Lights, cameras, action at Eurovision Song Contest final

BASEL, Switzerland: In a blaze of laser lights, artists from 26 countries were preparing to rip the roof off at Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest final, the world’s biggest live music television event.

An estimated 160 million people across Europe and beyond are expected to tune in for the TV spectacle, where kitsch, drama and pyrotechnics take centre stage.

Sweden has long been the bookmakers’ hot favourite to win the 69th edition of the glitzy contest with the comedy trio KAJ’s “Bara Bada Bastu” song on the delights of sweating it out in a sauna.

But Austria, France, Finland, the Netherlands and Israel are eyeing the chances of an upset at the St Jakobshalle arena in Basel.

And there could always be a surprise in store, with Estonia, Albania and host Switzerland all thought to have an outside chance when viewers’ votes come in.

Eurovision says ‘wait and see’ on Celine Dion

Mystery also surrounds whether Canadian star Celine Dion — who won Eurovision in 1988 when competing for Switzerland — might make an emotion-drenched return, despite concerns around her struggles with Stiff Person Syndrome, a painful autoimmune disorder.

“Father Christmas exists, and you’ll have to wait and see,” Eurovision director Martin Green said, just hours before the show.

Hardcore fans snapped up the 6,500 highly coveted tickets for Saturday’s showpiece final.

Dressed in sequinned jackets and with flags painted on their faces, Eurovision lovers queued outside hours in advance to secure a prime spot on the arena floor.

Green said the excitement had built was palpable.

“It will be really entertaining, world-class television,” he said.

“The creative direction in some of those acts is extraordinary.

“I am just in awe of this thing for making a really profound, beautiful statement to the rest of the world,” he said.

The 26 songs in contention are a showcase of Europe’s different musical scenes.

They include a Portuguese guitar ballad, a Maltese diva, Lithuanian alternative rock, Austrian operatics, an Italian singalong, a Greek power ballad, ethereal Latvian choral folk and German booming beats.

With KAJ the heavy favourites, punters are betting on aspects such as the winning language, a top five finish or the best performers from a given region.

“Sweden are priced so short, punters are looking for value elsewhere,” Ladbrokes betting chain spokesman Alex Apati told AFP.

The youngest finalist at 19, Norway’s Kyle Alessandro opens the show with flame bursts, followed by Luxembourg’s Laura Thorn in an LED dolls’ house, and Estonia’s wobbly-legged Tommy Cash, with his light-hearted Italianesque “Espresso Macchiato”.

After a whirlwind tour around the continent, France, San Marino and Albania have the final slots.

The show starts at 1900 GMT, with two hours of performances before the nail-biting drama begins as the votes come in from around the continent.

Separate jury and viewer votes from each of this year’s 37 participating countries — with equal weight — plus an extra vote from the rest of the world combined, will decide who wins the coveted microphone-shaped trophy.

The juries’ votes are already in, based on Friday’s untelevised full dress rehearsal.

Eurovision voting supremo Thomas Niedermeyer said this week’s semi-finals — when 20 countries progressed and 11 were eliminated — had been “really close”.

“It has been an exciting race and it’s going to be a close race for the winner.”

Finland’s leather-clad Erika Vikman has been gaining momentum during Eurovision week with the orgasmic “Ich Komme” — finishing with the singer hoisted in the air on a spark-emitting golden microphone.

Israel’s participation in Eurovision 2025 has drawn small-scale protests in Basel over the war in Gaza.

Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael, singing “New Day Will Rise”, survived the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war, hiding beneath bodies as Hamas gunmen attacked a music festival, killing hundreds.

A pro-Palestinian rally is scheduled in Basel two hours before the competition begins.

Some 36,000 partygoers will watch a live transmission of the show at the football stadium opposite the arena.

Basel said more than 500,000 people had turned out during Eurovision week.

“Everyone (is) united by music,” host city project leader Beat Lauchli said.