Eurovision Song Contest: Israel boycott, voting changes cloud annual extravaganza

The Eurovision Song Contest is back in Vienna amid a boycott over Israel’s participation and voting changes.

VIENNA — New voting rules. A boycott. But still a camp cavalcade of pop music.

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The annual contest that captivates Europe is back, but this year’s Eurovision Song Contest finds itself facing a geopolitical firestorm that threatens to eclipse the onstage pyrotechnics.

Security is high in the Austrian capital, Vienna, where this year’s contest is taking place this week. Police say they expect both authorized pro-Palestinian protests as well as unauthorized attempts to try to disrupt the event.