Eurovision finally faces its Waterloo as four nations quit in protest at Israel's inclusion

After seven decades of oom-pah-pah, the song contest is now riven by political disharmony, with Gaza the last straw

- Megan Clement

It has survived the invasion of Ukraine, a singing turkey, Brexit and the inexplicable (some say inexcusable) inclusion of Australia, but the war in Gaza is the controversy that has come closest to bringing the Eurovision song contest to its knees.

On Thursday, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia withdrew from the world’s biggest singing competition, a festival of glitter, strobe lights and LGBTQ+ rights that has increasingly also become a reflection of a crumbling global order.

The countries’ public broadcasters announced the move after members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which runs the contest, elected at its annual general assembly not to expel Israel. The Icelandic broadcaster said it was “considering its position”. The BBC backed the decision to let Israel take part next year.

Dominic Kraemer, host of The Europeans podcast and self-confessed “total Eurovision nut”, said this was the greatest crisis the contest has faced in its 70-year history. “This could be seen as existential for Eurovision,” he said.

The contest is supposed to be politically neutral, but Russia was expelled in 2022 following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine after a number of broadcasters threatened to withdraw if it stayed.