Fans cry foul as Israeli entry hit by sting claims

THE Eurovision Song Contest is shaping up to be the most political in its history after Israel became one of the favourites to win this evening following allegations of a phone-vote sting.

- Nicola Methven

The 68th staging of the musical extravaganza at Malmo in Sweden has been plagued by rows over Israel's participation amid the country's ongoing military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

In Thursday's second semi-final, Israel's Eden Golan scored a whopping 39% of the Italian phone vote, which was revealed when the results from the 16 countries taking part were "accidentally" shown to viewers on screen.

It led to cries of skulduggery from fans. Bookies have dropped since Israel's odds of winning from 50-1 to 8-1.

The leaked results led to frantic speculation pro-Israeli groups had infiltrated the voting system around Europe to ensure Eden, 20, wins.

During her rehearsal earlier this week, there were boos from the audience and the singer has 24-hour protection ahead of her performance in today's final.