Sawt Falasteen - Fiery Finns, Australian star favourites at boycotted Eurovision final

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 to protest against its war in Gaza.

The overwhelming favourites in the 25-country final have long been violinist Linda Lampenius and pop singer Pete Parkkonen, who already set ablaze the immense circular stage of Vienna's Stadthalle concert venue in the first semi-final on Tuesday.

But Australia's Delta Goodrem, who has sold nine million albums, is also coming in hot, according to the latest press poll, which puts her in first place after her performance in the second semi-final on Thursday that saw her soar into the air on a riser from the top of a glittering piano.

The final begins at 9:00 pm local time (1900 GMT) in front of some 11,200 spectators.

"It's going to come down to Finland and Australia," Fabien Randanne, a journalist at French news outlet 20 Minutes and a specialist on the contest, told AFP.

– 'Star aura' –

Internationally acclaimed violinist Lampenius, 56, got permission to use her 1781 Gagliano live, to perform "Liekinheitin" ("Flamethrower") in Finnish with Parkkonen, 36.

Instruments featured on stage are typically pre-recorded.

"I will never be a wallflower," Lampenius, who has appeared on the cover of Playboy and in an episode of hit TV show "Baywatch", told Austrian news agency APA ahead of the final.

The 41-year-old Goodrem, who had a string of international hits in the early 2000s, has raised hopes of a first win for her country with "Eclipse", a song evoking a romantic alignment of the planets.

Australia has appeared at Eurovision by invitation since 2015.

"The European public still has more or less conscious reservations about voting for Australia, wondering what the country is doing in the contest, but perhaps Delta Goodrem's star aura can spur them to rally around her," Randanne said.

Her rise has come at the expense of Greece, Israel, Denmark and France, which have slipped in the rankings of bookmakers.

Romania's Alexandra Capitanescu, 22, has managed to break into the top five thanks to an electrifying stage presence with her metal track "Choke Me".

Meanwhile, Sal Da Vinci, 57, could emerge as "the dark horse" with his love song "Per sempre si" ("Forever yes"), according to Sebastien Dias-das-Almas, a French journalist who has covered Eurovision since 2011.

A major figure on the Italian music scene, Da Vinci "could appeal to the traditional audience, who only follow the contest on television on the night of the event", Dias-das-Almas said.

– 'Song protest' –

While stage designs vary in boldness, songs range from pop to heavy rock and electro and are performed in diverse languages from Maltese to Albanian.

Fans from 75 countries have flocked to Vienna for the spectacle.

Undeterred by the rain, many have taken musical cruises on the Danube and sang karaoke in the huge fan zone set up in front of the City Hall and aboard trams crisscrossing the city.

"We have nothing like this in America, and I think Eurovision is phenomenal because it brings everybody together," Tory Huflar, an American fan, told AFP after Thursday's second semi-final.

Some 166 million viewers watched the contest on television last year when it was hosted in Switzerland.

Austria hopes to match that figure despite the boycott by Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain and a call by more than 1,000 artists not to watch Eurovision over Israel's participation.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday said he was certain his country was on "the right side of history".

Pro-Palestinian activists organised an alternative concert dubbed "song protest" on Friday in downtown Vienna, which has been under tight security all week.

"I'm Jewish, I support Palestine, and I don't want a platform to be given to Israel at Eurovision," Dalia Sarig, 57, wearing a keffiyeh scarf around her neck, told AFP.

P.Tamimi--SF-PST