Eurovision seeks to expand brand despite frictions

"Bringing the world together through music has always been an incredibly powerful idea and has stood the test of time for 70 years," Eurovision Song Contest director Martin Green told DW on the sidelines of the event's annual European Broadcasting Union (EBU) workshop held in mid-September. "And I think the more difficult the world gets around us, the more important these shows of unity, these shows of togetherness become."

While Green is intent on promoting the unity of the international music contest that celebrated its 70th anniversary in May, the 2026 event was also infamously marked by unprecedented backlash .

Political boycotts over Israel's inclusion amid the war in Gaza led to a significant low point in participation and viewership, dropping from 166 million viewers in 2025 down to 131 million viewers a year later.

The 2027 song contest is set to remain affected by geopolitics.

Of the five countries boycotted the 2026 event — the Netherlands, Spain, Iceland, Slovenia and Ireland — the latter has already confirmed that it will not participate for the second time in a row.

The Netherlands' usual Eurovision broadcaster had also announced it would be snubbing the show again, stating it refused to take part in an event that "can no longer be considered neutral, with a participating country still involved in a large-scale military conflict." Now, Dutch public broadcasting association NPO decided to step in and resume participation in the contest.

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