurovision was “frightening, even at times uncomfortable” and like her predecessor, Eden Golan, she maintained a low profile in the days before her semi-final performance, doing only a handful of media appearances and interviews. On whether she expects to be booed when she appears on stage, she added: “I think I’m expecting it. But we are here to sing and I’m going to sing my heart out for everyone.” As part of her rehearsal process, Yuval said she even practised singing with a variety of distractions, so she could be prepared for different eventualities when the live broadcast comes. Eurovision bosses confirmed on Thursday that during Yuval’s final rehearsal for the semi-finals, six pro-Palestine protesters were removed from the arena after they attempted to detail the performance. Israel later became one of 10 acts in Thursday night’s semi-final chosen by Eurovision voters to make it to Saturday’s live final. How come Israel and Australia are part of Eurovision in the first place? Well, in simple terms, you don’t need to be part of Europe to be in the EBU. Israel has been competing in Eurovision since 1973, and in that time, it has won four times. These include back-to-back wins for Alphabeta and Milk And Honey in 1978 and 1979, while Dana International made history as the contest’s first transgender champion in 1998. Netta gave Israel its most recent victory in 2018 with her song Toy, with the following year’s contest also proving controversial due to the fact it was held in Tel Aviv. Australia joined Eurovision in 2015 to commemorate the competition’s 60th year, and while it was initially only intended as a one-off to thank the Down Under nation for its support of the contest in the past, they’ve competed every year since. So far, Australia does not have a Eurovision win under its belt, but it did finish in second place in 2016 thanks to Dami Im’s Sound Of Silence. One thing we do know is that 2025 won’t be the year this changes, as their representative Go-Jo did not make it past Thursday night’s semi-finals. Another non-European nation, Morocco, was briefly part of Eurovision, making one appearance in 1980, but never returning. The Eurovision 2025 final airs on Saturday night on BBC One.