Noam Bettan was set to take to the Eurovision stage Saturday evening, with the glittery song contest hit by an unprecedented boycott over Israel’s participation.

Bettan advanced to the final after he performed “Michelle” in French, Hebrew and English in the first semifinal on Tuesday over the sounds of “Stop the genocide” chanting in the Wiener Stadthalle in the Austrian capital, which could be heard on the live broadcast at the start of the song.

Austrian public broadcaster ORF had said it would not use anti-booing technology during the show. Bettan told The Times of Israel in an interview last month that he had been practicing to the sounds of booing in order to be prepared.

This year in Vienna marks the 70th edition of the world’s biggest televised music event, which despite the razzmatazz rarely escapes the politics in the background.

Five countries, including Spain, traditionally one of the Eurovision Song Contest’s biggest financial contributors, are staying away over Israel’s participation.

This year, the Eurovision brought back the professional jury votes in the semifinal rounds, as part of a package of reforms agreed to by members last year to address concerns raised after Israel’s runaway televote win in 2025.

In addition, votes have been capped at 10 per person instead of 20, and the European Broadcasting Union promised to crack down on “disproportionate promotion campaigns,” especially those funded by governments.

An unnamed source told the Ynet news site on Saturday that the Israeli delegation believed it could again top the viewers’ vote this year.

Last year, Israel’s Yuval Raphael — who co-wrote “Michelle” — finished second........

© The Times of Israel