As we mark the 70th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest, it feels especially meaningful to open this next chapter with Asia, a region rich in culture, creativity and talent.
Formed in 1998 to celebrate the 25-year anniversary of ABBA winning Eurovision with 'Waterloo', teens Amit Paul, Dhani Lennevald, Marie Serneholt and Sara Lumholdt entered A*Teens as an ABBA tribute group. But after their slew of ABBA covers reached the top 40 around the world - 'Mamma Mia' hit number one in their homeland - the group decided to stick about for a bit, releasing original hit singles.
Everything is political, and always was - the difference now is the volume RTÉ bowing out of Eurovision this year feels less like a bold political gesture and more like an act of basic self-preservation. Because, really, what sane Irish performer would have put themselves forward anyway?
Public broadcasters from at least four countries including Spain and the Netherlands on Thursday pulled out of next year's Eurovision Song Contest after organizers decided to allow Israel to compete.
While reporting on the Eurovision Song Contest, the New Yorker 's Anthony Lane asked a man named Seppo, from the seven-hundred-strong Eurovision Fan Club of Norway, what he loved about Eurovision. 'Brotherhood of man,' he said - a slightly ambiguous answer, because that was the name of a British group that entered, and won, the contest in 1976. And the concept has a longer history in European music than that:
The Austrian capital last hosted the ESC extravaganza in 2015 and 1967. Vienna beat out Innsbruck to host the 2026 European Song Contest, Austrian public broadcaster ORF said on Wednesday. Austria won the rights to host the 70th edition of the event after the country's singer, JJ, won in May 2025 with his song "Wasted Love." JJ's "Wasted Love" mixed techno beats with operatic vocalsImage: Denis Balibouse/REUTERS
If RTÉ does not receive the detailed breakdown of this year's Eurovision televoting figures, it raises questions about transparency and communication from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
I think that writing a book or making a movie about my entire family, about my family, would be such a drama. Despite this, my childhood and my family were very happy.
Mumba expressed her shock at the reaction to her Instagram post criticizing the Eurovision panel's professionalism, aiming to voice frustrations about their treatment of contestants.
"We will ask the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) whether it is time to update these rules or at least review whether the current rules allow for abuse."
Despite the glamour and excitement of the Eurovision Song Contest, political tensions, especially regarding Israel's participation, often overshadow the event, highlighting complex relationships in Europe.
"Nightfall, heart beats, into the trance, the moon rises, the earth arches, the gates open," sings bisexual Finnish music star and tango dancer Erika Vikman on the opening verse, a double entendre if there ever was one.
