{"id":667217,"date":"2026-05-13T01:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T01:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/667217\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T01:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T01:52:12","slug":"eurovision-semi-finals-kick-off-with-musical-nod-to-austria-australia-confusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/667217\/","title":{"rendered":"Eurovision semi finals kick off with musical nod to Austria-Australia confusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

With blasts of dry ice and jets of flame, the Eurovision party kicked off inside the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, where more than 11,000 revved-up fans watched 15 countries battle for their place in the upcoming grand final on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The contest, traditionally a celebration of pop music and high camp, has been mired in controversy over Israel’s participation.<\/p>\n

Despite significant boycotts<\/a>, the broadcast went ahead on Tuesday night, local time, where 10 countries made it through to the next round.<\/p>\n

\"three<\/p>\n

Bzikebi from Georgia performs during the first semifinal of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest. (AP: Martin Meissner)<\/p>\n

The results were determined through a mix of jury and public voting, from audiences all over the world, with a 50 per cent weighting given to each.<\/p>\n

The 10 countries to qualify are:<\/p>\n

Eurovision begins amid boycotts and massive police operation in Vienna<\/a><\/p>\n

But behind the colour and campness, this year’s Eurovision Song Contest is shaping up to be among the most politically charged in history.<\/p>\n

Belgium: Dancing on the Ice<\/p>\n

Croatia: Andromeda<\/p>\n

Finland: Liekinheitin<\/p>\n

Greece: Ferto<\/p>\n

Israel: Michelle<\/p>\n

Lithuania: Solo quiero mas<\/p>\n

Moldova: Viva, Moldova!<\/p>\n

Poland: Pray<\/p>\n

Serbia: Kraj mene<\/p>\n

Sweden: My System<\/p>\n

It was the end of the road for Portugal, Georgia, Montenegro, Estonia and San Marino.<\/p>\n

The performances ranged from upbeat Estonian guitar pop to soaring Polish high notes, and the brooding mystery of Lithuania’s silver-painted Lion Ceccah.<\/p>\n

Moldova opened the show with rapper Satoshi pumping up the energy, before Serbian progressive metal band Lavina closed the evening with throat-shredding growl.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A member of Lavina, representing Serbia, performs Kraj Mene in Vienna, Austria. (Reuters: Lisa Leutner)<\/p>\n

Fifteen more countries, including Australia, will compete in Thursday’s second semifinal, with another 10 going through to Saturday’s final in Vienna.<\/p>\n

Britain, France, Germany and Italy have already guaranteed spots in the 25-country final, alongside hosts Austria.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Lion Ceccah, representing Lithuania, performs Solo Quiero Mas. (Reuters: Lisa Leutner)<\/p>\n

No kangaroos in Austria<\/p>\n

Australian singer Go-Jo, whose song Milkshake Man was the 2025 Eurovision entry, made a guest appearance at the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joining Austrian hosts Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski, Go-Jo explained: “I was actually supposed to go home to Australia, but instead I landed in Austria because some idiot confused Australia with Austria,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"dancers<\/p>\n

Go-Jo, who represented Australia at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest, performed with Austria’s Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski. (Reuters: Lisa Leutner)<\/p>\n

Swarovski declared “Let’s clear this once and for all. What’s Austrian and what’s Australian” before the trio broke into song.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Quips between the two nations were shared, declaring they are “opposites”.<\/p>\n

“Spiders, snakes and shark attacks, Australia would kill me.”<\/p>\n

‘Your desserts, they cause heart attacks, and winter sports don’t thrill me.”<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

The trio performed the light-hearted interlude while they waited for the voting results. (AP: Martin Meissner)<\/p>\n

The song and dance, accompanied by a kangaroo, culminated in a call and response from the crowd.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I say kanga, you say roo!”<\/p>\n

Australia’s participation in the competition will kick off on Thursday in the second semifinal with Delta Goodrem’s Eclipse.<\/p>\n

Countries boycott Israel’s participation<\/p>\n

This year marks the 70th edition of Eurovision, which, despite its razzle dazzle, rarely escapes the geo-politics in the background.<\/p>\n

National broadcasters in Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland are boycotting the event<\/a>, taking a stand over the war in Gaza, making this year the smallest Eurovision event since 2003, with just 35 entries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"white<\/p>\n

Demonstrators set white paper boxes to look like children’s coffins to protest against Israel ahead of the first semifinal in Vienna. (AP Photo: Martin Meissner)<\/p>\n

The move will most likely reduce viewership from last year’s estimated 166 million.<\/p>\n

Tension in the city was palpable as protesters placed coffins in central Vienna, while inside the concert hall Israel’s Noam Bettan performed pop song Michelle.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Noam Bettan from Israel reacts to the vote totals being announced. (AP: Martin Meissner)<\/p>\n

Israel was among the 10 entries that received enough points from national juries and a public vote on Tuesday to qualify for the final on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Reuters \/ AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With blasts of dry ice and jets of flame, the Eurovision party kicked off inside the Wiener Stadthalle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":667218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134,256560,184202,322091,322090,6898,6897,34187],"class_list":["post-667217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-eurovision-australia","tag-eurovision-boycott","tag-eurovision-delta-goodrem","tag-eurovision-semi-final-results","tag-gaza","tag-israel","tag-vienna"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}