Eurovision will have to ‘wait and see’ if Celine Dion performs
There has also been speculation that Canadian singer Dion, who won for the Swiss in 1988 with Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, could be performing.
The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest final in Switzerland will have to “wait and see” if Celine Dion performs, as the event sees Sweden, the UK and Israel compete.
British girl group Remember Monday, with the genre-shifting What The Hell Just Happened? inspired by their friendship that began at a school in Hampshire, will be the eighth performance on Saturday night in Basel.
The royal family wished the trio the “very best of luck” in a post on social media, which also included a clip of the Band of the Irish Guards playing the group’s song.
There has also been speculation that Canadian singer Dion, who won for the Swiss in 1988 with Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, could take to the St Jakobshalle stage, amid her stepping back from touring due to health issues.
She did appear during the first semi-final on Tuesday, where she sent a video message saying she wants “nothing more” than to be in Basel, and recalling her triumph as a “life-changing moment”. Switzerland had not seen a winner until Nemo last year.
At a press briefing on Saturday, Eurovision director Martin Green, from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), commented on Dion, saying: “My answer was going to be, Father Christmas exist, you’ll have to wait and see.”
When asked by the PA news agency if he was feeling relieved that the contest has not seen significant incidents so far compared to 2024’s Malmo, when protests and politics overshadowed the singing event amid the outbreak of war in Gaza, he said that he was feeling “quite emotional”.
Appearing to break down, Mr Green added: “I would be lying, of course, if we didn’t come into this hoping that we could re-establish a sense of unity, calm and togetherness this year in a difficult world, every single person over the past few months has worked to make that happen, not by force, but through conversation and demonstration of common-held values.
“And we have 12 hours to go, and if we get there, and I think we will, I am just in awe of this thing for making a really profoundly beautiful statement to the rest of the world.”
A small group were ejected from the arena after Israeli singer Yuval Raphael’s rehearsal on Thursday was disrupted by what appeared to be pro-Palestinian demonstrators with “oversized flags and whistles”.
The EBU also confirmed it has received a complaint from Israeli broadcaster Kan over another incident, which involved political statements from Spanish broadcaster RTVE.
The EBU said in response to the latter incident: “We can confirm that we have spoken to RTVE regarding this matter and made it clear that commentators are expected to maintain neutrality within the broadcasts of the Eurovision Song Contest.”
RTVE declined to comment but it has been claimed the commentators spoke about the Gaza war.
This year, there is no ban on types of flags brought in by fans, unlike acts, but there are restrictions on their sizes, as Palestinian symbols have been seen inside the arena this week.
There were pro-Palestinian protests in Basel on Sunday and Wednesday, which were attended by no more than 150 people, police said, a significant drop from Malmo 2024, which saw thousands of marchers demonstrating against Israel’s inclusion.
On Thursday, a protest was held against antisemitism by around 150 people, which went without incident.
Last year also saw Dutch singer Joost Klein kicked out of the competition by the EBU over alleged verbal threats to a female production worker, which he denied.
Beat Lauchli, the project manager for Eurovision with Basel city, said that local police are “ready” for the pro-Palestinian protests on Saturday night and will have more officers on the streets for the final.
Remember Monday will be up against the noted contenders Sweden, who are represented by Swedish-speaking Finnish trio Kaj with their entry Bara Bada Bastu, a comedic song about Nordic sauna culture, and who will break Eurovision records if they win.
Ireland, whose 2025 representative Emmy Kristiansen failed to get through in Thursday’s semi-final, and Sweden are currently on seven wins each after Swedish singer Loreen’s victory in Liverpool in 2023.
Other favourites this year are Austria’s JJ (Johannes Pietsch) with the emotional song Wasted Love and October 7 survivor Raphael, who will see her country join Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom on five wins if she lifts the trophy with the ballad New Day Will Rise.
Also in the mix are Finnish leather-wearing Erika Vikman with the innuendo-laden German language song Ich Komme, France’s Louane with the soulful Maman, and Dutch singer Claude Kiambe’s touching C’est La Vie.
There has also been buzz around host country Switzerland’s Zoe Me with Voyage, Estonia’s Tommy Cash with Italian parody Espresso Macchiato, and Malta’s Miriana Conte, who changed her song’s title, Kant, due to a complaint about its similarity to an English language swearword, to Serving.
The winner will be determined by a combination of points from national juries and viewer votes in the participating 26 countries, along with a separate rest of the world poll.
The UK’s national jury votes are set to be announced by singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor after Doctor Who actor Ncuti Gatwa pulled out of being the British Eurovision spokesperson due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
The grand final will also see previous Eurovision runners-up Croatia’s Baby Lasagna and Finland’s Kaarija perform, as well as singer Nemo with their new song Unexplainable.
The Basel government said more than half a million people have visited the city so far this week after the competition came home to Switzerland, which first hosted it in 1956 in Lugano.
TV coverage for the final is provided by “King of Eurovision” Graham Norton on BBC One at 8pm on Saturday while British audiences can also listen to BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds for live coverage with presenters Rylan Clark and Scott Mills.
