Michael Stipe's invitation for Eurovision: "vote" by sharing this song. The line-up of the first semi-final

On the eve of the start of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, Michael Stipe has stepped in to draw attention back to the conflict in the Middle East, sharing an appeal launched by Ceasefire Now on social media. The R.E.M. frontman posted the following message on Instagram: "A song from Gaza. A vote that goes beyond the Eurovision Song Contest", relaunching a solidarity campaign with Palestine just as the event kicks off in Vienna.

The post comes alongside protests and calls—so far unheeded—for Israel to be excluded from the contest. Israel's representative Noam Bettan will perform tonight in the first semi-final. However, the song backed by Stipe, actor Mark Ruffalo and the organisations Ceasefire Now, Artists4Ceasefire and Oxfam International is not actually competing at Eurovision. It is "The Drone Song" by Ahmed Abu Amsha, a music teacher from Gaza who turned the sound of Israeli drones into a track also used to help children traumatised by the war. The message shared on social media reads: "Vote by sharing this song, as an act of solidarity with Palestine. Culture and identity are fundamental human rights." The appeal also urges people to support the track "not to win, but for justice and freedom, and to end the ongoing genocide, the illegal occupation, the siege, and the destruction of Palestinian cultural heritage by Israel".

 

 

 

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Never before has Eurovision turned into such a political battleground as this year. Five countries — Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain — decided to withdraw from the competition in protest against Israel's participation.

Debates over promotional campaigns and vote-influencing strategies have also pushed organisers to change some of the rules. The maximum number of votes each viewer can cast has been cut from 20 to 10; "third-party campaigns — including those run by governments or their agencies — capable of skewing the vote" have been banned; professional juries, dropped in recent editions, are returning for the semi-finals, and each panel will now be made up of seven members instead of five, including two judges aged between 18 and 25.

According to the organisers, the Contest wants to discourage mass campaigns and explicit calls to repeatedly vote for the same artist. In recent days, the Eurovision leadership reportedly contacted Kan, Israel's public broadcaster, asking for the removal of some promotional videos deemed incompatible with the spirit of the event.

This evening the first semi-final will take place at Vienna's Wiener Stadthalle, broadcast from 9pm on Rai 2, RaiPlay and Rai Radio 2, with a TV preview starting at 8.15pm. The Italian broadcast will be hosted by Gabriele Corsi and Elettra Lamborghini, while on the Austrian stage the hosts will be Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski.

Fifteen artists will compete for a place in Saturday's final. The running order is Moldova, Sweden, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Georgia, Finland, Montenegro, Estonia, Israel, Belgium, Lithuania, San Marino, Poland and Serbia. Ten will go through.

During the evening, Sal Da Vinci for Italy and Sarah Engels for Germany will also perform. Both will go straight through to the final as representatives of the so-called Big 4 countries. Sal Da Vinci will present "Per sempre sì", accompanied by dancers Francesca Tocca and Marcello Sacchetta in a performance inspired by the wedding shown in the song's music video.

Results will be determined by a combination of televoting and national juries: the public will count for 50.7%, the juries for 49.3%. Viewers in Italy will be able to vote, but naturally not for the Italian representative.

The second semi-final will be held on Thursday evening. Competing will be Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Romania, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Armenia, Switzerland, Cyprus, Latvia, Denmark, Australia, Ukraine, Albania, Malta and Norway. France, the United Kingdom and Austria will automatically go through to the final. Running-order position also continues to be considered decisive: over the past fifteen years, artists placed last in a semi-final have qualified 86.67% of the time.

The final is scheduled for Saturday evening and will be broadcast on Rai 1, as well as on RaiPlay and Rai Radio 2. According to bookmakers, the favourite remains Finland with Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen and "Liekinheitin", ahead of Greece with Akylas and "Ferto" and Denmark with Søren Torpegaard Lund and "Før Vi Går Hjem". Sal Da Vinci is consistently tipped as a possible contender for the final top ten.

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