Eurovision 2024 news: Odds, when is the final, who are the finalists and how to watch

Eden Golan, who is representing Israel at this year’s event, was voted through to the grand final following her dramatic performance of “Hurricane”, a song that was reworked from original entry “October Rain” after it was widely interpreted as a reference to the Hamas attacks of 7 October.

The singer and dancer has won over a hundred dance championships and is a longtime fan of Eurovision

Swedish authorities have heightened security and are bracing for possible unrest after Israel qualified for the Eurovision Song Contest final.

Police officers have been seen patrolling the streets of Malmo and, from water scooters, the city’s canals, as hundreds of protestors gathered outside the Malmo Arena calling for Israel to be banned from the contest.

The Israel-born Golan, who grew up in Russia, told ITV News this week that she could not have asked “for a better year to be representing my country”.

Protests over Israel’s participation are underway in Malmö, Sweden, which is hosting this year’s contest following Swedish contestant Loreen’s win with “Tattoo” in 2023.

Delegates from 10 countries including Austria, Israel, Estonia, Georgia, Switzerland and the Netherlands managed to qualify, joining the 10 who made it through in the first semi-final on Tuesday 7 May.

They will join the “big five” who are guaranteed a place in the final, including the UK’s Olly Alexander who will perform his song “Dizzy”.

Cork-born, London-based singer Bambie Thug, one of the favourites to win, will sing their electro-metal song “Doomsday Blue”. Ukraine’s duo Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil are considered strong competition with their moving anthem “Teresa & Maria”.

Elsewhere, current favourite Baby Lasagna will perform his outlandish “Rim Tim Tagi Dim” on behalf of Croatia, whle Finnish entrant Windows95Man will sing his outlandish tune “No Rules!”.

You can find the running order here:

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s Eurovision 2024 liveblog.

They join the 10 countries who qualified from the first semi-final on Tuesday (7 May): Serbia, Portugal, Slovenia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Finland, Cyprus, Croatia, Ireland and Luxembourg.

The “big five” countries – the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Germany – are automatically guaranteed a place in the final, as is 2023’s winner Sweden.

Israel’s journey with entry Eden Golan to the final on Saturday (11 May) means that further protests are now expected that day.

Pro-Palestinian groups have said that they plan to march again on Saturday. They have been calling for other countries to boycott the contest over Israel’s offensive in Gaza following Hamas’s 7 October attack.

The EBU has repeatedly defended its decision to allow Israel to compete, insisting it is a “non-political” event.