As participants prepare for the 70th annual Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna this coming May, WIVB spoke with a former finalist in the competition who was born in

Spain’s Eurovision 2026 boycott is one of the biggest due to its status as one of the “Big Five” countries that financially contribute the most to the contest. While Spain has only won the competition twice, it is one of Eurovision’s largest TV markets, drawing in several million viewers alone.

The announcements followed a meeting where several countries urged Israel’s exclusion over its conduct of the war in Gaza.

Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia said they were pulling out of the contest after organizers decided to allow Israel to continue to compete, despite tensions over its conduct in Gaza.

Russia was barred from participating in Eurovision in February 2022 — one day after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the time, the EBU cited the "unprecedented crisis" in Ukraine, and said including a Russian entry in that year's contest would "bring the competition into disrepute".

A former Irish Justice minister has accused RTE of pulling out of the Eurovision song contest "in a hissy fit" because it was unable to persuade other countries to ban Israel.