Sawt Falasteen - Selfies galore as Eurovision kicks off in Vienna

The Austrian capital is pulling out all the stops to host the 70th edition of the world's most-watched song contest, with many side events scheduled in the run-up to the final on May 16.

On Sunday afternoon, it rolled out the carpet -- which at Eurovision is not red but turquoise -- to welcome a parade of the 35 delegations from participating countries, as part of a colourful opening ceremony.

"There is a lot of positive energy, people are smiling, they're very warm," Monroe, representing France, told AFP at the ceremony as people took selfies all around her.

On the agenda: the best -- and worst -- from seven decades of the music competition on a giant screen in front of the neo-Gothic city hall, in a square turned into a secured area reserved for fans.

The contest reaches more than 170 million people on television and online around the world, and its content generates billions of views across digital platforms.

Finland is the heavy favourite this year, hoping to hit the jackpot with an entry pairing brooding singer Pete Parkkonen with radiant violinist Linda Lampenius.

Instruments are usually pre-recorded but organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), have made an exception to allow Lampenius to play live, according to the Nordic country's media.

- Hundreds of police -

Spain, Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands and Slovenia have decided to snub this year's edition in protest at Israel's participation.

They have criticised Israel over its devastating bombardment of Gaza in retaliation for the October 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

More than 1,000 artists or groups have also called for a boycott, including Peter Gabriel and Massive Attack.

On Saturday, a pro-Palestinian demonstration took place in central Vienna, protesting Israel taking part. They were watched over by some of the several hundred police officers deployed for security until the event's finale.

German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer, who has said he will attend Eurovision, told the Augsburger Allgemeine news outlet that the boycott call against Israel made him "suffer". He said he had defended Israel taking part "at the highest political levels".

The head of the Eurovision competition, Martin Green, said on Saturday that a warning was sent to Israel's participating broadcaster, KAN, telling it to cease putting out videos urging viewers "to vote 10 times for Israel".

"Using a direct call to action to vote 10 times for an artist of a song is not in line with our rules nor the spirit of the competition," Green said in a statement.

Eurovision has updated its rules to try to prevent artificially high public votes, after Israeli calls last year for viewers around the world to back its entry.

Some countries are guaranteed a place in the final, regardless of the reception for their entries.

Those slots go to Germany, France, Italy and Britain, which contribute the largest financial share to the European Broadcasting Union.

Austria will also be on stage because local artist JJ won the previous edition. But this year, its contestant, Cosmo, is not expected to trouble the leaderboard.

S.Abdullah--SF-PST