Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
A rehearsal for the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Austria has restarted after a curtain failed to open during the show’s opening segment.
Last year’s Austrian winner JJ, who won with his song Wasted Love, was performing in the practice run on Friday at the Vienna Stadthalle while the acts were introduced, but a curtain left him partially hidden from watching media and guests.
After the restart, the curtain opened correctly and the rehearsal went ahead with few delays, although stage props for Alexandra Capitanescu’s performance of pop metal song Choke Me were not arranged in time, leaving presenters Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski to have to ad-lib.
The rehearsal was opened by Denmark’s Soren Torpegaard Lund, as it will be in Saturday’s (Sunday AEST) final, singing his song For Vi Gar Hjem.
Israel was third in the running order, with Noam Bettan performing his song Michelle without incident.
It comes after Bettan was booed by the crowd during his performance in Tuesday’s semi-final, with some members of the audience shouting as he qualified for the final.
A number of protests reportedly took place in the Austrian capital this week over Israel’s inclusion in the contest amid its actions in the Gaza Strip, with Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia all boycotting the event.
Earlier this week, human rights group Amnesty International criticised the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for its failure to suspend Israel from the song contest, as it did with Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, calling it an act of “cowardice” and a “blatant double standard”.
UK entrant Look Mum No Computer, real name Sam Battle, also took part in the rehearsal, performing his song Eins, Zwei, Drei at 14th in the running order while former Neighbours star Delta Goodrem rehearsed her performance for Australia, which will be eighth in the running order.
London-born former Love Island contestant Antigoni, full name Antigoni Buxton, was also among those practising for Saturday, where she will be 21st in the running order with her song Jalla, while hosts Austria will close out the show.
A further rehearsal will take place in front of a full crowd on Friday evening, with another for the final planned for Saturday afternoon.
The Eurovision Song Contest grand final will take place on Saturday evening (Sunday morning AEST).
